Sport
Katunga looks to repeat the magic ahead of Picola District A-grade netball grand final
Deniliquin Rovers are a tough ask at any stage of the year, but Katunga has the opportunity to crash a big-time party this Saturday.
The Swans have advanced to a meeting with the defending premiers in Saturday’s Picola District Netball League A-grade grand final at Rennie, knowing full well the task ahead.
While the Rovers have continued on their merry way to another decider after achieving perfection in the 2023 campaign, chinks have appeared in their armour this time around after suffering two regular-season losses.
Guess who got the wood on them on one of those occasions?
Sure, Katunga looks like an underdog on paper after finishing fourth in the home and away campaign, but the Swans made off with a 26-22 victory over the blue and white powerhouse on its own turf in round 11.
Upsetting the premiership favourites in the middle of a season that looked like it would revolve around Rovers, Strathmerton and Katamatite sent some shockwaves around, to say the least.
The Swans were far from done taking scalps there, either; their last three victories heading into Saturday’s decider were against the other two teams mentioned, including beating the Bulldogs twice in August.
For that reason, coach Aimee Sidebottom says this is the time to strike.
“Going into the final, we’ve hit form at the right time of the season,” Sidebottom said.
“In terms of growth, we’ve put in a lot of hard work; the games we lost were definitely achievable wins where they could have gone either way.
“I wasn’t concerned if we had to come up against those sides again and, overall, I think we can definitely beat anyone we play against if we turn up on the day.
“From a club point of view, it’s been a very long time since we’ve won a premiership.
“We’ve made a lot of prelims in the last few years and haven’t been able to take it further, so there’s definitely a buzz around the club.”
Indeed there is a palpable sense of excitement, with the Swans now 60 minutes of netball away from a first A-grade premiership since 2001.
Sidebottom was cautious, however, about letting the occasion and celebration of Katunga’s achievement so far impact that pivotal hour.
“Being able to focus on the job that we need to do is important as we still have one more to get through,” Sidebottom said.
“(The round 11 game) was another of those games that could have gone either way with us only winning by four.
“Our competition is a bit underrated by some people. Those top teams are quite strong and we knew any of them playing one another was going to be a good battle.
“You can’t beat match fitness with training, but coming into Saturday I think both teams will definitely be pushed to their limits.
“Hopefully we just keep it simple and just play our game.”
A-grade grand final action kicks off at the Rennie courts from 1.30pm.