The 2025 Senior Women’s competition returned this weekend, with Southern Lions rejoining the fold for the first time since 2022.
The Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade will see their competition expanded to 7 teams in 2025, with an additional 7 teams taking to the field in the Community X’s. Kicking off on Saturday with some tight performances, the women’s competition continues to grow, with a big season ahead.
In the Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade, Palmyra returns after an incredible season in 2024, which saw a top-three finish and a surprise upset Semi-Final victory to secure a place in the Grand Final. In 2025, with a new Head Coach backing the team, the side is looking for another strong season.
“We're enthused to finally be starting,” Head Coach Drew Masters said. “We've got a great supportive mix of new players, juniors coming through, and older heads that haven't really got the hang of retirement yet.”
For Masters, the growth of the game is something to look forward to in 2025, with Palmyra’s women’s program continuing to grow alongside the competition-wide advancements, with the opportunity to see this play out this year is something to be excited for.
“I'm looking forward to seeing the continued growth of the women's game in Perth” Masters shared. “There are seven nominated teams in the Fortescue Premier Grade this year, there were only 4 teams 2 years ago!”
“We've certainly introduced a number of new players to the game over the last 3 years, and we will have a number of them starting in our side. Getting to play against professional, world quality rugby players this early in their careers is very cool.”
With SuperW Semi-Finalists from the Western Force returning to clubland following their season, there will be plenty of professional players back in the competition to test their skills against. It’s these high-quality, homegrown players that Masters sights as who to watch in this season, coming from the big leagues back to their state clubs.
With their first round against Cottesloe, it was their mix of newcomers, young guns and veterans which allowed for their victory against the Shegulls, keeping the side at bay by just two points. With Western Force players Zoe Elliot and Sheree Hume to compete against at Cottesloe, Palmyra showed impressive grit in their performance, holding up strong against a seasoned team.
Tries for Palmyra were scored by Vesinia Schaaf-Taufa (39’, 55’), with one conversion for Kendra Fell (56’). Tries for Cottesloe were scored by Bri Wallace (2).
As for who Masters is looking forward to coming up against, and who to look out for, it’s 2025 Premiers Wanneroo he is watching.
“I'm willing to be surprised by some of the other teams with close ties to the professional game and their recruitment for the season,” Masters commented, “...but it's still hard to go past last year's Premiers, Wanneroo - they're not likely to have gotten worse in any case!”
And worse they have not gotten, with a slew of talent returning, including young gun Force debutants Ngamihi Monk and Nami Dickson. The reigning Premiers came up against newcomers, Southern Lions, who return to the competition for the first time since 2022. In a giant performance at home, Wanneroo started their season strong, with an 82-0 victory over Southern Lions.
Tries for Wanneroo were scored by Majesty Pomare (3), Zion Taurima (4), Mahina A Rangi Clair, Teiana Mainwaring (2), Sofaia Talemaira, Topaz-Jean Porter, Zarna Munro and Makaea Monk. Conversions for the side were xompleted by Terina Te Tana (4) and Zarna Munro (2).
This Saturday, Wanneroo will come up against Cottesloe in the Grand Final for the Rendezvous Hotel Perth Scarborough Women’s Challenge Cup. This match is set to be streamed live on Stan from Harvey Field at 1:35PM.
The Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade and Community X’s continue this Saturday. Fixtures are now available through Rugby Xplorer and on the RugbyWA website.
Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade Round 1 Fixtures
Wanneroo Divaz (82) d. Southern Lions (0)
Palmyra (12) d. Cottesloe Shegulls (10)
Wests Scarborough Warriors (10) draw Kalamunda Kweenz (10)
