Only a Keilor juggernaut stood in the way of back-to-back women’s football premierships for Manor Lakes.
The Storm, last year’s Victorian Women’s Football League north-west champion, crossed over to the newly amalgamated Western Region and Essendon District Football League this season and filed a super impressive inaugural campaign.
It registered 10 wins from 12 matches and boasted a sky-high percentage of 523.68 – but could not find a way to beat Keilor.
The premier side went undefeated with an astonishing percentage of 2855.56.
It was truly a special team assembled by the Blues, so for Manor Lakes to be the best of the rest as runner-up at the end of the season was actually a feather in its cap.
Manor Lakes coach Nathan Smithwick said his players had this season faced “a lot higher-calibre of teams, a lot fitter teams, a lot more skilful teams”.
“To come out and at least make the grand final was a real credit to the girls,” he said.
“We’ll obviously be working hard to get up to that level [set by Keilor].”
Smithwick signed on for next season some two months ago.
The first-year coach was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the Manor Lakes players and likes where the side is heading.
“There’s a lot of things I learnt throughout the year,” he said. “Probably the most I learnt was from when we played the EDFL clubs – the more senior sides, just with their development, their structures and how they stick to them.
“All of the EDFL sides are very well drilled and the WRFL sides are relatively new, so we’ve still got a long way to go to develop.”
It was the work ethic of the Manor Lakes players that was the key to them reaching the big dance. The Storm women’s team began pre-season two weeks before the men’s teams.
Smithwick reckons the long pre-season and a season that included finals might have taken a toll.
“The girls, to their credit, they wanted to do a long pre-season,” Smithwick said.
“I think it sort of took a toll on the girls, so our next pre-season will still be as full on, but it probably won’t be as long.”
The highlight of the season for Manor Lakes was its preliminary final win over Sunbury.
“They loved that win,” Smithwick said.
Just being involved on grand final day was a thrill for the Manor Lakes players, even if the result was not so palatable.
“With these girls … they play for fun,” Smithwick said. “After the grand final, they still had smiles on their faces.
“They like to win, but as long as they’re having fun, they don’t care to be honest.”
