From pub talks to a premiership

By Stephanie Smarrelli
 

With the heartache of the 2024 Grand Final still fresh in their minds, the Melbourne Vixens came into the new year hungry. 

At the end of 2024, captain Kate Moloney knew how difficult it would be to win the Grand Final in 2025. 
 
“They’re bloody tough to win...you really need a lot of things to go right during the season to get there,” she said at the time. 

And this season’s Grand Final was indeed bloody tough to win. 
 
A packed-out Rod Laver Arena delivered an electric atmosphere so loud the players had trouble hearing the umpires on the court. 
 
The ball seesawed from end to end in a physical battle and at any point the result looked like it could turn the other way, but the Vixens held their nerve. 

Looking back, it’s unbelievable the Vixens managed to walk away with the premiership trophy on Saturday night. 

A lot of things needed to go right for them to win the premiership, but a lot of things went wrong in the beginning.  

At the end of Round 6, almost at the season’s halfway point, they were sitting on two wins and four losses. 

Seventh on the ladder. 

Head coach Simone McKinnis confessed she thought the team’s lacklustre performances were partly her fault as the team hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room. 

“I felt early in the season we were flat and lifeless, that was a reflection of how I was feeling,” McKinnis said. 

“Once we spoke as a group about what was happening, I had their support, and we had each other's back. 

“It was ‘alright, let's go’.” 

Moloney reflected on their turning point and denied the slow start was McKinnis’ fault.  

“It was all of us,” Moloney said. 

“It was something we knew was sitting there in the background and without speaking about it maybe it did play a part.” 

The captain touched on how the side grew closer together following their Round 6 clash against the Lightning.  

And for those wondering, the team did go to the pub. 

“After that game we sat down,” Moloney said. 

“Simone had announced she was leaving during the week but as a group we became more vulnerable, more honest and open with each other. 

“I felt like as a whole group we could really move forward and our second half of the year was pretty good.” 

The Vixens went on to win six more games in the home-and-away season and only dropped two. 

It was enough to secure their spot in the Top 4, as they say, ‘you have to be in it to win it’ and the Vixens' belief had skyrocketed.  

 
Every week felt like a do-or-die match on the path to finals, so they weren’t daunted by the challenge ahead. 

They overcame their hoodoo in Adelaide to defeat the Thunderbirds in the Minor Semi Final and got the job done away from home again in the Preliminary Final against the Swifts. 

Both were nail-biting matches with the Vixens winning the first by weathering the TBirds’ storm and the second with a shocking come from behind win when it looked like all hope was lost against the Swifts.  
 
Moloney’s a firm believe the tough matches they experienced in the lead up to the Grand Final enabled them to absorb the pressure on the league's biggest day. 
 
“We wanted to embrace everything and enjoy it,” Moloney said. 

“We've had some great finals over the last couple of weeks that had given us a real belief. 

“But we came in as an underdog and knew we had to throw everything at that contest. 
 
“We learned from our experiences last year, we got so close, and to walk on court with a group of girls who have been there, and done it, we were composed from the start.”  

The win was a fairytale ending to Simone McKinnis’ time at the helm of the Vixens. 

“It feels amazing,” McKinnis said.  

“We took a moment to just sit with the team, often there's only a little bit of time to sit there quietly together and it's just incredible. 

“I still can't believe we did it. 

“I'm extremely proud of the team and the way they attacked the game.” 

McKinnis and Moloney have spent over 10 years together at the Vixens.  

The captain acknowledged the legacy McKinnis is leaving behind at the club.  

"Simone and I have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” Moloney said. 

“She's given everything she possibly could to our club, to me and to every athlete that came through this door. 

“Our club will be different without her, but she will leave a legacy that lives on forever at our club and I'm so grateful I got to play underneath Simone. 

“She's taken us to five grand finals and now three premierships, that's a pretty amazing legacy to leave behind.” 

When asked if she would like to coach again McKinnis didn’t shy away from the question. 

“I do but I’m looking forward to the break,” she said. 

“I’m open to having a rest, it’s not like I don’t want to coach and I’ve had enough. 

“I am a coach, that’s what I do, that’s what I love. 

“Maybe I won’t miss it, maybe I’ll enjoy having a life again. 

“I’m looking forward to being unemployed, I’ll be by the pool.”