NSW Men & Women dominate at Australian Country!

It was an all Blue's affair in Hobart after the NSW Country Women Blues & NSW Country Men's Blues teams both won the Gold Medal matches to take title of 2017 Australian Country Championshipions!

As reported last week [click here for article] the 2017 Australian Country Championships were being held at the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre in Hobart Tasmania from Wednesday 17 May - Saturday 20 May 2017.

The Championships were being co-hosted by the Australian Defence Force and Water Polo Tasmania.

From here, Australian Country teams will be selected to defend their titles at the 2017 Princess Chulaborn Cup in Thailand. The 2018 Australian Country Championships will be held in Rockhampton. #rocky2018

Women's Championship

There were 7 competing teams vying for top spot: ADF, NSW Blues, NSW Waratahs, QLD Maroons, QLD White, TAS, VIC.

The NSW Blues asserted dominance early on in the tournament, only conceding 10 goals in three games in the first two days of competition.

The Waratahs played strong through each game, only going down by 3-4 goals each time. A great win against QLD Maroons ensured a 5th/6th position play off against Tasmania, unfortunately going own by one goal (13-14) in the classification match to finish 6th overall.

After going through the rounds undefeated, the Blues took on the ADF in the semi-final and stormed into the Grand Final with a 22-5 win.

The title match up against QLD White was a thrilling, high scoring game with the Blues taking the win 15-10.

Highest Goal Scorer: Laura Robinson
MVP of the Tournament: Leah Dodd
Tournament Seven: Leah Dodd, Laura Robinson, Libby Magann

Men’ Championship

There were 6 competing teams at this year’s championships: ADF, NSW Blues, NSW Waratahs, QLD, TAS and VIC.

The NSW Blues came out firing against ADF with a comfortable 18-5 win. The Waratahs held their own against strong competition from QLD and Tasmania. They secured a place in the 5th/6th Classification Match, defeating ADF 11 goals to 9 to finish 5th overall.

The Blues continued their winning streak, going into the semi-finals undefeated to take on Victoria, winning 22-6, which advanced them the Gold Medal Match against Tasmania. A great and exciting game to watch, saw the Blues take the victory and the title 11-9.

MVP of the Grand Final: Lucas Mackaway
MVP of the Tournament: Jimmy Scannell (VIC/O&M)
Tournament Seven: Lucas Macakway , Jai McNamara, Jimmy Scannell (VIC/O&M)

Along with the NSW teams, the following players from Ovens & Murray were selected in the Victoria Country teams:

Victorian Country Men’s Team: Jimmy Scannell and Thomas Stefanou
Victorian Country Women’s Team: Darcey Millett, Katelyn Bruce, Samantha O'Connell, Sarah O’Brien and Tegan Baines