Five months of competition. Five months of blood, sweat and tears. Five months of work, and it all comes down to this.
The Fortescue Men’s and Women’s Premier Grade will come to their fever pitch this Saturday, after sixteen rounds of competition and two weekends of finals, and over five months of hard work across the board. The competitions will find their winners this weekend, with two blockbuster clashes between the best of the Senior competitions, as they leave it all on the field in the hopes of being named the 2025 Premiers.
It could be a fairytale ending for Wanneroo, who fought their way to the Grand Final from Conference B, while Palmyra are out to avenge their 2024 Grand Final loss and reclaim their Premiership title.
Having finished 2024 on the bottom of the ladder, no one could have foreseen Wanneroo’s rise to the top. A hard-fought journey, the side finished the 2025 season comfortably on the top of the Conference B ladder after an impressive season, with eight wins and six losses in the bag.
Their unexpected defeat of Nedlands in their Semi-Final at Sir Charles Court Reserve caused a massive upset, putting the side in the running for their first ever Premiership title in the Fortescue Premier Grade. A tough battle, and some excellent ball play saw Wanneroo sneak past Nedlands in an incredible performance, defeating the side 24-28 and securing their shot at victory. Now, Wanneroo have their sights set on something bigger.
Standing between Wanneroo and their chance at victory? 2023 Premiers and 2024 Minor Premiers, Palmyra.
Finishing third on the Conference A ladder, Palmyra remained a titan in the 2025 season, finishing with twelve wins and three losses, in addition to an impressive 257 for and against difference and nine bonus points. Their journey to the Grand Final wasn’t an easy one, toughing it out with a strong Cottesloe side to emerge victorious with an eight-point win.
Heading into the Grand Final, Palmyra are ready for the challenge.
“This s what you work for all year,” Head Coach, Darren Reed, shared. “This is the game that all the players want to play in. It's the pinnacle of the club season, and we're very excited to be a part of it again.”
With the potential to reclaim their Premiership crown, Palmyra are looking to lean into the high stakes of the day, and channel their best.
“[I’m looking forward to] Just the pressure and the jeopardy and the occasion,” Reed said.
“We don't shy away from that; we embrace it. It's the agony and the ecstasy of your whole year being successful or not. That's what high level sport is all about.”
Coming up against Wanneroo, a side proven to perform under pressure, will be no easy task, even with a seasoned side like Palmyra. But for Reed, he shares Palmyra are looking forward to the tough battle ahead.
“They’re a great team,” he said. “They’ve done incredibly well this year. [We’re] really looking forward to the challenge.”
Kick off for the Fortescue Men’s Premier Grade is set for 4:00PM on Field 1.
Defending Premiers, Wanneroo Divaz, are looking for back-to-back titles in the Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade, while up-and-comers, Wests Scarborough Warriors, are hoping to knock them from the top position.
Heading into the Grand Final as Minor Premiers, Wanneroo saw a phenomenal regular season, with eleven wins and one loss. The favourites to win, they finished the season with an incredible 356 for and against difference, and six bonus points to put them well ahead of all other sides.
At Harvey Field, Wanneroo stormed home in the Semi Finals to secure their place in the Grand Final, defeating Palmyra 46-8. Now, ready to defend their title, the Wanneroo Divaz will return to the Grand Final field.
“It’s an absolute honor to play in a Grand Final,” Head Coach, Des Taurima, shared. “These moments don’t come around often, so we’re approaching it with the respect, excitement, nerves, and preparation it deserves as we represent our club, community, families and ourselves.”
Being reigning Premiers is no joke, and the pressure it puts on a team can be tough. But for the Divaz, it means living the values they set and putting in the work to keep achieving goals they know they can achieve.
“For me, playing in a Grand Final means the team has put in the hard work to discover what truly matters - both individually and together. Our mantra is EEAT: Enjoy, Effort, Attitude, Toughness. No matter the scoreboard, these values come first. I genuinely believe the reason we’ve made it this far is because we’ve committed to them every single training and game over the past 29 weeks.”
As the moments tick down until the Grand Final, Taurima shared the thing he’s most looking forward to isn’t potential victory, or the thrill of the day – it’s kick off.
“Once the game starts, I get to breathe a little. I can then just enjoy the game, enjoy my teams' efforts and the efforts of the opposition. Up until that point, I'll be a nervous wreck.”
But despite Wanneroo’s prowess and domination on the field, there’s one thing standing in their path – Wests Scarborough Warriors. The side has had an incredible 2025 season, defeating competition giants in order to secure their shot at their first Premiership title in the Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade.
“I want to give full credit to the entire Warriors team, including their staff.,” Taurima said.
“They’ve shown great growth throughout the season, building both confidence and belief in their style of play. With strong leadership from Ese [Tiakia] and Keira [MacAskill], they’ve set a high standard, and their younger players are really stepping up. Chylah Puki and Tilly Heta have been major threats, and with experienced players like Dianne Hiini, Sera Naiqama, and Brooklyn Teki-Joyce on the field, we know we’re in for a serious challenge. Jamie [Loyd], Hodgo [Matt Hodgson] and Tracy [Stewart] should be commended for their efforts.”
“I’m genuinely excited for the final against Wests. They’ll give it everything—and so will we. It’s going to be a great game.”
For Wests Scarborough, the journey to the Grand Final was a hard-won battle, toughing it out in the Semi Finals against a strong Kalamunda side. Not a side to back down from a challenge, Wests Scarborough bodied their one chance to make it to the big dance, defeating Kalamunda 5-17 at Bennett Park.
With a strong, driven team in their pocket, the Warriors are ready to tackle the Divaz.
“This Grand Final is five years in the making for these ladies,” Head Coach, Jamie Loyd, said. “Two years ago, they won the 10s competition because they did not have enough numbers to make up a Premier Grade Women’s XV team. Fast forward to 2025 the club now has a Community 10s team, a Women’s Premier Grade XVs team and U14 and U16 Girls teams. This Premier grade Grand Final appearance is a huge achievement for these women, many of whom have been involved throughout the whole lifecycle of the women’s rugby at Wests. It also caps off a period of incredible growth in the Women’s game at Wests Scarborough Rugby Club.”
The appearance is credit to the hard work of Manager Tracy Ste wart, the previous work of head coach Christian Cano, and the work Assistant Coach, Matt Hodgson, has done taking the team to the next level, Loyd shared, with each member of support staff instilling inspiration, self-belief and rugby IQ into each player.
“Above all, this Grand Final appearance is a vindication of all the hard work from the ladies, not just this season, but over the last five years; their perseverance and their desire to create something that is bigger than themselves.”
Coming up against a giant of the game such as Wanneroo is no small task, but Wests Scarborough are looking forward to the opportunity to clash with a team who poses such a challenge.
“It is actually really exciting to be going up against one of the perennial powerhouses,” loyd commented.
“Wanneroo have such a storied history within WA Women’s rugby, with their pathways and commitment to Women’s rugby, so to be playing them in the Grand Final feels like an opportunity to showcase all that is great about the female game both on and off the field. We had a close loss against them last time and finished fast, which will give us confidence, so hopefully we can flip the script this time around!”
“Speaking personally, I also have huge respect for Des Taurima and his coaching staff at the Divaz, so it is exhilarating to be playing them in the big dance.”
As they head into the final match, Loyd is looking forward to the opportunity to just celebrate his team’s growth.
“It is not often a team gets to make history with a Grand Final appearance, so for the Wests Warriors Premier Women’s team to make their first Grand Final is historic regardless of the result. They have achieved so much success in the last five years and the way they have gone about this season and how we played in our semi-final showed everything that you can hope to see from a team.”
“Honestly, I am just looking forward to seeing a group of powerful history-making women; mothers, daughters, teenagers, young, not so young, professionals, amateurs and everybody in between take the field and show exactly why the female game needs to be taken seriously.”
Kick off for the Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade is set for 2:00PM on Field 1.
Four games will be broadcast live throughout the Grand Final day, with both the Belt Up Colts (Associates v. Cottesloe) and Championship Grade (Rockingham v. Mandurah Pirates) set to stream live through Rugby Xplorer, and the Fortescue Men’s and Women’s Premier Grades to be broadcast live on Stan Sports.
For all Grand Final information, visit the RugbyWA Finals page.
