Svarc spark: Corowa’s talented sporting sisters Cathy (left) and Ruby Svarc (right) with Sophie Conway. Photo: AFL Photos.
Corowa’s renowned sporting sisters Cathy and Ruby Svarc have tasted the ultimate success in their AFLW careers, playing together in the Brisbane Lions AFLW premiership win on the weekend.
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The Svarcs became the first pair of sisters to win an AFLW premiership together at a sold-out IKON Park against a defiant North Melbourne Kangaroos on Sunday.
The Svarc sisters helped boost their team over the line, with the Lions overcoming a seven-point three-quarter time deficit to overrun the Kangaroos finishing the game 7.2 (44) to the Kangaroos’ 4.3 (27).
Cathy brought her usual pressure in her 55th AFLW game, racking up six tackles and was handed one of the biggest tasks in women’s football, playing on league MVP Jasmine Garner from the first bounce. But in the first quarter, she twisted her knee restricting her impact for the rest of the match.
Brisbane Lions players celebrate winning the AFLW Grand Final match at IKON Park in Melbourne on Sunday. Corowa’s Cathy Svarc is pictured in the middle behind the cup and sister Ruby is pictured in the front row, third in from the left. Photo AAP.
Younger sister Ruby gave another lion-hearted performance, playing on and off the bench and providing some important speed and pressure in the forward line throughout the game.
“It was pretty special to be out there playing with the girls and to become the first sisters to ever win a flag together,” Ruby said.
“It feels amazing; we had the opportunity last year, and to finish the way we did was really disappointing, but we made amends for it this season,” Cathy added.
“The injury was a bit frustrating. We made it work as best we could, but I still went out there and tried to impact the game as much as possible.
“I was just trying to play my role as best I could. It’s always frustrating because I’m used to knowing what I can do, but I just tried to bring the pressure.”
At the three-quarter huddle, seven points down and having kicked just three goals for the game, the Lions players had every reason to doubt themselves. But it was their experience and pressure game that eventually wore the Kangaroos down in the last quarter.
Cathy Svarc celebrates with fans after the Brisbane Lions AFLW premiership win. Photo: AFL Photos.
The Lions’ record 109 tackles for an AFLW game was an example of the hard-working attitude that saw them finish in the top four yet again despite losing four stars over the off-season. For comparison, the men’s premiership-winning Magpies laid 73 tackles in their win against Brisbane this year.
Their grand final triumph over North Melbourne was the Lions’ second AFLW premiership and a defining one, given they were outplayed for three quarters.
Sunday’s game was Cathy’s fifth grand final appearance and second premiership. She played in the Lions’ 2021 grand final win after she was named in the All-Australian Squad. Cathy has since grown into one of the side’s most prolific midfielders and is hard to beat one-on-one. Cathy, now aged 32, has had another strong, consistent season, only missing one game in round nine.
Ruby, now aged 30, played in her second grand final and has now won her first premiership medal. After being picked in the 2020 NAB AFLW Draft, the fast-running outside midfielder has worked hard to be a regular player in the side over the last three seasons since making her AFLW debut during round three against Carlton in January last year.
A serious calf injury in round two of this season looked to derail Ruby’s chance of playing in the business end of the season, but she returned in the last round after playing a couple of practice matches to cement her sport in the side for the finals.
“This season didn’t go to plan for me; I had a really good pre-season and was hoping that this would be my best season yet,” Ruby said.
“It was pretty unfortunate, but I kept working hard and kept working through it and managed to get back in time for the pointy end of the season.”
Ruby and Cathy grew up on their family farm outside of Corowa with their three other siblings, playing a range of sports locally.
“We come from a big family, and we lived out on a big farm,” Cathy told AFLW.
“We’ve always been super competitive and loved to play all sorts of different games and sports.
“We always enjoyed having a competition and testing each other out.”
Both the sisters are well known for their stellar A-grade netball careers playing for Corowa-Rutherglen. They last played together in 2014 before Cathy moved to Geelong for her physiotherapy career, and Ruby moved to Melbourne to study nutrition and dietetics.
“We always have been AFL fans since we can remember, we grew up watching it all the time. It was such a big part of our lives in Northeast Victoria.
“It wasn’t until AFLW started that we thought it was maybe something we could try to pursue.
“We’ve always played competitive sport; we both always wanted to play elite sport in some form.”
Cathy headed north in 2018 for her work career and played footy on the side for Wilston Grange. Shortly after, she caught the eye of selectors and was drafted by the Lions in 2019, with Ruby joining her 12 months later.
“We both started footy the same year and built our way through the pathways in a couple of years after that,” Cathy said.
“It was pretty cool when Rubes came up to Brisbane, and I love playing together.”
Cathy will await scans for the severity of her knee issue but says the feeling of a second premiership medallion hanging around her neck will certainly ease the pain of any time on the sidelines.
“Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious; we’ve got a bit of time off now to recover; I’m feeling pretty good right now anyway,” she said.
