By Tara Murray
Gisborne isn’t taking the foot off the pedal despite a two-week break in the Bendigo Netball League.
The Bulldogs A-grade side has had the past two weeks off, firstly due to Castlemaine not having a side and then having a bye.
Bulldogs coach Tarryn Rymer said it was really interesting time for them.
“All the girls got together on Saturday and came down and watched the other teams and did the gym session, which was good,” she said.
“Just trying to keep it all as normal as possible. We’ve had some pretty intense Thursday night training sessions and tried to replicate match fitness within those and make sure people are walking away feeling like they have got their work.
“A lot of those girls are still playing at VNL [Victorian Netball League] level, so still getting their fitness. It’s more the other girls that don’t have that extra game during the week, they will feel it.”
After a first up loss, the Bulldogs have won their next three games.
Rymer said they were happy with how they were coming together as a side.
“So far, so good,” she said. “The girls seem to be getting better each week, getting a little bit more used to each other
“There’s been some big changes in our attack end.
“Our defensive end is very stable just without Maddy [Stewart] being there. We still have Zoe [Davies], Charlee [Kemp] and Kirby [Elliott] and they know how each other work.
“Our attacking end Torie [Skrijel] as goal attack Rylee [Connell] up from our A-reserve as a goal attack as well.
“Sheridan [Townrow] not knowing the girls in the mix, it has been a lot. They are getting better every week and I love seeing progress.”
The Bulldogs have had a number of players come up and get their opportunities in the top side.
DemI Young is part of the team this season.
Jemma Denman, Eloise Rodda and Dasha Taylor have all come up and played games as well.
“There’s some opportunities there, it’s nice,” she said. “They do train together and know each other quite well.”
While the Bulldogs A-grade side has not played for two weekends off, defender Zoe Davies was back in action in the Suncorp Super Netball competition.
She made her debut for the Melbourne Mavericks, having previously played some games for Collingwood.
“She works so incredibly hard,” Rymer said. “She works harder than anyone I know,
“See on Saturday given the call up was pretty exciting.”
With all their other sides in the top two, the Bulldogs find themselves in a good spot across the board.
They will hopefully have goaler Claudia Mawson back in a few weeks after SSN Reserves commitments.
Rymer said without having Mawson available they’ve been able to trial other combinations earlier than they would have.
The Bulldogs face Sandhurst next Saturday.
Rymer said it would be a big game for them.
“The good thing is, we know what to expect, they have strength right access the court,” she said.
“We have to be on and have to minimise our turnovers, something we’ve had a higher than normal rate since the changes.”
