After an intense A grade netball preliminary final, Winchelsea is officially a grand finalist with a chance to take home the premiership cup for the first time since 2012.
Winchelsea defeated Inverleigh by 18 goals in the preliminary final this past Saturday, leading the game for all four quarters despite some challenging weather conditions.
Prior to the preliminary final, Winchelsea defeated Thomson by 11 goals in the elimination final before also defeating Bannockburn by 10 goals in the semi-final.
This Saturday, Winchelsea will face East Geelong in the grand final as a rematch of the 2024 grand final, which saw East Geelong defeat Winchelsea by 6 goals.
East Geelong have featured in many finals series over the past decade, but goaler Ebony Berg is hopeful that Winchelsea will bring their all to the court.
“We match up really well against East Geelong, so I’m sure that it will be a good game, but it will also be really close,” Berg said.
Winchelsea have won three A grade netball premiership cups in the clubs history, which was achieved over a consecutive three year period across 2010, 2011, and 2012.
Despite finishing the home and away season in fourth place on the ladder, Winchelsea have proven to be a strong finals competitor having won each of their games by at least 10 goals.
An integral part of Winchelsea’s A grade netball squad is coach and player Maddison McKiernan, who joined the league this year and has already made an impact.
McKiernan was named in the 2026 team of the year for her outstanding defence in the league, and was also the runner up in the Margaret Webb medal count.
“Being my first year in the league, it was hard because I didn’t have any pre-ideas of any teams, so every team we’ve come up against has been my first conception,” McKiernan said.
“Getting the runners up award shocked me, but it’s because of the great team I have. I wouldn’t be able to get intercepts without them backing me up.”
Leading alongside McKiernan are captains Meg Royal and Grace Pullen who were both named in the 2026 Interleague side and play important attacking roles within their team.
“We’re over the moon. We knew we had to put out a full four quarter effort so we’re very happy to have gotten the win,” Royal said.
“It’s been a long time coming, but the job definitely isn’t over yet,” Pullen added.
Royal has also had the opportunity to play with her sister, Connie Lake, who debuted in the A grade side this season following her previous years playing in B grade.
“It’s pretty cool, we’ve been working towards this for quite a few years together so we’ll see what we can do on grand final day,” Lake said.
“She’s really shone and earnt her spot in the side, so it’s really special,” Royal added.
The talent extends throughout the ten player squad at Winchelsea, with goaler Layla Pretorius standing up during intense moments at just 16 years of age.
“Winchelsea has been a really supportive club during my first year here and everyone is just so supportive which always gets us over the line,” Pretorius said.
With just one game between them and the premiership cup, Winchelsea have been unstoppable this finals series and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down ahead of the grand final.
“I think we’re very much on a roll and there’s such a good feeling about it all, so we’re feeling super pumped,” McKiernan said.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and play how we want to play, and that’s what will get us the win.”
Winchelsea will face East Geelong at 1:45pm this Saturday at St Albans Reserve where one team will walk away with the 2026 A grade premiership cup and hold all the glory.
