GSFLW 2025: New-look Albany side out to go one better in 2025 after two years of grand final heartbreak

With almost an entirely new team, Albany are determined to secure an elusive premiership in this year’s Great Southern Football League women’s competition after losing the past two grand finals. With only a handful of returning players from previous years, the Sharks are entering the league with a new team coached by Marcus Gleave and Bev Wallam while Sian Lucas and Hayley Williamson are this year’s co-captains. Gleave said the team is aiming to win this year’s grand final after their heartbreaking five-point grand final loss to Mt Barker in 2024. “The last two years we’ve made it to the grand final and we’ve lost the grand final — we’ve lost it both times,” he said. “Our expectations are honestly to go to the highest point — and that’s to make it to the grand final and go one better again.” Ellie McTavish, Emily Lawrence, Jeanette Gordon, Samantha Waltho, Lucas, Williamson and Emma Brady are among the returning players for the Sharks, with the rest of their squad new faces to the club. Gleave is optimistic that confidence and self-belief has been instilled in his players, saying a practice match against Railways before Christmas showed promise in the team. “For girls that had never played together before, we only sort of went down by three goals,” he said. “It was actually a pretty good, impressive effort — so there’s a lot to look forward to.” Gleave said key players for the Sharks this year included Talia Coyne, Emily Wray, McTavish, Lucas and Chloe Mooney. He said the team was looking forward to their first home game in round three, with Gleave expecting the team to be more settled by then and show the rest of the league their “promising skills” and “full strength”. The Sharks start their new campaign on Saturday against Royals as part of a triple-header at Keep The Sheep Stadium.