FIXTURE
Wednesday 24 April
State Netball Centre, Parkville
- City West Falcons vs MU Lightning
- Gippsland Stars vs WS Southern Saints (23&U only; Saints Championship BYE)
- North East Blaze vs Geelong Cougars
Saturday 27 April
Casey
- Casey Demons vs Peninsula Waves
Sunday 28 April
Bendigo
- Bendigo Strikers vs Boroondara Express
Melton
- Western Warriors vs Hawks Netball
BROADCAST
Wednesday 24 April
Netball Victoria Facebook
City West Falcons vs MU Lightning
7pm – Championship
8.30pm – 23&U
KommunityTV
Gippsland Stars vs WS Southern Saints
7pm – 23&U
North East Blaze vs Geelong Cougars
8.30pm – Championship
Subscription required (access is free for existing Herald Sun subscribers).
ROUND HIGHLIGHTS
Championship
VNL heads on tour in Round 8 with three sides hosting home games. On Sunday Bendigo Strikers will host Boroondara Express at Red Energy Arena in an historic first for the new club, the home side (and Express star, Bendigo local Ruby Barkmeyer) sure to draw a big crowd. They’ll need to draw on their home crowd support as they face an undefeated Express side sitting top of the ladder, with shutting down Barkmeyer’s combination with Bella Hodgson a key focus.
Fellow newcomers Western Warriors host Hawks Netball at Melton’s Cobblebank Stadium. Fourth-placed Hawks will be keen to cement their ladder position and eat into the margin to the top sides with a strong win, but they’ll face a Warriors team led by Hot Shot leader Kim Borger, determined to return to the winners’ list after a tough loss to the Bendigo Strikers last week.
23&Under
MU Lightning and City West Falcons could be the match of the round as second takes on fourth on the ladder. Falcons will be fighting to extend their streak of four straight wins, and with Lightning sitting two points ahead care of their first round draw with Hawks, a win for Falcons could see them jump to second position.
The matchup is littered with Victorian state representatives who gained invaluable experience at the recent Nationals tournament, including Lightning’s Emma Winfield, Kate O’Dwyer and Eliza Burge, and Falcons’ Amalani Fauonuku and Holly Adams-Alcock.
Geelong Cougars are sitting in fifth position on percentage after a tough loss to Lightning last week and will be keen to push their way into the top four – but third-placed Blaze stand in their way, coming off two 20-plus goal wins over Strikers and Warriors. The defensive combination of Liv Taylor and Charli Hoey is strengthening by the week with Keeley Smith offering another dimension in the circle, and Cougars will need their connections to fire to combat the dominance of Blaze’s Dee Dee Lambert.
ONE TO WATCH
Geelong Cougars’ 23&U shooter Tully Bethune put in a solid performance in last week’s win over Express, delivering 19 goals at 95% accuracy in the half she was on court. A proud Wiradjuri woman, Bethune was this week named in Netball Australia’s inaugural First Nations national invitational team which will compete at this year's Pacific Netball Series in Brisbane in June. Bethune was elevated from Cougars’ 19&Under side after earning selection in the Australian 17/U pathway squad last year, and is one to watch as the tall shooter develops under the expert Cougars’ coaching panel of Gerard Murphy and Mel Savage.
