GRAND finalists Hamilton Kangaroos are well-placed to push for a maiden Hampden netball league A grade premiership after bolstering their playing list.
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The Kangaroos, who suffered a heartbreaking one-goal defeat in overtime last season, have added two experienced players to their impressive line-up for this season.
Goal attack Hayley Sherlock (nee Huf) returns after missing last season because of pregnancy while key defender Nicole Talbot joins the club for the first time.
The pair join sisters already in the A grade squad. Sherlock reunites with former skipper Amanda Huf while Talbot will be alongside her sister Clare Crawford.
Coach Sarah Byrne said the Kangaroos expected to be without goal attack Crawford for the first five or six rounds because she is due to have her second child at the end of March.
Midcourter Rebecca Van Kalken has moved back to a dramatically re-shaped A1 team with only four members of the premiership side remaining.
Byrne is upbeat about her new-look A grade side.
“I am excited,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to getting the girls together and working with them as they build and get stronger.
“Hopefully we will be able to continue on from last season.”
Byrne said the Kangaroos, who finalised senior squads at training on Thursday night, had faced several hard decisions with plenty of players seeking spots.
Keeping the 2014 side together gave the Kangaroos a solid base to build from.
“We’ve basically got the same team from last year plus a couple of inclusions and they are really damn good inclusions,” she said.
“Hayley looks like she hasn’t missed a year and has been playing right through. I am really looking forward to seeing the combinations build. I’m really looking forward to seeing Hayley and Kelsey (Lewis) work together in goals.”
Byrne revealed the Kangaroos, who had a big emphasis on fitness last season, had not stopped working off the court since the grand final.
“We’ve been training since November and fitness-wise they are very, very fit,” she said.
The players had opted to keep building their fitness levels.
“They haven’t backed off at all,” she said.
The Kangaroos will unveil their new-look side at the pre-season cup competition next month before opening the premiership season with an away game against Cobden on April 18.
grbest@fairfaxmedia.com.au
