Geelong powerhouses face off at K Park

IT WILL be nothing but respect between St Joseph’s and Newtown & Chilwell today (Friday, September 27) when they meet on the main netball court at Kardinia Park.

The two powerhouse Geelong club lock horns in this season’s Geelong Netball League Grand Final with Newtown seeking its first premiership since 2019, while St Joseph’s will look to end a 16-year drought.

Joeys co-captain Emily Kingston noted the team’s appearance in this year’s Grand Final is the culmination of three seasons of hard work.

St Joseph’s missed out on the 2022 finals series due to an extra bye week, before eventually making the top five in 2023, but had a one-goal loss to South Barwon in the Semi-Finals.

Joeys has dropped only one game this season, putting them in good stead.

“There has been a big growth phase, and I think the biggest part of each year has been everyone coming back every season wanting to get better,” Kingston said.

Despite losing league best and fairest Emma Buwalda, Joeys acquired Melbourne Mavericks training partner and defender Brooke Allan from Colac and signed Australian Kelpies player Riley Richardson as their A Grade coach.

Newtown made changes itself, losing Tongan international shooter Uneeq Palavi to the New South Wales Swifts this season, but reintroduced Danielle Mather and Vanessa Augustini to their midcourt for 2024.

Eagles shooter Mikaela Vaughn has taken up the shooter’s role this year, ranking inside the top 10 for scoring alongside running mate and respected Newtown club figure Julia Woolley.

Newtown defender Ruby Pekin-Schlicht said her team was eager to get back to the top of the GNL, following successive Grand Final defeats to Colac over the past two seasons.

The A Grade Grand Final begins at 3.15pm.