Manor Lakes went from worst to first in three Victorian Women’s Football League seasons.
The Storm barely had the numbers to get a competitive team together three years ago, winning just one game and finishing the season on the bottom with 18.72 per cent.
Hit the fast-forward button and the Storm is the toast of the north-west division premiership.
“From last to third, to the premiership – it’s a lot of hard work by the girls,” Storm coach Andrew Richards told Star Weekly.
“The girls were ecstatic. It was like a fairy tale had come true.”
Manor Lakes beat minor premiers Melton Centrals not once but twice in a remarkable finals series.
Centrals were unbackable favourites, going through the home-and-away rounds undefeated with a dizzying percentage of 967.94. The top-ranked finalist produced 1268 points and conceded just 131.
But somebody forgot to inform Manor Lakes about the odds stacked against them. The Storm showed nerves of steel to win the semi-final over Melton Centrals by a point.
And lightning did strike twice – the Storm backed up in the grand final to repeat the dose by six points.
In a remarkable performance, the Storm did not score a single point from the 12-minute mark of the third quarter, resolutely defending a 17-point lead to win 6.3 (39)-4.9 (33) at Coburg City Oval.
“The sheer determination was unbelievable,” Richards said. “The last quarter, the ball was inside their forward 50 about 90 per cent of the time. There was always three or four of our girls tackling their one.
“There was a lot of bodies being thrown around, tackles, bumps and they were getting pretty tired, but they well and truly stood up.”
Manor Lakes had no weak links. The Storm could not afford to have players below their best if they were to bring down Melton Centrals.
Storm’s Jovy Coulson was best-on-ground, magnificent at reading the play in the backline, particularly when the match was up for grabs.
“She interpreted the play much better than her opponent,” Richards said.
Christie Stone’s tackling pressure was a feature.
“I reckon she would’ve had 25 tackles on the day,” Richards said.
Suzanne Letzing executed the loose player in defence to perfection, CJ Bonney had a number of eye-catching runs, and Carley Smith was at the base of most packs, while Kellee McIntosh and Yana Frontczak put on the finishing touches with two goals apiece.
Manor Lakes will want to move up a division next season. With 10 new players already committed, the Storm could field two women’s teams next season.
“We’re looking at building a second team if we can get the numbers,” Richards said. “We want to keep pushing up through the divisions.”
