Having faced Belconnen United six times in 2024 and despite dominating the fixture on occasions, Canberra Olympic have often been forced to conjure moments of quality to overcome their closest competitors, and on Saturday’s Grand Final, this was once again the case.
Following an early Tianah Miro opener, 37 minutes into the match Madelyn Whittall’s tackle fell the way of Olympic midfielder Nicole Jalocha who, despite the pressure of the Grand Final stage, effortlessly fired the ball into the top corner of the Belconnen net, from just outside the penalty area, to make it 2-0.
“I’ve got Janet King in training who’s constantly testing me and you’ve got to pull something out to get it in the net with her at training sessions,” Jalocha said, when asked about the goal. ‘It’s just repetition makes perfect, and on the day the wind stopped and let it go in, so also a little bit of luck there.”
It was a strike that capped off a Player of the Match performance from the number 17, whose third successive Grand Final victory since joining Olympic in 2022, and the completion of a treble, will live long in the memory.
“It’s the treble so we really wanted to make it special,” she said. “Where it ranks? I think every time we’ve played against Belconnen it’s been a really hard competition and a competitive match so it’s pretty high up there, and to get three [trophies], there was a lot of pressure going into it so it’s good that the girls got the win in the end.
“Frank [Cachia] talked about how he’s had two other teams win the treble and I think it’s really special for him and the whole team, but also the club, to win that for them, and everyone who’s been a part of it, it’s been an amazing season and three years, so it’s been excellent.”
Having now won all there is to win at Olympic, Jalocha says that the consistent promotion of younger players at the club is the key to retaining that hunger for success within the squad, alongside the excitement that playing in a big game naturally generates.
“We have a massive amount of girls that are constantly coming through so I think for a lot of the players this is actually their first Grand Final, so constantly the turnover keeps pushing us and keeps it fresh for us,” she said. “But also when it comes to Grand Finals it’s that nervous energy that brings everyone into it, so you’ve got to come prepared otherwise you might not win on the day.”
Despite falling to defeat just once in the regular league campaign, it was a season packed full of challenges for the treble-winners, however, the togetherness within the senior setup is what Jalocha says allowed them to continue dominating sides in the NPLW.
“It’s honestly unbelievable,” Jalocha said. “We don’t just have 11 players that are on the field for the start of a game, we’ve got a whole squad behind us, even the girls who unfortunately at the beginning of the season had injuries, they’re there showing up every training session and that’s what it’s all about.
“We’re not only playing for ourselves but for all the players that can’t be there, so it was amazing to be a part of this team this year, and hopefully a few more to come.”
Having constantly turned up in the big matches throughout 2024, winning 4-0 on two occasions in the league against Belconnen, and now claiming a third consecutive Final victory, the midfielder says that the quality of opposition brings out the best in herself and her teammates, who are able to constantly rise to the occasion.
“Playing against top competition, it just pushes you that extra bit, and knowing that every time that we go into it they’re going to push us that little bit further,” Jalocha said. “We’ve got to come ready otherwise, like in our first final where we lost we’re going to have those matches so we came out fighting from the start and knew we had something big that we had to pull out against this competition.”
Words: Sam Watson
