After 11 rounds and 360 games of the regular OVO Australian Waterpolo League, the best six men’s and women’s teams descended down to Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre to see who would be crowned 2019’s OVO AWL Champions.
The atmosphere was electric and it has been the biggest season by far for the AWL who saw the 30th season for the men’s national competition draw to a close.
In the women’s it was the new addition to the league, Queensland Thunder who took out the title in their first season through a nail-biting 10-9 finish against the Fremantle Marlins. Queensland Thunder young gun Kasey Dalziel told us that the team “trained so hard this year” and that “we are all so proud of one another”. On the team culture going into the finals she said that they “went in to the finals serious with making sure that after each game we wouldn’t leave anything in the water”. In the bronze medal clash it was the UNSW Wests Killer Whales who got up against minor premiers UTS Balmain Tigers 11-8.
2019 AWL All Star Team
Gabriella Palm (Queensland Thunder)
Zoe Arancini (Fremantle Marlins)
Ash Southern (UNSW Wests Killer Whales)
Rowie Webster (UTS Balmain Tigers)
Laura Robinson (Hunter Hurricanes)
Amy Ridge (UNSW Wests Killer Whales)
Gen Longman (UTS Balmain Tigers)
In the men’s, the UNSW Magpies took out their fifth national water polo league title defeating minor premiers Drummoyne Devils (no bias there) with a 9-7 victory that went down to the last minute. Interviewed by Water Polo Australia, Magpies goalkeeper Joel Dennerley said that “This season was all about getting back to what we know and playing strong defence, playing for each other”. In the bronze medal game the 2018 AWL Champions, Sydney University Lions went down to Fremantle Mariners 16-7 in what was a replay of last year's final.
2019 AWL All Star Team
Chris Whitelegge (Hunter Hurricanes)
Nic Bicari (UNSW Wests Magpies)
Gordon Marshall (Hunter Hurricanes)
Joel Swift (Fremantle Mariners)
Nicholas Hughes (UWA Torpedoes)
Rhys Howden (Queensland Thunder)
Luke Pavillard (Fremantle Mariners)
We were proud to have all of the clubs participating in the finals representing Delfina Sport in one way or another and are proud partners of both the OVO AWL and Water Polo Australia!
For customised water polo gear and apparel for your team head to the ‘Get Started’ page on our website and let’s create something great!
