Barooga’s new A-grade coach has always yearned for the country’s familiarity.
Jacqui Douglas spent two decades in the big smoke drumming up an awe-inspiring netball record, but as soon as she hit the Hawks’ courts, she knew there was nothing else like it.
Douglas was announced as Matt Healey’s successor at Barooga, stepping up from her B-grade coaching post.
“I’ve been out of the game for a while, so last year was just a reintroduction to the game for me as the B-grade coach,” Douglas said.
“I was reminded pretty quickly how much I enjoy the game and had a great experience with the group of B-grade girls.
“So when they suggested the A-grade coaching position I was certainly happy to have a chat about it and see what I could offer.”
Douglas, a Cobram native, left for the city in her formative years to play in Melbourne’s State League ― now dubbed the Victorian Netball League ― before returning to Barooga in 2006.
Suddenly, everything clicked. The unity of country football-netball had hooked her in.
A best-and-fairest award didn’t hurt, either.
It led Douglas to further her career in the Ovens and Murray and Bendigo competitions before returning to Melbourne for one last dance.
Once she’d finished tangoing for good, or so Douglas thought, the runners were packed away for the better part of a decade until she came back to Barooga.
She picked up a netball for the first time in seven or so years, returning to the court to serve as the Hawks’ B-grade playing coach.
Her soft launch back into Murray Netball League was pleasant, but there’s no dismissing the difficulty of next year’s challenge will be amplified tenfold.
Barooga’s A-grade side did not win a game in 2023.
It’s a young side, yes, and the bottom-placed finish probably did not accurately reflect the foundation set by outgoing coach Healey.
“Obviously Matt’s done some pretty great work with the team over the last three years,” Douglas said.
“He’s really opened their eyes to a lot of strategic plays and things like that they may not have otherwise been exposed to.
“But for me, it’s probably about aligning our strategies to the youth and the experience, or lack thereof.
“It’s a young side and we just need to adapt our strategies to their experience and the level that they’re at and then support them in their development.
“I think there’s a lot of development in that young side and we’ve just got to make sure that we’re doing the right thing to bring that out of them.
“Matt set a really great foundation, now we can just mould it and take the side forward.”
Fresh personnel and fresh ideas could be precisely what Barooga needs next season.
But it won’t have access to Douglas’ capabilities on the court.
Though her passion for playing reignited last season, she had a blunt but honest answer when quizzed about whether she’d suit up for one more tango.
“Nope.”
Across the Murray River, Cobram has reappointed Robbie Glass as A-grade coach for 2024.
Glass led Cobram to a 10th-place finish in the 2023 Murray Netball League campaign, amassing five wins from 18 games.