Whitley said the club had gone a few years without a women’s team before they got one going again around 2021, largely to honour her parents, who died in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
“My sister came running up to me after the whistle and we just hugged and cried and knew our parents would be proud,” Whitley said.
A picture of their parents was proudly held up in the team’s post-match photographs.
Whitley said the entire team played amazingly in the final, and she still couldn’t believe they had won the title.
“It was just an unreal feeling.”
She said they had incredible young talent this season, including several schoolgirls who starred for the team, mixed with some “old generals”.
MAC shot to an early lead in the final and managed to keep ahead, despite a strong fight from Clive.
“For us, Clive has always been our voodoo team, I don’t know what it is,” Whitley said.
“All season we lost to them [during both regular season matches] so to beat them in a final, nothing can beat that.”
MAC managed to win without two of their star forwards, Tori Iosefo and Denise Aiolupotea, who were absent on Samoan national team duty.
The premier competition initially had five teams this season, but four were left after the mid-season withdrawal of front-runner Napier Tech.
That withdrawal was related to a career-ending injury suffered by Tech player-coach Teilah Ferguson.
Many of the Tech players subsequently moved to other clubs, and some of those players featured in the final.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
