The Kiama Power men’s premier division team’s finals hopes were dashed last weekend following a 56-37 loss to the Shellharbour City Suns.

Played in difficult, muddy conditions at Croom Sporting Complex, the Power were looking to go two from two against Shellharbour this season. 

With a spot in the top four on the line, a win would have brought them within two points of a finals berth - and they started the game strong.

Kiama held a narrow lead at half-time, up 24-18, but a third-quarter blowout ultimately sealed their fate for the 2025 season.

“We were up by a goal at half-time, and then in the third quarter just didn’t really fire a shot,” said Power committee member Anthony Grady.

“I think Shellharbour just played a bit smarter in the wet weather - definitely better than we did. They were more desperate, especially in that second half.”

Tough conditions at Croome Road on Saturday. Photo: Kiama Power

Shellharbour dominated the third term with 19 unanswered points, then repeated the effort with another 19 in the final quarter. Despite a stronger final term from the Power, it wasn’t enough to claw their way back.

“It’s a disappointing loss,” said Grady. “It doesn’t help that we had a lot of our first team missing due to a mix of injuries and unfortunate unavailabilities.”

Grady acknowledged that wet-weather footy is always tough but felt the team let themselves down.

“You’ve really got to control the footy in those conditions, and we just didn’t do that well on Saturday,” he said.

“We turned the ball over far too easily, especially in the second half - just kicking it straight to Shellharbour. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to get our offence going. But it’s always tough playing in those conditions.

“It’s so hard to move the footy when there’s that much mud. If you kick it and it hits the ground, it doesn’t really bounce. But yeah, disappointing - because it knocks us out of finals contention.”

With two games left in the season, including a rematch against Shellharbour, Grady said the team’s focus is now on finishing strong.

“We do play Shellharbour again next week, so hopefully we can get some redemption and give them a loss as they head into the semis,” he said.

“But yeah, the focus is now just enjoying the next two weeks and building a bit of momentum for next year. Finishing off with two good wins would definitely help that.”

Kiama will play Shellharbour this week for a chance of redemption. Photo: Kiama Power

Meanwhile, the women’s premier division game was postponed last weekend due to the weather, delaying Shellee Gibson’s 200th game celebration.

That milestone match is now set for this weekend and will be part of a huge day at Bonaira Oval for Kiama Power.

“It’ll be great because the whole club will be there,” said Grady. “Last week it was just the women’s team scheduled to play, so now it’ll be good to have everyone getting around Shellee for her 200th.”

The day will also mark Old Boys Day and a celebration of First Nations culture - making it a special occasion on multiple fronts.

Festivities begin at 10:30am on Saturday (16 August) at Bonaira Oval, starting with reserve grade. Shellee Gibson will run out with the women’s premier division at 12:20pm, followed by a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony at 2pm, ahead of the men’s premier division match.