Sport
Back-to-back: Goulburn Valley League claims Open crown at Netball Victoria Association Championships
Goulburn Valley League once again proved itself to be the state’s top dog on the netball court after its Open squad claimed victory at the Netball Victoria Association Championships in Melbourne on Sunday.
Defending its 2019 crown, the last year the championships went ahead due to COVID-19, a new-look GVL side battled through a host of adversities to come away with the memorable triumph.
This included a number of its regular stars being unavailable due to VNL commitments and early challenges through the group stages, with the team getting better and better as the tournament unfolded.
Another feather in the cap of legendary Shepparton United and Mooropna mentor Di Hanslow, she said it was a fantastic effort by the girls to come away with a second successive title.
“I am very, very impressed with what the girls managed to achieve,” Hanslow said.
“We didn’t go in with a set line-up nor had we even had the chance to train together, but everyone associated with the team just managed to make it work.
“This result shows the strength of netball in our region and the character of the girls who just gave it their all on the day.”
The first challenge of the day came in the lead up to the opening game, with the late withdrawal of Dayna Williams leaving the GVL’s defensive stocks in tatters.
“We went into the day very undermanned, especially in our defence end we really had no idea how we were going to set up after Dayna pulled out,” Hanslow said.
“We only had one recognised defender in Ella Ogier so all morning we had to go about creating a solid defensive unit.
“Through our early games we had five girls partner with Ella, before we settled on Elle Brooks, who despite having never played defence for years did a great job against some of the elite netballers in Victoria.”
With so much uncertainty surrounding its line-up, the GVL would drop its opening round clash to fierce rival Ovens and Murray 18-14.
But as all champion teams do, the girls in purple and gold hit back hard, registering strong wins against Outer East (20-3), Murray (18-12), Western Region (17-16) and Sandringham District (25-7).
This would set up a blockbuster clash with fellow pre-tournament fancy Bendigo, where the GVL showed its class late to record a 19-16 victory.
But its hopes of securing a top-two spot faded away in the final group match, falling to Hampden 16-14 to finish third on the table.
“After starting our day with a loss we were on the back foot early, so it took us a bit to get our game going over those next few group matches,” Hanslow said of how the group stage eventuated.
“We did have that loss to Hampden after that memorable win against Bendigo, in which was a bit of a lull after such a high.
“But we ended up regrouping after that and got going again.”
Pitted against Ovens and Murray in the semi-final, GVL exacted some sweet revenge, prevailing 16-11 in what Hanslow recalled to be a high class game of netball.
“People that watched it just said it was an amazing standard of netball, with the skill level and speed of the ball movement making for a great spectacle,” she said.
“We just took that semi final as another game, we knew we had been getting stronger throughout the day, and I think that performance proved that.”
Setting up a grand final against ladder-leader Bendigo, the class of the reigning champions would again shine through as it continued its strong momentum to record an 18-14 win and secure back to back titles.
“The grand final just showed how far we had come as a group over the day,” Hanslow said.
“We really valued the ball, used our resets well and focused on putting a lot of pressure on their ability to move the ball.
“The girls just stuck to that task all day, and as is often the case, the result took care of itself.”
In what Hanslow described as a “complete effort” from the entire squad, she took the chance to mention a couple of girls who produced stand out performances across the day.
“You can’t win these sorts of events without getting a full contribution from all of your players and we certainly got that,” she said.
“But Jessie Barnes was an amazing target in our goal circle and shot brilliantly throughout the day.
“And through our mid-court Steph Vick was just magnificent, she played the majority of the matches in centre and put everything on the line to get the win for her league.”
Also travelling down to Melbourne for the association championships — the GVL’s under-15 team battled valiantly to record one win, nine losses and a draw — good enough for an 11th-placed finish.