Tara Murray
Western Warriors came back to come away with a draw in front of a big home crowd in the Victorian Netball League championship.
The Warriors got to play on their home court on Sunday for the first time, taking on the Hawks.
There was plenty of excitement for the Warriors as they got to show the netball community what they’ve been doing.
Warriors coach Kim Bailey said it was a big day for the club.
“What a day getting to play at Cobblebank,” she said. “It was such a great day with the committee doing an awesome job.
“It was nice to show off our sponsors and the west. There were a lot of people there including from Ballarat and people from our football netball clubs to support us and they were treated to a really good game in champ.”
The championship match was one that went down to the wire, with the teams finishing 58-all.
Bailey said both sides had their periods of dominance.
“It was a seesawing match and we led by five or six goals in the first half and the Hawks did exactly the same thing to us in the third quarter and led by five or six goals at three quarter,” she said.
“We made some changes and brought on some fresh legs. We got it back to an even keel and then played the game around to get the draw.
“You don’t want to have draws, but we will take it especially after last week.”
Kim Borger shot 43 goals for the season. Bailey said she was impressed by Akira McCormack who came on the court to give Julia Woolley a rest and ended up playing the last quarter.
The other key moment for Bailey was the decision to bring Vanessa Augustini on in wing attack in the final quarter.
“We decided to keep Ruby Shannon on in centre in her first game back. Ness is a leader and Simona Di Filippo had done and outstanding job, but had run out of legs from her intensity.
“Ruby is only 20 years old and is such a steady player and makes some great decisions and understands when to drive and when to clear space.”
The Warriors now sit in eighth spot, four points behind the Hawks who sit in fourth spot.
The Warriors under-23s had another loss, losing to the Hawks 68-43.
Bailey said the score line didn’t tell the whole story.
“It didn’t reflect the game,” she said. “Only in the last quarter did it blow out.
“We had some good packages of play. We had Shaid Sasalu and Eliza Gollant out, we can’t keep the team on the court.
“Charlize Cooke came up from development and played goalkeeper.”
The Warriors next match is against the Wilson Storage Southern Saints on Friday night.
Bailey said they wouldn’t train on Monday night having played the day before. She said they thought they matched up well.
