Twelve months ago, the Altona Roosters didn’t have a women’s side in the NRL Victoria metro competition.
Fast forward to the final day of the season, the Roosters were being crowned the women’s premiers as they beat the Truganina Rabbitohs in the grand final.
Captain Heavenly Kidwell said several days later the result was still sinking in.
The Roosters won the grand final, 20-14.
“It’s so crazy and it’s a heart out of body moment,” she said. “I believed in the team and I really thought we had a chance to take it out.
“It was a tough game. It was one of the toughest games of the season.
“We went out there full throttle and they gave me 100 per cent and we came away with it.
“It’s super amazing, it still feels surreal.”
Kidwell joined the Roosters from Sunshine with many of her former teammates coming across to join her at the Roosters.
She said it was tough early days but the side had gained more support as the season went along.
Coach Jason Niwha it was pretty cool to walk about with the premiership.
“It’s pretty cool for the ladies, the coaching staff and everyone’s families,” he said.
“It was the dream. We wanted to get to finals and see where we could go.
“We got closer and closer and we thought we can actually go all the way.”
Niwha said there were plenty of nerves heading into the game against an experienced Rabbitohs outfit which had won last season’s decider.
He said the group backed themselves in and see what happened.
“We focused on ourselves and found the culture and what we wanted to do,” he said.
“About half way through the grand final I knew we had done enough.
“Everyone has a strong belief that we could do this. The ladies work for each other.”
Both said the biggest thing about the success of the women’s side was making sure they’ve got a pathway for the next generation.
The club has under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 girls teams.
“There’s so many girls, “ Kidwell said. “We want to be someone for them to look up to and inspire them in the women’s side.
“I hope those young ones come up.”
Niwha added he received lots of messages from parents of the girls at the club saying how inspired they had been by the whole season.
“The club has struggled for a long time having a women’s side,” he said. “It was important to bring some life into it.“
