Popular duo to again lead Tigers’ women for 2025 GFLW campaign

Boulder’s push for a top-two finish this year in the Goldfields Football League’s women’s competition will again be spearheaded by Terrence Winner and James Unwin, but this time as co-coaches.

Winner heads into a third season at the helm of the Tigers’ women, who are coming off a third-place effort in 2024.

And Unwin has been rewarded following the impressive role he played, alongside Winner, in lifting the squad’s fortunes in 2024 after initially coming on-board as an assistant.

Unwin’s move into the coaching ranks of the GFLW occurred after injures curtailed his own career and he was last year subsequently named to lead the GFL’s women’s team — with Winner among his offsiders in a role-reversal — for the annual country championships in Mandurah.

At that series, the team enjoyed two courageous wins and handed eventual division two champions Great Southern their lone defeat.

Under Unwin, the local team lost their opening two games, against Esperance and North Pilbara, respectively.

But they recovered in courageous fashion the next day — initially by holding off Great Southern by a point, 2.4 (16) to 2.3 (15).

Goldfields backed it up by also besting North Pilbara by a point in the first round of the finals, 2.6 (18) to 2.5 (17), to officially finish third.

Boulder were inaugural GFLW premiers in 2021, but four wins in each of the next two seasons produced third and fourth place finishes, respectively.

It was a vastly different story in 2024 under Winner, with 16 games during the qualifiers yielding nine wins.

That solid across-the-board improvement continued in last year’s first semifinal win against Kalgoorlie, 3.4 (22) to 1.3 (9), led by Tequilia LeBois’ two goals.

An impressive run ended in the preliminary final by 18 points at the hands of Railways, but a successful season included a victory against eventual GFLW premiers Mines Rovers in round one.

Also among the Tigers’ ranks, officials last weekend signed Victorian key defender Owen Fowler for 2025.

Fowler, who stands at 192cm and is a three-time fairest-and-best winner, joins Boulder from Wallan - ahead of the first night of pre-season training on January 15.