After three years of disrupted netball, the Victorian Netball League is finally at the pointy end of the 2022 season, and the final four is starting to shape and Round 17 didn’t disappoint with intelligent netball and exciting combinations flourishing. Stacey Gannon celebrated her 200 games while Tayla Honey played her first game back at the State Netball Hockey Centre after her debut season with the London Pulse.
19/Under
Boroondara Express (55) defeated Ariels (44)
Casey Demons (42) defeated by Hawks Netball (55)
Peninsula Waves (57) defeated North East Blaze (52)
Wilson Storage Southern Saints (63) defeated Geelong Cougars (33)
City West Falcons (53) defeated by Melbourne University Lightning (54)
The 19/Under division continued to show what the next generation holds with some fantastic displays of netball across the board. The North East Blaze had lots to play for this week, with one win keeping them out of finals contention. High volume shooter, Paris Bosscheiter was on song from the first whistle, and her partnership with goal attack Ella Tennant continued to flourish, allowing their team to keep pace for most of the first half. However, it was the impressive work of Waves defender Jayde Hall and midcourter Eryn Stocker to get hands to the ball while transitioning down the court that led to Waves gaining a three-goal lead in the first half and extending that to five goals in the third quarter.
In the midcourt, there was speed to burn with Ruby Shannon out hunting for loose balls and flying down the court to apply additional hands over pressure on the goal circle. Despite multiple efforts from the Blaze to come back into the game they were unable to take the win from the Waves.
Division 1
Peninsula Waves (42) defeated by North East Blaze (60)
City West Falcons (55) defeated Melbourne University (46)
Boroondara Express (47) defeated by Ariels (51)
Wilson Storage Southern Saints (44) defeated by Geelong Cougars (65)
Casey Demons (48) defeated by Hawks Netball (67)
The nine-goal deficit doesn’t accurately depict the closeness of the City West Falcons and Melbourne University Lightning game. It was a hotly contested battle right up until the last five minutes, where Falcons ran away with the win.
The Lightning suffered a devastating blow with electric midcourter Meg Matthews going down after a clash with Peta Fay, clutching her shoulder almost immediately. Matthews had played an integral role with her timely passes and pinpoint accuracy into Tara O’Grady while also utilising her strength to apply pressure in the City West’s transition down the court.
Both teams piled on the defensive pressure with Melbourne University Lightning, opting for a one-on-one defence to stop any chance of an easy ball going into Caitlin Hill, Maddie Gray or Tharjini Sivalingam into the goal circle. For the City West Falcons, it was the perfect box zone pressure coming down the court, preventing the Lightning’s midcourt from cutting across and allowing them to intercept deep pocket balls easily. It was also the impressive effort of versatile goal keeper, Fay who shut down Clare Oakley and Jasmine Fraser, forcing Lightning to deliver a risky pass into the circle.
Championship
Wilson Storage Southern Saints (56) defeated by Geelong Cougars (58)
Casey Demons (60) defeated by Hawks Netball (66)
City West Falcons (73) defeated Melbourne University Lightning (48)
Peninsula Waves (49) defeated by North East Blaze (64)
Boroondara Express (65) defeated Ariels (50)
For the ladder leaders, Geelong Cougars, it was a bit of a shock to the system in Round 17 as the sixth placed Wilson Storage Southern Saints came bolting out of the gates to take a six-goal lead at quarter time. Emily Andrew returned to the Saints side with renewed strength and confidence after a week up at the AIS and flourished against tall defenders Jessica Stanfield and Brooke Allen.
Andrew connected well with midcourter Rylee Nelson and dominated the goal line pop out as Nelson hit the top of the circle. Nelson was in impressive form coming up against former Super Netball player Mel Bragg, actively matching Bragg’s game contesting every pass and driving in sync with Bragg to cut off quick transitions down the court.
But after a sluggish first quarter, the Geelong Cougars showed their class and why they sit atop of the ladder, drawing level in the second and third quarters thanks to some impressive defensive work and smooth transition. With the game on the line in the final term a couple of crucial turnovers led to the Cougars stealing Saints' thunder with a two goal win.
