With a week to go until the Australian National Championships, the Victorian Fury are steadily preparing with the aim to bring home the national title once again. Member of the 2019 winning side, Ruby Barkmeyer, is eager to step out on court for Fury and embrace the new tournament-style format.
“It’s exciting to be going away for the week. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had ANC, so everyone is looking forward to getting out there and playing again as the Victorian Fury and spending a week together,” she said.
“As soon as we came together for our very first training, the aim of it was to win that gold medal and finish on top. It’s been a long time for a lot of girls, and it has been a tough two years without the competition.”
Barkmeyer will be joined in the attack end by fellow Vixens training partner Emily Andrew, along with VNL Hot Shot winner Emma Ryde and Melbourne University Lightning excitement machine Claudia Mawson, making for a potent and versatile goal circle.
“In 2019 I got to play with Emma Ryde for the first time which was exciting, she’s so much fun both on and off the court so I’m really looking forward to going out there and playing with her again.
“Emma brings height down the attacking end but also experience. She’s been a part of the SSN environment before and she’s also played with Vic Fury, she will be a nightmare for a lot of defenders that she comes up against,” Barkmeyer said.
Barkmeyer highlighted the importance of squad depth given the new format, which sees teams play four games across five days before finals on the weekend.
“We’ve been doing a lot of match play to prepare, and we have great depth in the group which will definitely be put into use.”
Barkmeyer has relished the tutelage of specialist coach Tegan Philip, the 2014 and 2020 Vixens championship winning goaler sharing plenty of tips and tricks with her charges.
“It’s been great working with Tegan. She has a great netball mind, I think playing the same position and being a similar player to her, helps me out in that goal attack position – it’s been great for my development having her onboard.”
The Australian National Championships kick off on Monday 22 August – watch every game live and free on Kayo Freebies.
