10th Anniversary of the Tigerettes!

Tigerettes 10th Anniversary Heritage Jumper

In 2020, the Queanbeyan Tigers will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Mighty Tigerettes inception into the AFL Canberra Women’s Competition. The players will be wearing a replica of their first jumper worn way back in year one for this years AFL Canberra Heritage Round.

The 10 year journey started with the idea driven by former Tuggeranong player Jacinta Froud who planted the seed of a Tigers Women’s team over a beer with then Football Manager Adrian Pavese at the Harman Hogs Presentation Night back in late 2009.

From there it was full steam ahead with the appointment of former Tuggeranong Women’s Premiership Coach Dave Matthews, stalwart Team Manager Joan Vosnakes and Trainers Wendy Downey and Judy Mustard leading from the front in the early years. And they were tough early years with 100pt loses being the normal for the girls but that didn’t deter their commitment to want to be better.

As the group developed and grew in numbers & depth, things started to change and results started to improve

The First Tigerettes Premiership Team 2013 Division 2 Premiers

Dave had to call time as Head Coach after 3 seasons due to having a young family with former club legend Robert Anderson taking the helm. While improvement was coming, the team still couldn’t quite catch the big four in Riverina, Ainslie, Eastlake and Tuggeranong. However the team did win 3 successive Division 2 Premierships under Anderson. Robert stood down at the end of the 2016 season and another finals campaign.

2017 Tigerettes 1st Grade Premiers

2017 – The year of the Tigerettes!

Cheyne Webster took over the squad in 2017 and the team was primed to now match the top end of the competition following their recent success in Division 2. It was a mighty season with the Tigerettes winning their first ever 1st Grade Premiership under Webster in an upset over defending Premiers Gungahlin.

Webster took the team to another 1st Grade Grand Final in 2018 to go down by 12pts against perennial premiership powerhouse Eastlake. Cheyne then relocated to Melbourne later that summer to work with North Melbourne affiliate Melbourne Uni with Chris Clifton taking the reins for the 2019 season.

1st Grade Premiership No.2

The 1st Grade dominance of the Tigerettes continued under Clifton who guided the team to another 1st Grade Premiership defeating Belconnen by 8 goals and only suffered 1 loss for the whole season.

It has been an awesome journey for this talented group of committed and driven women over the past 10 years which now includes a 2nd Tigerettes team formed in 2018 and that played in the 2019 AFL Canberra Regional Grand Final.

In the junior space, the club now fields female teams from Under 10s all the way to U18s Rising Stars who have played in the last 4 Grand Finals winning in their first Premiership in 2018.

Added to the Tigers Female program is the drafting of 4 Tigerettes into the AFLW competition with Ella Ross (2017 GWS GIANTS), Hannah Dunn & Lexi Hamilton (2020 Gold Coast Suns) and Jackie Parry (2020 Melbourne FC).

Along with the players, Chris Clifton (2020 Collingwood), Cheyne Webster (2020 North Melbourne), Adrian Pavese (2017/18 GWS GIANTS) and 2014 Tigers Men’s NEAFL Assistant Coach Bec Goddard (Adelaide Crows 2017 Premiership Coach & 2018) have coached in the AFLW.

The Hannah Dunn Academy

What does the next 10 years look like?

You can be sure of one thing, and that is the Tigers will continue to power forward with their female programs and continue to keep providing opportunities for females who want to play Aussie Rules and have a genuine pathway to higher levels.

Tigerettes Fun Facts:

First Player ever signed – Tegan Tisma

Total number of players from 2010 to 2019 – 166

Players still playing from the 1st team in 2010 to 2019 – Tegan Tisma, Jane Vucago, Kristen Argent (nee Turner) & Hannah Dunn.YEARCOACHCAPTAINBEST & FAIRESTPOSITION2010D. MatthewsJ. FroudK. TurnerLast2011D. MatthewsD. Louis / K. TurnerH. DunnLast2012D. MatthewsJ. FroudM. Hurley7th2013R. AndersonJ. FroudT. TismaDiv 2 Premiers2014R. AndersonH. DunnE. RossDiv 2 Premiers2015R. AndersonH. DunnC. ResDiv 2 Premiers2016R. AndersonH. DunnE. Ross1st Semi2017C. WebsterH. DunnE. RossPremiers2018C. WebsterH. DunnH. DunnGrand Final2019C. CliftonC. ResE. RossPremiers