Tara Murray
Gisborne will get another crack at Sandhurst after winning through to the Bendigo Netball League grand final.
The Bulldogs had four sides in action on preliminary final day, with three sides, including A-grade, getting wins to join the A-reserve side which was already through to the grand final.
While they would have liked to have all five teams through to the decider, coach Tarryn Rymer is super proud with what they’ve achieved so far.
“Four in the grand final, our B-reserve side was unlucky, but it was the closest they had got to them all season,” she said.
“It is exciting for the girls, it’s one in all in for the group. The girls celebrated the wins today and we have a one team aim to have all five teams in the grand final.
“I think to have four out of five is a really good effort.”
The Bulldogs A-grade side faced Castlemaine in the preliminary final and were able to win 49-36.
Rymer said they were able to put together a strong game.
“It was a good tussle,” she said. “It took a while to get away from them. We stayed controlled and worked hard and had composure in attack which was what won us the game.”
Rymer said even though they were in control of the game at three quarter time, they were wary having been in the same position 12 months ago and losing.
“It allowed us to play more freely, but we needed to stay composed as we knew we were in that position last year, up by seven goals,” she said.
“We just had to capitalise on turnovers.”
Rymer said it was a really good effort across the board from the whole side.
One of the standouts was Tiana Newman, who rejoined the side midway through the year after having a baby.
“That’s the best game she’s played this year,” Rymer said. “It was the old Betty Thompson Medal winning form.
“It was nice to see. She was pivotal for us in attack.”
The Bulldogs will face Sandhurst in the grand final. The two sides faced each other in the semi finals with the Dragons winning, 44-38. It was the closest that the Bulldogs had come to them this year with Sandhurst sitting on top all year.
The Bulldogs will also face Sandhurst in the other three netball grand finals. The Bulldogs under-18 footballers will face Golden Square in the grand final as well.
Rymer said they were hoping to have a big crowd head up to Bendigo to support all five Bulldogs teams on Saturday.
“Hopefully we can get up and around the girls, everyone is really excited,” she said.
“All the hard work this season has paid off so far. There’s one more step, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”
