CENTRAL Victorian Football League Women's grand final week got away to a winning start for Castlemaine on Sunday night.
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The Magpies' Aisling Tupper won the CVFLW best and fairest award in what was a season where she remarkably polled three votes in every game she played.
Gun midfielder Tupper played seven home and away games for the Magpies - she missed five matches while overseas - and won the medal with 21 votes.
"I definitely didn't expect to win; I didn't think I'd poll too well because I had missed multiple games," Tupper said on Wednesday.
"I spent eight weeks overseas travelling around Europe and the UK and when I came back I thought I'd probably be a bit unfit, but I was able to bounce back fairly well."
Tupper joined the Magpies last season and has thoroughly enjoyed her time at Camp Reserve.
"Castlemaine has such a good reputation for women's footy and it is a great bunch of girls to play with," Tupper said.
"There's a really good vibe at training and everyone is really positive and it's just like a second family."
Tupper, who was named rover in the CVFLW Team of the Year, won by five votes from Eaglehawk's Sienna Hobbs, who polled 16.
Tupper is a former Bendigo Pioneers' player and also has VFLW experience with Melbourne Uni.
As well as Tupper winning the best and fairest award, Magpies' forward Eloise Gretgrix was the competition leading goalkicker with 47.
Gretgrix was selected at full-forward in the Team of the Year.
Not surprisingly given Castlemaine's dominance of the season, the Team of the Year has strong Magpies' representation in it with Tupper, Gretgrix, Lily den Houting, Meg Ginnivan, Abbey Bertram and Eillish Cumming all selected.
CVFLW LEADERBOARD:
21 - Aisling Tupper (Cas)
16 - Sienna Hobbs (Eh)
15 - Carlee Hazlett (Woor)
14 - Jess Kennedy (Thun)
12 - Molly Metcalf (Eh)
12 - Eloise Gretgrix (Eh)
CVFLW Team of the Year:
Backs: Molly Pianta (Eaglehawk), Molly Metcalf (Eaglehawk), Kira Gibbons (North Bendigo)
Half Backs: Liz Watkins (Golden Square), Katelyn Hazlett (Woorinen), Tenay Fellows (Woorinen)
Centres: Lily den Houting (Castlemaine), Meg Ginnivan (Castlemaine), Shae-Lee Murphy-Burke (Bendigo Thunder)
Half Forwards: Donal Fellows (Woorinen), Sienna Hobbs (Eaglehawk), Lexie Moss (Eaglehawk)
Forwards: Carlee Hazlett (Woorinen), Eloise Gretgrix (Castlemaine), Abbey Bertram (Castlemaine)
Followers: Keely Hare (Golden Square), Jessica Kennedy (Bendigo Thunder), Aisling Tupper (Castlemaine)
Interchange: Freda Wosomo (Woorinen), Eillish Cumming (Castlemaine), Natasha Tile (Golden Square), Dani Jeffery (Strathfieldsaye)
GRAND FINAL
Castlemaine and Woorinen will battle at the QEO on Friday night for the CVFLW flag from 7pm.
The Magpies are gunning for back-to-back flags after winning the premiership in their inaugural season last year with a 19-point grand final win over Golden Square in a game Tupper was best on ground.
Castlemaine will carry an unblemished record into the grand final, with the Magpies 13-0 for the year with an average winning margin of 83 points.
"I'm super excited for the opportunity on Friday night," Tupper said.
"Opportunities to play in grand finals and win premierships don't come around that often, so I'm really excited to play alongside all the girls who have done all the hard work from the pre-season."
Woorinen will be aiming to emulate Castlemaine's feat from last year of winning a premiership in its first season in the competition.
Castlemaine and Woorinen have met three times this season with the Magpies winning by 50 points in round four, 93 points in round 10 and 32 points in the second semi-final.
The Tigers booked their berth in the grand final after defeating Eaglehawk by eight points in last Friday night's preliminary final.
SEASON MEETINGS:
Round 4 - Castlemaine 11.7 (73) def Woorinen 3.5 (23).
Round 10 - Castlemaine 16.11 (107) def Woorinen 2.2 (14).
2nd semi-final - Castlemaine 10.6 (66) def Woorinen 5.4 (34).
TEAM SNAPSHOTS:
CASTLEMAINE:
Record: 13-0.
Percentage: 524.1%.
Average for: 95
Average against: 12
WOORINEN:
Record: 10-4.
Percentage: 249.5%.
Average for: 70.
Average against: 28.
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