Northern Hawks beat Cavaliers in Tasmanian Netball League grand final

In front of a vocal and partisan Silverdome crowd, the fourth all-northern grand final in five years proved a fitting showcase for the sport.

Having gone through the roster season undefeated, Hawks bounced back from qualification final defeat to win 71-57.

It was the sixth consecutive northern winner with the clubs having previously exchanged the title between them since 2018 with Hawks having won on even years and Cavs victorious in 2019 and 2021.

In a frenetic opening, Cavs engine room Shelby Miller was at her energetic best to feed the ball forward and the cool conversions of Esther Kidmas gave Cavs an early advantage and one-goal quarter-time lead.

But as Hawks goal keeper Lynette Childs fought back and Lydia Coote made some vital interceptions, the metronomic brilliance of goal shooter Ash Mawer saw the reigning premiers take a four-goal lead by the main break.

The Hawks juggernaut went up through the gears in a powerful third quarter to lead by 11 goals at the final break with goal attack Kendall Jones providing excellent back-up to the robotic Mawer.

Cavs refused to admit defeat but as mistakes crept in, the Hawks increased their advantage and were even able to rest Mawer late on.

Hawks had dominated the roster season, winning 14 straight to finish top of the ladder but lost the qualification final 62-56 to a Cavs side that had only just snuck into second place on 0.66 percentage.

Hawks bounced back with a ruthless 73-48 preliminary final dispatch of Cripps last week to set up the derby decider.

Cavaliers had earlier completed a perfect 19-and-under season by beating Cripps Waratah 46-41 in a thrilling grand final.

The state's benchmark junior club secured their 13th state title against a side that won last year's premiership but had lost six of the previous eight.

Coach Lynda Colgrave said the club was proud to be performing well at both levels.

"This means everything to the club because we pride ourselves on our CDA (Cavaliers Development Academy)," she said.

"We're a stand-alone club so we've got to develop our juniors and have been so successful in both spaces for so long and we pride ourselves on that."

The teams produced a magnificent contest in which neither led by much more than a couple of goals until late on.

Locked together at the first two breaks, it was the third quarter when Cavs made their move. Leading 34-31 at the final change they kicked on in the last to win by five goals.

Matilda Franklin's 29th goal brought Cripps to within three with two minutes to go but one of several pivotal interceptions by goal keeper Paige O'Neill threatened to dislodge the Silverdome roof before Sophies Brewer and Blackberry took their goal tallies to 28 and 10 respectively to see Cavs home.

Roared on by the Cavs senior team sitting courtside, the team's captain Ava Lockwood - daughter of former senior coach Dan Roden - was named MVP.

"It was intense," said the 17-year-old who hails from Scamander.

"We knew they would come out strong. They're a really good team and have good endurance so we had to keep our heads up and keep chipping away.

"It's a fantastic club. We're all so close between opens and CDA. Everyone's so supportive. It's the best."

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