Tara Murray
Macedon is hoping to put its worst performance in a number of years behind it in the Riddell District Football League.
The Cats have been the pacesetters in the league this season and sit atop the table at the midway season.
But their last match saw an uncharacteristic performance from what has been the norm in recent years.
Cats coach Ciara Stewart said outside of their last match they had been happy with how the season had gone so far.
“We’re accepting of dropping one game,” she said. “But we’re not taking anything for granted.
“We’ve been trying to bring players through. This season we’ve got three new players mixed in to try and develop the A-grade side.
“It’s been a really good season for us so far.”
While many teams want to keep the momentum going, Stewart said the Queen’s Birthday long weekend break had come at the perfect time for the group.
She said it was a chance for the group to recover after illness hit hard the last few weeks.
“We hadn’t been affected by COVID, flu or the cold and then it all hit in one go,” she said.
“Hopefully it means we won’t get it again. In A-grade there’s only two players who haven’t had COVID.
“Chloe [Williams] had COVID when we played Wallan. Katie [Clarke] just got back from it and Hayley [Birch] had the flu. She thought she was fine to play, but played just five minutes and that was it.
“Janelle had COVID a couple of weeks ago and still isn’t well. She’s been playing on restricted court time.”
As well as hitting the A-grade team hard, the B-grade team was down to six players and a fill-in for their match against Wallan.
The B-grade team also sits on top of the ladder.
Stewart said illness played a part in their performance against Wallan, in A-grade, which they lost.
“It was our worst performance since I’ve been here,” she said. “We had 45 turnovers and just couldn’t get it into the circle.
“The preparation for the game wasn’t great. We had cancelled training on the Thursday night as so many people were sick.
“Hopefully we can go back to where we were before that game.”
Stewart said there had been some really encouraging for the new girls they had been bringing into the team.
Eliza Petherick is still eligible to play under-19s having come from a basketball background.
Stewart said she was showing some good signs and were hoping to have her as their third goaler.
Alex August-Leifi, who is in her early 20s, has made the wing defence her spot in the side.
“All our new girls had a run against the likes of Woodend-Hesket and Diggers Rest as well.
“It’s pleasing there is a lot of depth. We just need to keep them in the sport now.”
The Cats will this week face Lancefield.
In other matches, Diggers Rest will host Melton Centrals, Wallan will face Romsey and Woodend-Hesket and Riddell will face.
