Lions commemorate Janine Round with big wins at home

Round 2 of AFL Germany was the Lions' first home game for 2025, in what is always a significant event for the club.

Our first home game of the season is traditionally Janine Round, in honour of one of our inaugural lionesses and German women’s national squad member Janine Benecke.

Janine tragically lost her life to a drunk driver in 2020, and in her memory the Go Pink For Life foundation was set up to educate about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The day began with a short tribute to Janine and her foundation before the women took to the field.

The curtain-raiser for the day was the Rheinland Lions against the combined Stuttgart-Frankfurt-Heidelberg team, dubbed the Southern Giants, in the return match following Round 1's game down south.

Rheinland won that game, but the Giants were still not to be taken lightly. In the first half the Lionesses controlled the contest, however couldn’t quite put the opposition away, leading at the break by fewer than two goals.

The Rheinland side didn’t let up though, and came away with a 17-point win.

🦁 Rheinland Lions 3.5.23 def

💪 Southern Giants 1.0.6

The second match saw the Lionesses take on the Hamburg Dockers.

Hamburg couldn't field a women's side in 2024 and in their first game for this season, game out firing.

Despite the constant forays forward from the visitors, the Lionesses absorbed the pressure and by the half-time break, scores were level.

While the home side did kick the next goal to take an early lead, the Dockers quickly responded and led for the majority of the second half – however only by a single behind.

🦁 Rheinland Lions 2.3.15 def by

⚓️ Hamburg Dockers 3.4.22

The men also hosted Hamburg in Round 2.

In keeping with the tradition of Janine Round, the Cologne boys all ran out with a dash of pink – be it pink tape, pink socks or even pink sweat bands.

This was a match both sides were looking forward to; Hamburg in recent years has usually beaten the Lions, but last year it was Rheinland that snapped its losing streak.

From the first bounce it was the Lions' match to lose, pling on 10 goals in the by half time.

After half-time, the Dockers rallied and fought back, managing to wrestle a few goals back in their favour.

The tempo of the game went up a notch as both sides brought a bit of aggression after the mani break; a few tempers flared and the occasional push-and-shove broke out, but otherwise it was a good, hard contest. Cody didn’t hesitate in the ruck, throwing himself at a much taller opponent, and Luke brought a run and dash from the backline to counter any foray forward the Dockers made. While the match was more even in the second half, Cologne had already done too much damage, winning by a margin of 67 points.

🦁 Rheinland Lions 16.13.109 def

⚓️ Hamburg Dockers 06.06.42