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Legal athletes kick goals for women’s Aussie Rules
The annual Winneke sporting festival held for law firms in Melbourne has featured a game of women’s Australian Rules football for the first time ever.
Melissa Coade
The tradition of inter law firm rivalry on the sporting field has, for the first time, included Australian Rules football for women.
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Melbourne lawyers from Allens, Ashurst, Clayton Utz, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, K&L Gates, Lander & Rogers, and Maddocks participated in the inaugural competition as part of the annual Winneke Cup sporting festival at the weekend.
The women’s football team from Maddocks beat an ‘all-stars’ lineup drawn from the other six firms to win the game. A total of 42 players joined in the fun.
This year, Corrs played host to the inter-firm competition, held every year since the 1990s in honour of former Victorian Supreme Court judge John Winneke. Money raised from the event went to not-for-profit organisation Ladder, which works closely with the AFL to tackle youth homelessness in Australia.
Corrs came up with the idea of trialling women’s football at the sporting event.
Organiser Georgia Westbrook said she hoped the success of the women’s Aussie Rules exhibition match would mean becoming a regular feature of the Winneke Cup.
While lawyers are naturally competitive, “it was great we could come together for a day of sport and were able to raise money for not-for-profit organisation, Ladder,” Ms Westbrook said.
The event also included games of men’s Aussie Rules football and women’s netball. MinterEllison reigned supreme in the men’s football, with K&L Gates claiming victory in netball.
Participating firms in this year’s Winneke Cup included: Allens, Ashurst, Clayton Utz, Corrs, Gadens, Gilbert + Tobin, Herbert Smith Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons, K&L Gates, Lander & Rogers, Maddocks and MinterEllison.
