Round 4 Match Reports (2026)

The La Trobe Senior Women were back at Tony Sheehan Oval for Round 4 of the Premier B Senior Women’s, as they hosted Parkside in a Grand Final Rematch. It had been good weather for the ducks in the lead up, and getting back to the 9:20 timeslot meant the players got the opportunity kick off proceedings in dewy conditions.

After having a couple of late outs, Sam Greene’s side were reduced to 17 players. However, the shortage of players didn’t faze the team early, with the 1st Quarter being a battle of territory. Surge footy and pressure around the ball were key in keeping the scores close at Quarter Time.

All of our off-season recruits started the game strongly. Tara Chetcuti was finding plenty of it early and getting her teammates involved. Monica Toscano was causing havoc on the wing and earning the side valuable resets. Whilst Jade Mason returned to the side in defence and displayed great moments of skill and smarts.

The 2nd Quarter resulted similarly to the 1st, with Parkside finding the big sticks once more on each occasion. Despite being challenged by the visitors who were locking the ball in their forward half, our backline had great resilience to deal with the constant pressure they were facing.

Ellen Brasier and Issie Warrillow were brilliant all game, getting the ball to ground and making it difficult for their direct opponents to get any clean possession. Jess Rogers had her strongest game of the season, reading the play and putting herself in great positions both offensively and defensively. And Jasmine Smith had a first half stint in the backline and laid some huge tackles on key position opponents.

Unfortunately, we lost a mature age leader late in the 2nd Quarter for the second week in a row. Steph Castagnini left the field with an ankle injury, and that’s never a good sign considering the toughness and courage she plays with each and every week.

With ‘Casta’ being out for the 2nd half, it presented an opportunity for our younger midfielders to get to work in an attempt to get the game back on our terms.

The 2nd Half was certainly a challenge, and not having a bench played a role in allowing Parkside to run over the Trobers for a 5–10-minute patch where the lead was extended to 39 points at the final break.

We did have moments in the 3rd, with our young midfield brigade showing glimpses of their talent and growth. Makayla D’Angelo replaced Casta in midfield and hunted the footy with great desperation. Yasmine Budic was getting from contest to contest and increasing her chances of leather poisoning, while Claire Wilson inserted herself and had some terrific centre clearances which will look good on the replay.

Again, the Trobers fought hard until the end, but unfortunately went down in the Grand Final Rematch by 52 points.

Without scoring a win yet this season, there’s still plenty to be optimistic about. We will be looking forward to the return of more troops in the coming weeks, as well as finding out definitively what our schedule will look like for the remainder of the season!