Finley’s 2024 resurgence now has the Cats among the group of challengers competing for the premiership.
On Saturday afternoon, the Cats travelled to play Echuca United in the second half of the split round 16 in Murray Netball League.
Heading into the match, Finley was firm favourite over United, which, despite making finals in 2023, has only managed to win two games this season.
The Cats, on the other hand, have only dropped four games and sat in third place on the ladder prior to the match.
Finley player-coach Milly Op’t Hoog said her side had been focusing on its starts in recent weeks.
“We had the goal going into the game to start off really strong,” Op’t Hoog said.
“We did that and we just built our lead each quarter from there, which is exactly what we were aiming for.
“We had Jasmine Burke back from injury — she was out for seven weeks — so she came on in goalkeeper, and she was amazing.
“Our attack end with Sienna Burke and Chelsea McDonald; they shot fantastic and moved really well and just kept really composed up in attack.”
The Cats burst out of the gate to start the match, outscoring the Eagles 20-10.
The lead then grew from 10 in the first term to 26 in the second to 33 in the third, with Finley eventually winning the match by 36 goals (34-70).
The victory keeps Finley in third spot, one win clear over last year’s premier Tongala which sits in fourth.
After finishing in 11th position last season, Op’t Hoog said some off-season recruiting had helped the Cats claw their way back to premiership contention.
“Doing all this recruiting at the start of the year and having all these ex-Finley players come back to the club has really made the club so much stronger and given it a lot more depth,” she said.
“Chelsea McDonald has been really helpful in picking up things we need to work on and bringing knowledge from the GVL and implementing that here at Finley.
“That has probably been the turning point for us this year.”
Two games remain in Finley’s home and away season, with fixtures against Cobram and fellow finals contender Nathalia to come.
According to Op’t Hoog, the Cats have a clean bill of health as they charge into finals.
“No injuries,” she said.
“We will have the whole squad back as of the final round.
“We have one of the girls, Lily Sharp, coming back to play the last round, and then leading into finals, we will be full strength.”
In the other two matches on Saturday, Cobram defeated Numurkah away from home by five goals.
It was Cobram’s fourth win for the season, with the Tigers sitting comfortably in eighth spot.
Meanwhile, Numurkah’s struggles continue as it sits in 11th with one win from 16 games.
The Rumbalara train kept rolling on as the ladder leader defeated sixth-placed Deniliquin by 24 goals.
If Rumbalara beats Moama and Tongala in its remaining two fixtures, it will have gone through the home and away season undefeated.