Macleod Football Netball Club became the first premiers of 2026, with a second-half surge allowing the Roos to claim the Division 3 Women’s premiership in the Northern Football Netball League’s first match back on Preston City Oval on Sunday.
In many respects, the clash between the Roos and St Mary’s Senior Football & Netball Club 2 was one where it was a bit of a fairytale for both teams – Macleod establishing itself in the competition last year, and St Mary’s 2 established this year. Both had done remarkably well to get to this position.
On Sunday, however, it was a heavily contested game which saw goals hard to come by in the first half as both teams defended for their lives.
St Mary’s 2 were able to get the first two scores on the board as it pressed to get the start it wanted, just as it had in the second semi-final two weeks ago where it won.
However, the Burra were only able to score two behinds, and Macleod then started to press and ask questions.
It was 2-0 at quarter time, and the second quarter was one where Macleod had the better of the play – but the Burra’s defensive unit continued to be resolute, and both teams went scoreless for the quarter, meaning it remained at 2-0 at half time.
The third quarter shifted on a brilliant two-minute patch from Macleod’s Abbie Jackson.
Firstly, she took a brilliant contested mark on the goal square which allowed her to convert the first goal of the day, before crumbing to kick another just a minute later off the ground. Suddenly, in that burst, Macleod sat 11 points up and looked the goods.
Sitting 13-2 up at the final change, Macleod continued to press, and it was Mia Jackson who kicked the sealer at the 11-minute mark, meaning the Roos had it all in the bag.
The 3.4 (22) to 0.2 (2) victory gave the minor premiers the premiership it had craved.
Rebecca Stellini was best-on-ground thanks to a terrific midfield performance, while Casey Dunell, Janie Cahir, Laila Zayat, Phebe D’Arro and Abbie Jackson were also named in the best.
For St Mary’s 2, Charly Bandera gave her all, as did Annalise Jones, Evie Stephens, Frances Collis, Jasmine Stone and Milly Lumkin.
Victorious Macleod coach Joel Steindl said it was a back-to-basics approach the club took over the last two weeks after losing the second semi-final which helped the club.
“When they beat us two weeks ago, we went and did our review the following week, and we reviewed it positively. We watched it back, and we saw the positive things we did in each quarter,” he said.
“We didn’t harp back on what we did wrong in that game, we had to attack Eltham (in the prelim) – another good opponent – with ferocity and positivity. We got there late, but we got there.
“This week, we reviewed the St Mary’s game where we highlighted the areas where they beat us hands down.
“The best part about the girls is that they are a very coachable group. They have been from day one. We had about half a dozen players last year who had never kicked a footy, and about a dozen players last year who never kicked a footy. It’s about teaching them, their learnings that they take on board as footballers, and then adding that to the girls who have played. It’s a good combination.”
Steindl said there were multiple components across the ground which helped Macleod get on top, particularly in the second half.
“We had to keep on trusting the process in football with our forward line structure. We knew the goals will come, but St Mary’s wouldn’t allow us to do that. It takes a good team to hold us back,” he said.
“We thought we were the better team in the second half by opening up what we believed in. By having Bec start the ball rolling from clearances, winning hitouts to advantage, getting around the ground, kill the ball; that was fantastic.
“It was a team effort, our six defenders, or our five plus one, always looked to stymie St Mary’s, as they were coming early, but we stopped their scoring, which gave us an opportunity to win the game.”
A KPI target of 80 was the goal throughout the season. Steindl said when the girls dominated games, it was harder to meet, but knew if they lifted, it would be a target they could achieve – they did so by scoring 99.
“We have a combination of KPIs. Our target is 80. We hovered around 60-70 for most of the year, and that was in games we were winning quite well, but when it came to the crunch, we knew 80 was the bar we had to be at. To nearly get plus-20 is fantastic, because we were minus-20 in the first game against St Mary’s,” he said.
Steindl also paid tribute to St Mary’s 2 for getting as far as it did.
“I said to the St Mary’s coach, and all credit to them for what they’ve done this year, to make a grand final in its first year is a fantastic effort, and I really mean that,” he said.
Steindl also offered an insight into what he hoped Macleod would be – the community feel and the challenge of going into Division 2.
“This week, we were going around to sponsors, particular sponsors of the women’s team, but we appreciate what they’ve put in, not just the women’s club, but the whole club. Walking down the streets of Macleod Village, people knew we were in a grand final, which is fantastic. Word’s getting around that the community now, and we want to see more and more Auskickers, junior girls from our junior club come through and they now have a path to play senior football at Macleod,” he said.
“We are going to be tested going up to Division 2. Some of the ladies play fantastic football. We have a big challenge, but with the number of juniors coming from there, the pathway is there to play 50-100 games of senior football in a high division, and we hope to stay there.”
-Michael Thompson (via The Northern Footy Show)
