THE Tamworth Kangaroos dream of back-to-back AFL North West women's premierships remains alive after a thrilling preliminary final win over cross-town rivals the Tamworth Swans.
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Heading into the cut-throat final at Inverell's Varley Oval off the back of a one-point loss to the Inverell Saints, the Roos were psyched to avenge the loss and book their place in a grand final.
However, the reigning premiers found scoring tough in the early going, leading by just one goal at quarter-time.
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Neither side then gave an inch in the second term, with the Roos only adding two points to their tally to lead by eight points at the main break.
The arm wrestle continued in the third quarter as both sides squandered chances in front of goal to take an advantage.
Holding onto a 10-point lead heading into the final term, the Roos nailed home two goals to eventually run out 3-5-23 to 2-1-13 winners.
Roos coach Brett Douglas said he was proud of his side's ability to put last week's narrow loss behind them.
"Finals is a totally different beast as we saw last week against Inverell," Douglas said.
"We were so close to winning that game [last week], but it was pleasing to see the girls respond well and get the job done on Saturday."
Douglas said "the usual suspects" played well to set up the team's victory.
"Experienced players like our captain Shannon Campbell and Natalie Deaves really stood up on Saturday," he said.
"To be honest, all of the girls played well and did their role to help the side get over the line."
With next week's grand final showdown set to take place in Gunnedah, Douglas said the neutral ground could play to his side's advantage.
"It will be interesting because it is only an hour or so for us to travel, while it is three hours or so for them," he said.
"I don't think travel is too big an issue, I mean we went to Inverell three times in the space of four weeks, so it's not a big deal for people in this competition.
"In saying that, I think all of the pressure is on Inverell, they haven't lost a game all year and our girls are full of confidence.
"We will go into the game as underdogs and I'm sure the girls will give it all they've got.
"It should be a great game."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
