NADINE McNamara is lauding the relentless attitudes of two of her Western Region defenders against the state’s best netballers.
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McNamara hailed the work rate of South Rovers goal defence Jess Rohan and Camperdown counterpart Brooke Richardson at the Netball Victoria State Titles on Saturday.
While Western Region failed to advance to the finals, the Cobden mentor was satisfied with their competitiveness at the Werribee tournament.
The south-west outfit finished with four victories and four losses.
“We we were fairly consistent for the entire day,” McNamara said.
“I felt like we really got better as the day went on, we really started to click and jel.”
The Cobden mentor said while it was difficult to blood a representative side together in a short space of time, she conjured a simple game plan and felt the players bought in.
“It’s hard to be too strategic – you try to keep a basic game plan and hope everybody can execute it,” McNamara said.
“It’s always a challenge to get people to sacrifice their time, particularly at this time of year because finals netball has really just finished.
“It’s hard to get those training runs in, but we just tried to push those basic principles of netball.”
The Western Region under 17 side managed 10 wins and seven losses at the state titles, sliding into ninth place on the 18-team ladder.
It was a similar result for the under 15 side, whose six triumphs ensured a mid-ladder finish in 12th position.
Western Region’s first-ever All Abilities side finished last without a victory, but coach Marg Morgan said the players had grown from the experience.
“I asked them after the tournament about what they’d learnt and taken out of it, and they all had something different to say,” Morgan said.
“We asked them if they’d like to do it again next year, and they all said yes.
“We’ll be able to open it up to more people because it’s a regional side – it’s not just the Warrnambool Stingers. We want people from across the region playing.”
Morgan said she was “exceptionally pleased” with her players’ efforts on court.
“I put them into the championship grade, which is the highest level, and they did exceptionally,” she said.