Tara Murray
Lancefield continues to make inroads as momentum builds at the Riddell District Netball League club.
With a focus on bringing local players through the program, the Tigers are slowly but surely starting to reap the rewards of all their hard work.
Tigers coach Michelle Rix said while they weren’t necessarily getting the results on court in the A-grade competition overall, things were going really well.
“The program is really healthy,” she said.
“We’re getting at least 40 girls at training every week and I don’t know whether any other team in the league can say that.
“We have realistic goals this season. The B-grade and C-grade sides are doing really well and are really competitive.
“Our A-grade side is getting better and starting to be really competitive.”
The Tigers A-grade side is yet to win a match this season, but had their best result in their most recent match against Western Rams, losing by three goals.
Rix said this season they were regrouping as they looked to continue to bring through some more local talent.
“We have an under-19 in the goal ring and another goaler who is just out of the 19s,” she said.
“It’s a young line up. On the weekend we were missing Kira Baldwin, who has been our best player every week. Ebony Coulsell had her debut and we were ecstatic.
“We were impressive in patches. We’re still a new team and have new combos.”
The side has been dealt a massive blow with Jordan Furness ruled out for the rest of the season with injury.
Furness, who has been a staple in the goal circle in recent seasons and captained the side last season, had played limited minutes in the first few rounds as she battled through the injury.
Youngsters Tarnee Hammond and Darcee Ellard have stepped up in the circle in the absence of Furness and are doing a good job.
The Tigers are set to face Wallan on Saturday.
Rix said they were focused on continuing to build the program from the ground up.
“A lot of the clubs bring in players from downtown,” she said.
“We are building from the local area. We are improving and the girls are going under the radar. We know what we are improving on.”
In other matches, Western Rams are set to host Woodend-Hesket, Melton Centrals are set to play Macedon and Diggers Rest is set to host Riddell.
