Goulburn Valley’s best junior netballers impress at state titles

The Goulburn region’s two teams in the tournament were an under-15 side (which finished in 12th place) and an under-17 (which finished in 11th place).

Under-17 coach Amy Marshall said she believed her side could have pushed for the title if it had proper preparation in the lead-up to the tournament.

“We only had two training sessions that we got in before the tournament,” Marshall said.

“If we had three months like the other teams, I think we could have taken the tournament, to be honest. The girls got better as the weekend went on and they started to gel in different combinations.

“I was contacted (about coaching) five or six weeks out because I believe they had some coaches pull out. Josie Logan (netball participation co-ordinator for Shepparton) made a few phone calls to see if anyone was available, obviously difficult on a long weekend, but myself and Sharna Sibio were able to step up.

“Which was good because it is a really big talent identification opportunity for those girls, so we would hate for them to miss out.”

The state title matches were meant to be played in two nine-minute halves, with one-minute breaks in between.

However, due to the severe heat and the fact that the temperature was sitting at about 30°C, even in indoor courts, games were instead played in two seven-minute halves with two-minute breaks in between.

Marshall said this rule change threw a spanner in the works from a tactical standpoint as her role shifted to focus more on player management.

Despite the difficulties with the extreme heat, Marshall said the girls did well to compete with some of the best regional teams in the state.

“The weekend’s games were a bit of a mixed bag, but I think we ended the weekend really strong with three wins yesterday (Monday), and we finished our weekend off by beating the number two team (Central Highlands), and it was really pleasing,” she said.

“Rose Byrne from Echuca was a standout for me; she was really consistent across the weekend.

“Rhani Hendy from Mooroopna was again really consistent all weekend and probably Gabby Moore from Shepp Swans in our defensive end.

“It was really difficult to pick out a couple of girls because we had a lot of depth, so it didn’t matter who was sitting on our bench; anyone could slot into that team and play the role.”

The Goulburn under-15 team, which finished in 12th place, had somewhat of a feast-or-famine tournament with six wins, one draw and 10 losses.

Goulburn had a tough start to the weekend as it drew one and lost eight before finally finding its first win in round 10.

From there, the 15s showed their talent and resolve, winning six out of their last eight matches to finish the tournament on a high.

Overall in the tournament, Henderson defeated Elmer 13-10 in the under-15 grand final, while Chisolm beat Central Highlands 12-5 in the under-17 grand final.