Netball
3 May, 2024
Ararat eye first win of season
The Ararat netballers will eye their first win of the season when they host the Southern Mallee Thunder at Alexandra Oval in round three of the Wimmera Football Netball League.
Ararat coach Sally Noble said they need to work on their consistency to win.
"We have been up there for the first three quarters but lack a bit of voice in the back end of the match," Noble said.
"Communication is the key. If you lift your voices, the game becomes exciting and you get excited and you get confidence - you just have to keep that motivation up and hopefully, we can do that."
Bella Westbrook has been great down in defence and Monique Scott and Julia Harricks have been great through the mid-court with Natasha Noble also having a great season.
Noble said they are leading by example.
"These girls go right through the end. Nothing is in the 'too hard' basket for them. They are our key players and are playing well, but as I mentioned before, we all need to communicate more on the court and the wins will come."
Stawell travel to Dimboola Recreation Reserve to take on a red-hot Roos outfit and both are coming off great wins last week.
Stawell coach Jemma Clarkson said it will be a tough game and they are relishing the opportunity to play against who many believe will be one of the top teams.
"It is a really tough game. They have pretty much an unchanged side and a lot of returning players and it's great to see players sticking with clubs," Clarkson said.
"We know they will be a tough opponent and we are preparing for that and we look forward to it.
"We need to shut down their strong goal combinations as Olivia Jorgensen, Billie Barber and Ashlee Morrish work well together. If we can get on top of that, it will go a long way to winning."
After securing a great win against Ararat last week, the Warrack Eagles face the benchmark of the competition in the Horsham Saints at Coughlin Park.
Eagles coach Leiah McKenzie is looking forward to testing themselves.
"We aren't quite there yet to match them as a whole, but we have some good individual players that can match up well with them. We hope to make them feel uneasy in parts of their game," McKenzie said.
"It is a good test to see where we are at competing against these higher teams.
"We just need to improve on what we did last week in controlling the pace of the game and minimising unforced errors and chasing up the one percenters and giving ourselves opportunities."
Saints coach Jess Cannane knows it won't be easy.
"They play a similar structure to us and play quick and we know they are going to bring it up to us so we just need to stay composed and control what we can concentrate on," Cannane said.
In the other match, Minyip Murtoa hosts the Horsham Demons at Murtoa Recreation Reserve.