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National Netball Championships Two medals for WA at NNC
Western Australia’s two underage Netball teams have secured medals at the recent National Netball Championships in Darwin.
WA entered the championships with teams which bolstered a large number of bottom age players and the results has shown that the future of WA Netball is extremely bright.
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After finishing second in the round robin, the 19/U Team won through to the Gold Medal match against the undefeated South Australia by defeating Victoria by 11 goals in their semi-final clash.
The final was a tight affair with the sides tied at quarter time before the South Australians took a three-goal lead into the half time break.
WA responded in the third quarter to trail by one goal with one quarter remaining.
However, it was the undefeated South Australian outfit who took advantage of some critical moments early in the fourth quarter when WA did not execute to record an 11-goal victory.
Coach Karly Guadagnin said the team stuck to their brand and kept hitting their targets throughout the whole week.
“Our team was hungry and focused at Nationals this year and really performed in the moments of games with high scoring power. They were united as a team and were driven by our CHAMPS mentality!” Guadagnin said.
“We had specific targets we wanted to meet each game and one of them was to score 10 goals plus each quarter and keep our opposition to under 10 goals each quarter. As well as high scoring power we were focused at converting our possession throughout the games and building pressure in defence.
“We continued to talk about outsmarting, outworking and outlasting our oppositions in each game. We needed to ensure we were in the moments and executing and being aware of what we look like at our best was vital as well as having a championship mindset.
“Our full court defensive pressure was really tough for teams to attack against and we used this to our advantage.
“Our scoring power from our shooters was amazing and Georgie Cleaver was exceptional for us all week.”
While the 17/U Team secured bronze after going agonisingly close to playing off in the Gold Medal match.
The team finished the round-robin section in fourth place with four wins from their seven matches to set up a battle with top placed Queensland for a spot in the Gold Medal match. Queensland were undefeated heading into the clash with WA and took an early lead into quarter time after a couple of errors late from WA. WA fought back strongly in the second quarter to be down by one goal at half-time.
However, Queensland came out firing in the third scoring five goals in a row to put pressure on the WA team.
WA lifted in the last quarter and outscored the Queenslanders 11-5 to force the game into extra time. Nothing separated the sides after extra time, the match continued until one of the teams led two goals, and it was Queensland who rebounded a missed shot from WA and score off their centre pass to win the match.
The following day, WA faced off against Victoria for bronze and didn’t let the disappointment of the Queensland loss affect them. They jumped the Vics to lead by six goals at the first break off the back of converting five of eight positive gains.
The team looked composed and experienced in the second half especially when Victoria made changes in an attempt to disrupt the West Australians’ play. When challenged the WA side rose to the challenge to come away eight-goal winners to secure the Bronze Medal.
Coach Guy Keane said the championships showed the future of West Australian Netball was bright with the emergence of some future stars and strong development from the team over the course of the week.
“Young Halle Richards is only 14 years of age, she turns 15 in June, and she stood up all week against some strong assertive defenders who were two to three years older than her,” Keane said.
“Her Bronze medal match performance of 22/23 at 95 per cent was testament of her ability to compete strongly at this level.”
Keane also paid tribute to Captain Clara Wigley who was an elite presence over the whole tournament.
“Clara showed composure in attack, driving strongly to circle edge consistently and her relentless defensive pressure combined with an ability to intercept and win the ball just when her team needs her was vital for us all week.
“She is an inspirational leader on court and she had an incredible championship as a bottom age athlete who will only get better and better in the future.”
