New Tongala coach Abby Pettifer has wasted no time announcing herself with a bevy of classy additions and, on Wednesday night, the club confirmed former Blue Hollie Reid as its latest signing.
Put simply, Reid boasts a netball CV most would snap an arm off for.
And at only 22, it’s scary what she’s already achieved.
Five A-grade best-and-fairests at Kyabram and Euroa, twice runner-up in the Wellman Family Medal count, premiership success and best-on-court medals in grand final and interleague victories.
And that’s only in the Goulburn Valley League.
Prior to that, the midcourt dynamo was one of the MNL’s most promising juniors, scoring multiple league and club best-and-fairests as well as starring on the representative stage.
Pettifer has known Reid for some time now and, after sensing change was afoot at Euroa, she set about bringing the Tongala junior home for 2026.
“With Hollie Reid coming, it’s just above and beyond. We can’t believe she’s coming back home,” Pettifer said.
“I just approached Hollie; she’s one I definitely worked on a fair bit, but worth the time.
“So many messages came through last night, all of the love she got coming back to her home town, just being an absolute star of the game, it’s very exciting.”
Pettifer used to watch Vanessa Reid fly around the court for Tongala.
Next year, she’ll have her daughter, one of the region’s most gifted netballers, at her disposal alongside a stacked list of new and returning talent.
Mercurial shooter Chicky Vick (nee Barr) was one of Tongala’s first new signings and was one who nudged Pettifer to apply for the job, and with a strong platform built by Grace Hammond over the past three years, the Blues’ new leader was sold on the idea.
“That was a really positive start to have her on board; she (Vick) is just an absolute jet in that goal ring,” Pettifer said.
“That started the flow on of getting a lot of strong players.
“We tried to make sure a lot of our recruits are from Tongala, which has been really pleasing for the community – the excitement around having a lot of the junior girls back.”
With ex-Blues such as Abby Waasdorp and Alyce Bower electing to return, the future is looking bright at Tongala.
Add in the fact that Pettifer’s appointment allows Hammond “to focus on her netball, get out there and absolutely kill it like she can”, and the club’s odds of going the distance in 2026 have been sliced in half.
“I’m really excited, I can’t wait to build on that with some of these new recruits, and how strong our club is, it’s just going to go from strength to strength,” Pettifer said.
Meanwhile, three of the region’s best young luminaries have got their wings for 2026.
Teal Hocking (Rochester) and Claudia Mawson (Echuca) have made the grade for Melbourne Mavericks Reserves’ squad, while Mackenzie O’Dwyer (Shepparton) has been named a training partner.
Hocking was a regular fixture this season and helped the Mavericks to a grand final berth, while O’Dwyer made her debut off the bench in round eight.
Nicole Richardson, Mavericks’ assistant coach and head of pathways, said the experience of training alongside the club’s Super Netball team would be invaluable.
“It’s fantastic to see so many up-and-coming athletes from the Victorian Pathway keen to be part of the Mavs environment,” she said.
“We pride ourselves on doing things a bit differently, and this squad reflects that approach.
“The depth of talent here is exciting, and we can’t wait to see them develop and push for opportunities at the elite level.”
17°C