Hope you all enjoyed your Easter Break and managed to stay warm and dry. Hopefully, we can avoid the rain forecast for this weekend. Good Luck to all teams competing in both the Saturday and Sunday Competitions.
Association Championships.
The 2023 Association Championships Zone Qualifying Round are being hosted by the Warrnambool City Netball Association on Sunday June 4th, at Warrnambool. Clubs have been sent all the necessary information so if you are interested in attending the tryouts please make sure you see your Club Co-ordinator.
Congratulations to the following Coaches who have been selected for this year’s Association Championships.
13/U: Jamie Barr and Kym Grundy
15/U: Stacey Sullivan and Marie Wall
17/U: Jacqui Bowman and Leah Sinnott.
Open: Will Jamieson and Kate Lindsay.
The Finals Day will be played at the State Netball Hockey Centre on Sunday June 18th.
Milestone Games
A massive Congratulations to Clare Crawford who will line up for her 350th Club game with the Hamilton Kangaroos across both the Hampden FNL and the Western Border FNL. Clare has played 74 Junior games with her Club as well as 197 games in the Open grade and 10 games in Division 1. Some of Clare’s other achievements include 3 Open Best and Fairest awards, 3 Runner Up Best and Fairest awards in Division 1 and a League Best and Fairest in the Western Border League in 2010. Clare has also been the recipient of the Rebecca Donaldson award. This is an amazing achievement. We wish her well on the weekend when they take on Cobden at Melville Oval.
A Cap of Results from Round 1
South Warrnambool were showing their prowess early in the season with a dominant performance against Port Fairy, scoring an impressive 71 goal win, Holly Phillips was outstanding in the circle scoring 71 of her team’s 91 goals. Ellie Coulahan tried hard for the Seagulls whilst Carly Thomas was named best for the Roosters.
Warrnambool had to fight off a gallant Portland Tigers but were eventual winners by 3 goals. Warrnambool will take a while to settle into a comfortable line up and I expect to improve as the season progresses. Sarah Smith had a best on court performance in her 100th Club Game and Jacci Peirgrosse was the best for Portland,
Camperdown’s young team tried hard all game and at times had some great passages of play, however, they were outplayed by Terang Mortlake. Shahni Moloney’s side will be keen to make finals this year and started off the season well with a comfortable win over Camperdown. The Magpies are a very young side and will benefit greatly with the exposure to Open Netball and I’m sure we’ll see the benefits from this in their Junior games throughout the year.
The Bombers hosted the Saints at Cobden. Cobden got off to a good start with a 7 goal lead at quarter time. Koroit fought back in the second quarter, and the margin was only 8 goals by ¾ time. Cobden finally settled into a more routine game style and went on to take an easy win 60-41. Sophie Hinkley started her comeback well being named the best for Cobden. Molly MvcKinnon had a great game for the Saints.
In the last game of the Round, North Warrnambool and the Hamilton Kangaroos had a great contest at Bushfield. The Eagles started well and were 7 goal leaders at ¼ time. In the second quarter the Hamilton Kangaroos fought back and with accurate scoring opportunities got within 2 goals at the main break. With both teams displaying a fast skilful contest, Hamilton held their momentum in the second half and went on to win by 5 goals.
My Predictions for this week.
Warrnambool come up against Port Fairy at the Reid Oval. This will be another opportunity for the Blues to work on their best combinations and should have a comfortable win over Port Fairy. Cobden will journey to Melville Oval to take on the Hamilton Kangaroos. I expect this to be a physical encounter and hard to pick who will come out on top. Cobden will be challenged all the way but should win a close one. South Warrnambool verse a very young Camperdown combination and will have no trouble earning the points here. In the final game for this round the North Warrnambool Eagles play Terang Mortlake. This game will be a good measuring stick for the Bloods but I think the fast paced game style and with a loss in the first round, the Eagles will be determined to get the win here.
