During the long weekend in March most of you were going camping or fishing!  Not our men and women’s water polo teams….. They were sweating and battling it out in the State Championship in Karratha.  Players had to adjust quickly with the extreme weather conditions of the Pilbara as soon as they stepped off the plane, luckily polo is played in the pool.

Water Polo in the country seems to have increased in popularity with 6 mens teams (Karratha1, Karratha2, Port Hedland, Geraldton, Bunbury and Busselton) and 5 womens (Karratha1, Karratha2, Port Hedland, Geraldton, Bunbury teams competing for the title.

Last year saw Geraldton take home the gold in both divisions, so it was game on from the first whistle.

From the get go Bunbury women showed their dominance in the pool playing a strong, but fair game going into the finals unbeaten.  It was a battle between the other teams as to who was going to meet them in the grand final.

Unfortunately for our men they weren’t so lucky. They went down to the host town Karratha1 and that seemed to be their trend for the rest of the championship with only winning 1 game and a draw against Port Hedland who ended up playing in the grand final.

In the grand final, Bunbury women met last years winners Geraldton. It was sure to be a great close match and the crowd wasn’t disappointed.  Bunbury women defended hard and made goals count, this is why they were unbeaten in the rounds and why they were crowned the 2016 State Country Champions.  Well done Bunbury.

See you all in Geraldton next year!!

RESULTS

Friday

L: Hedland def Karratha 2 (16-1)
M: Hedland def Karratha 2 (21-1)
M: Karratha 1 def Bunbury (9-6)
L: Bunbury def Karratha 1 (9-5)
L: Geraldton def Hedland (16-3)

Saturday

M: Gero def Busselton (8-7)
L: Bunbury def Gero (12-6)
L: Karratha 1 def Hedland (17-1)
M: Bunbury drew with Hedland (6-6)
M: Karratha 1 def Busselton (10-8)
L: Gero def Karratha 2 (23-1)

L: Geraldton def Karratha 1 (10-4)
M: Karratha 1 def Gero (7-5)
M: Hedland def Busselton (11-6)
L: Bunbury def Hedland (15-1)
M: Gero def Karratha 2 (23-0)
M: Busselton def Bunbury (8-6)
M: Karratha def Hedland (5-4)
L: Bunbury def Karratha 2 (25-0)
M: Bunbury def Karratha 2 (25-2)

Sunday – Finals

Men
Premiers: Karratha def Hedland 9-4
GF MVP: Justin Angove (Karratha)
Tournament MVP: Brad Horsman(Hedland)
Highest Goal Scorer : Tiago Magalhaes (Busselton) 18 goals

Women

Ladies
Premiers: Bunbury def Geraldton 14-13
GF MVP: Emma Morelli (Bunbury)
Tournament MVP: Emma Morelli (Bunbury)
Highest Goal Scorer : Belinda Brooks (Karratha) 19 goals