Roth said her young Eagles outfit heeded her advice to not be intimidated by the reigning premier as it overcame a three-goal deficit at the last change to win by three.

“Our focus was on the girls getting a bit of mongrel,” she said.

“And by that I mean taking that physical contact and manning up and giving that contact out.

“Gone are the days of netball being a non-contact sport.

“We hit the concrete once and Koroit hit it quite a few times.”

She said her Eagles had been able to hold their feet in clashes, having steeled themselves for the physicality.

Roth said some of her positional moves were based on the expected physical pressure from Koroit.

The first-year Eagles coach has made it clear to her players that no one’s position is safe in the team from week to week.

She said the club’s 17 and under players were pushing hard for A grade spots.

“The top seven who have been picked, your spot is not a given right,” Roth said.

“My philosophy is juniors are our future. I think the A graders are realising they have to step up their game.”

She highlighted teenager Kira Bussell, who made her A grade debut against the Saints on Sunday, playing an important role at wing defence.

“She followed every instruction and just killed it. She took the wing attack out of the game,” Roth said.

The Eagles have now won consecutive matches and sit fourth on the ladder after suffering a loss to Terang Mortlake in round one.

“The first game, we were so woeful,” Roth said.

“We didn’t trust each other and didn’t give off that first option.”

But her new-look side was starting to gel.

Koroit co-coach Kasey Owen described Sunday’s match as physical.

“It was a pretty intense game,” she said.

“It was the most contact we had seen.”