CAMPERDOWN’S netball stocks are starting to recover as it strives to cement its spot in the Hampden league top three.
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The 2016 runners-up welcomed three players back into the senior side to take on top team Koroit on Saturday – a game which started promisingly only to peter out to a commendable nine-goal loss to the powerhouse Saints.
Emily Finch, who was making her way back from an ankle injury, started strongly but appeared to be a little hampered in the second half.
“I didn’t think she moved that well,” Camperdown coach Peter Finch said. “She was still a little bit proppy after two weeks out.
“She’s been really good with it (her rehab), but I think she could have had another week off.”
But Finch said the Magpies goaler should be right to go again for Saturday’s clash with Terang Mortlake.
Less certain is whether Brooke Richardson will take the court, after the defender bravely fronted up against the Saints, but succumbed to the effects of the pneumonia that had ruled her out the previous week.
“She wasn’t 100 per cent,” Finch said. “Her first quarter, she probably was 100 per cent, but she started dropping off after that. She still did all she could back there.”
Experienced wing defence Emily Stephens also returned for her first open game since round six. Finch hopes to see the Magpies produce more fast starts like they did on the weekend in the run to finals.
“We’ve got to stop giving other sides starts,” he said. “I just want them to focus on that game. That could be the momentum swing for the rest of the season.”