Roos achieve perfection; end nine-year flag drought

KANGAROO Flat has put years of grand final anguish in the rear vision mirror, consigning a nine-year premiership drought to history with an eight-goal grand final win over Sandhurst at the QEO.

A stirring 59-51 triumph on Saturday delivered the Roos their ninth A-grade flag and put the exclamation mark on a perfect season.

The Roos, coached by Australian men’s netball representative Jayden Cowling, won 16 straight games – 14 during the regular season and two finals, both against Sandhurst.

It was their first flag win since 2016, achieved under former coach Jannelle Hobbs.

In the years since, the Roos have reached the grand final on three occasions (2019, 2022 and 2024), while also racking up several third-placed finishes.

Easily the deepest cutting was last year’s loss to Gisborne, when the Roos were overrun in a two-goal loss after leading by nine-goals during the third quarter.

 

Cowling said Saturday’s win had brought enormous relief to everyone involved at Kangaroo Flat.

“It’s unreal and certainly didn’t come easily – it was a great game,” he said.

“Sandhurst were great. They pushed us every quarter and made us work all the way until the end.

“But the girls just kept on working hard and were rewarded for their efforts.”

Cowling, who led the Roos to B-grade and A-reserve premierships respectively in 2016 and 2017, before taking over the A-grade reins in 2018, hailed an accomplished grand final day performance as a good reflection of their season.

“We were undefeated going into (grand final day), and while it wasn’t our main aim, we wanted to continue that and as a result we left nothing out there,” he said.

The last team to go through the season undefeated was Golden Square in 2015.

 

The 59-51 scoreline made it the second highest scoring A-grade grand final in league history

Only Kangaroo Flat’s 62-50 win over Golden Square in 2004 produced more goals.

For the Roos, grand final redemption was the overriding theme of their season.

“Everybody knew we had lost three since the last one, and we’d also gone out in straight sets (in 2023), so it has been a topic,” Cowling said.

“We didn’t want to be a team that continues to lose when it counts.

“To finally deliver and get that cup, it’s been a long time coming. Nine years.

“For the likes of (2016 premiership players) Chelsea Sartori, Ruby Barkmeyer, Milly Wicks and Alicia McGlashan to get back there, is really special.”

Back in the BFNL for the first time since 2018, Barkmeyer capped a stunning return by winning the best-on-court medal.

The five-year Melbourne Vixens player and training partner wound back the clock with another big-time performance on the biggest stage of them all in BFNL netball.

Now 24, Barkmeyer was the best-on-court medallist in the Roos’ last premiership win as a 15-year-old.

 

Cowling branded her game as amazing.

“She hit the deck a bit and was pretty bruised and battered by the end of the game, but she was outstanding,” he said.

“She delivered when it mattered and controlled that attack end.

“Alongside her, Teal Hocking was outstanding. She hardly missed a goal all game.

“But I can’t fault anyone, from the starters to those who came on and did their job.”

In all, nine players took to the court for the Roos, with Cowling rolling the dice to give Ava Lowndes a run in defence after she had played in their A-reserve premiership win earlier in the day.

“I thought she changed things up for us in our defensive end for 15 or 20 minutes,” he said.

“She’s been in and out of A-grade over the years, but had one of her best seasons this year in A-reserve.

“I thought she could be a little trick up our sleeve we could use if needed and she delivered.”

“Abbey Ryan came on in goals at different times in the second half and did a good job.”

Cowling gave full praise to Sandhurst for an accomplished grand final performance.

“As much as we are rivals, on and of the court, the respect between the two clubs is definitely there,” he said.

 

“They made it tough and we went pretty hard at it.”

Represented in four grand finals, the Dragons managed only one win, claiming a thrilling one-goal victory in the opening match of the day, an epic 17-and-under contest against Strathfieldsaye.

A goal after the siren broke a 39-39 deadlock. Gisborne won both the B-grade and B-reserve flags.

Barkmeyer, who became the first player since Sandhurst’s Meg Williams in 2017-18 to win two best-on-court medals, was proud to see the Roos cap their great unbeaten season.

“It’s been a long build-up, so it’s great to have gotten the job done,” she said.

“We’ve worked pretty hard all year, so it was good to put together a good final 60 minutes the way we wanted to.

“It was pretty cool to go through undefeated, but it didn’t mean anything without a grand final win.”

Grand final results

A-grade: Kangaroo Flat 59 defeated Sandhurst 51

A-reserve: Kangaroo Flat 50 defeated Sandhurst 29

B-grade: Gisborne 55 defeated Kangaroo Flat 44

B-reserve: Gisborne 45 defeated Sandhurst 32

17-and-under: Sandhurst 40 defeated Strathfieldsaye 39.