ROUNDPREVIEWS

Millicentvsouthgambier

Millicent opened the season with a strong winoveranewlookEastGambierandthis weekendtheSaintshostanothernewlook combinaon–SouthGambier.

The 2022 runners up looked polished on their opening round hit out with the shoong combinaon of Demi Verbena and Tabatha Sanderson looking as damaging as ever; the defensive line of Pora McRae, Lauren Van Eeden and Kimmi Varcoe sfled the Bulldogs frontline and the mid court, led by Lisa Duldig, lost nothing with the injecon of youngtalentLilliePaulandDaisyTunkin.

The Demons, on the other hand, sll have some shuffling to do and combinaons to testastheylooktocoverthelossofheight and the impact of goaler Lara Munro and defender Grace Pos but with the likes of Ellie Bouchier and Alyssa Duncan influencing games at either end, and the steady heads and hands of Tully McShane and Megan Reid in the mid court, the Demonssllhaveacoreofthe2022group withwhichtowork.

This weekend, they will return home to IslandParkandhosttheBulldogs,another ofthe2023AGradeline-upsthatlookvery differenttothepreviousseason.

IndiLonghurstandChelseyGalpinshowed good signs as aacking mid courters and they will only get beer each run, while Libby Altorfer was a revelaon on the defensive wing and her bale with key east Gambier playmaker Tarsh McCallum willbeonofthemostpivotaloftheday If Cleary can be freed up from shoong dues, she could have a posive impact in the mid court or shoring up the defensive end.

the ball entered the goal third and they have such a good working relaonship that North will need to be paent and smart with ball in handtofindawaythroughtheirdefensive setup.

MadaleneClearywasthestandoutforthe Cats in round one and if she has to stay in the shoong circle, her bale with Bo Creek will be the other bale to watch, whichwillshapethefinalresult.

The Roos were also impressive through the middle with the speed of Tara Bryant, whonotonlyhitthecircle’sedgemeand me again with her strong drives, but also worked hard defensively and created plenty of turnover ball, as did Zoe Malseed, who was at her ght checking best.

Mikaela Horrigan was at her unassuming best – just when you thought she was being well held, she would find space and her creave delivery and good vision meant she delivered some of the more spectacularfeeds.

North, like many of the other new look line-ups, is anything but seled and will need to work out just what their best sevenwillbe.

Easttotakethewininanarrowone.

Northgambiervwestgambier

Both sides are very different looking to their2022line-usbutEast,withMcCallum and Creek, as well as tough defender MorganAmy,willbelookingtosetuptheir firstwinoftheseason,withthespeedand smarts of Casey Horrigan in the shoong circlealsosettobeakeyiftheBulldogsare totakethepoints. The experience of Belinda Scanlon, in her return to the A Grade court, will be invaluable, while Sophie Wight brings speed and athlecism to the mid court or defensive end and Gracie Dalton can also play either end as she looks to experience herfirstseasonoftopgradenetball.

The Saints should get the job done at this early stage of the season with the Demos sll searching for exactly how they will lookin2023.

Casterton Sandford V East Gambier

Casterton Sandford had a bapsm of fire last weekend, taking on an unchanged West Gambier premiership line-up with a depletedline-upoftheirown.

There is no other way to put it – West Gambier looked ominous in the opening round and with an unchanged line-up from its 2022 premiership success, North Gambier, which has had some significant personnel changes, will be up against it, thisearlyintheseason.

Sarah Rier looked unstoppable in goals and Lisa McGregor was at her damaging best, playing high up court as the main outlet out of defence and then delivering withprecisiontoRier

AttheotherendAmyCramandJadeRier deniedtheCatsmeandspaceeveryme

Macey Griffith will be a focal point in the shoong circle, while Brianna Walters will be the key in the mid court – another playerwhoalwaysimpactsinbothaspects ofthegame.

The experience of Mel Renko and Noni McConnell will be crucial, especially in these early rounds, with both able to dominate the defensive end or impact in themidcourt.

Lauran Norman was the X factor in 2022, playing ins all three areas of the court when called upon and she will probably have to be that versale opon again for coachAmandaO’Shaughnessy

West not only looked impressive in round onebuttheyhavethebenefitofbeingthe only unchanged line-up for 2023 and will certainlybeabletousethatintheirfavour tobankthewinsintheseearlyrounds.

ThisweekwewelcomeSouthGambierto McLaughlin Park for our first home game of the season. The Netball Club will be selling raffle tickets for our Mother’s Day Rafflethatwillbedrawnattheendofthe day Thanks to everyone for donating towardsoneofourmajorfundraisers.

11’s - Taking the court for the first time, the girls took most of the first quarter to settle into their positions! As the game progressed, they showed some fantastic passagesofplayfromdefencethroughto attacktoputupsomegreatscoringshots. Asuperteameffortbyallthegirls.

Best Players: Zarla Thomson and Bridie Douglas

SubwayIncentiveAward:ZarlaThomson

13A’s - Being the first game, the girls started off strongly working hard to turn the ball over Our midcourters worked hard to find circle edge and fed into our goalies with well-placed balls Our defenders worked hard all game to make it difficult for the opposition Lola Ferguson won the Jacqui Matthews Incentive Award for her strong rebounding and great intercepts Although the girls played well, there is stillalottoworkonattraining.

Best Players: Amarlie Thomson and Lucy Crowe

Jacqui Matthews Incentive Award: Lola Ferguson

13B’s-Awholenewteaminthe13B’sthis season and with such a young team they played amazing for their first game together We had some awesome intercepts in the defensive circle which was then rewarded by the goalies. The mid courters had some great passages of play, focussing on coming to the ball and clearing out. I can’t wait to see the girls comeoutfiringnextweekagainstSouth.

Best Players: Prudence Johnson and SophieWalker

Jacqui Matthews Incentive Award: PrudenceJohnson

15A’s-Seeingasthiswasthefirstgameof the season, the team played very well together Our transition out of defence in the first half of the game was phenomenal Throughout the entire game everyone was playing their part and using communication to get many touches and intercepts in defence. At the other end of the court, the shooters worked well with the many different combinations tried All midcourters feeding well and making the score continue to grow all quarters. Finishing with a massive 73 goals for Millicent to Eastwith12.

BestPlayers:PiperPaulandMyleeLynch

Jacqui Matthews Incentive Award: Matti Fauchelle

15B’s-Nogame.

17s - What a way to start the season!! A great team game with everyone playing their role throughout the whole game. Our defensive effort all over the court was strong creating many turnovers. Our mid court fed the ball beautifullyinto our goalies with them finishing off with accuracy Let’s keep this up coming up against South this week Zambrero’s

Red, Black & White

IncentiveawardwenttoJaimieforasolid fourquartereffortatWA,feedingtheball wellandleadingintospace.

Best Players: Keelie Lindner and Lauren VanEeden

Zambrero’s Incentive Award: Jaimie Lucas

C Grade - With a new mix of girls, we started off strong and found our feet as a team As we progressed through the game unfortunately, we slowed down and got slightly rattled. With a few things to sharpen up at training we can bring it to them next time It was great to welcome all our new faces and Bella Pollifrone (skipper) and Eva Bonde who were working hard all game, and welcomingbackBekMillowickwhohada crackinggame.

Best Players: Ella Wesolowski and Eva Bonde

BGrade-Wehaveabrand-newteamthis year and being our first game together we worked well, our defensive pressure across the whole court was exceptional. The defenders held strong all game communicatingwellformanydeflections and intercepts. The opposite end of the court our shooters were working hard to find a balance in the goal circle. The mid courters had to adjust their feeding with shorter goalies this year but as the game wenton,theyadapted,andyoucouldsee them starting to gel. Was great to get a win the first game of the season! We are all excited to come out strong again next week.

Best Players: Amy Lee Byrne and Josie Lang

A Reserve - A great team effort girls to takeaconvincingwininourfirstgamefor the season. Our defensive pressure all over the court was a highlight and created us ample scoring opportunities. Our attacking connections built throughout the game and gives us plenty to work on at training. Warm welcome to Nikeisha Facey who played her first game for the Saints and read the ball beautifully in defence to take intercepts all over the court. It was also great to have Rylee Kenny back on court after having a season off and she shot with confidence. Nice to see Donna Denton back on court. How special to play in goals with daughter Abby Well done girls!

BestPlayers:JacquiSunderlandand Alice Pratt

A Grade - A solid team contribution saw us take the win in our first game for the season. The defensive pressure all over the court was a highlight Our new attacking combinations worked tirelessly and produced options over 4 quarters. We welcomed back Kimmi Tincknell who read the ball beautifully in defence to take some intercepts all over the court.

Lauren Van Eeden looked strong in defence with some nice tips and deflections. Thanks also Nikeisha Facey forsittingbench.Greatstart!

BestPlayers:LilliePaulandDaisyTunkin

Good luck to all teams today against the SouthDemons!

VWell, it was a big weekend kicking off with the ANZAC weekend round againstNorthGambier…

Thanks to everyone who ensured the season got going in a relatively smooth manner, from Kylie chasing up the spare uniforms we needed while we wait on the new order to arrive, to the band of volunteers who attended the working bee to make sure everything was in order to the coacheswhohavebeenworkingwith our players to the umpires who put their hand up to do a job not many readilyvolunteerfor

Our new look 2023 committee has also been working hard behind the scenes with president Andrew Matheson continuing on, vice president Kylie Duncan doing every job in the book; treasurer Kirsty Fielding keeping track of our finances andcommitteememberJoeNoonan, Mel Milich, Shelby Auld and Brooke Winterfield all having a hand in differentaspectsofrunningtheclub.

Special mention to the Winterfield family and the work they have done in securing match day awards and club sponsorship – definitely punching above their weight and it is greatlyappreciated.

On the court it was a tough opening round for some tams while others alreadyfoundtheirtimetoshine.

The B Grade was the standout led by the return of Alyce, who, in combination with Maca just refused to allow North to score, while at the other end it was the sister act of Mel and Sam, who worked so well togetherandshotaccurately

Red & White

The mid court saw Hannah, Shelby and Kaitlyn run hard all day and they have certainly set the bar high for 2023.

The C Grade was also another standout performer in what was a tight contest until the last five minutes where the girls showed their class all over the court to secure the win.

Ella dominated in goals, Jade was at her tenacious best on the defensive wing, Misty got the job done in defence and the mid court and Ash andMelgotsomeimportanttouches.

Both the A Reserve and A Grade had promising first halves but couldn’t quite maintain the rage with Jaymee and Caitlin leading the way in A Reserve and Alyssa and Ellie the best in the A Grade, with some promising signsfromSophieandGracie–Gracie inherfirsteverAGradeouting.

The junior teams had a tough day out although the 11 & under girls, that wentdownbytwogoals,saw stackof newbies hit the court and to have such a young side, most being eight and nine years old, to play as well as theydidwasamazing.

Lara and Elise Sims had really strong games and Ebony was really good in her first game for the club and Lacey, who showed she is ready to take another step in her netball in her secondseason.

Thanks to our match day award donors for round one – Café Melzar; San Piero; 25 Acres; Subway; Bakers Delight;Boost.