Tara Murray
The Sunbury Lions have put together a strong squad for the Ballarat Netball League season, the question is how will the side gel together.
After not having an A-grade side last season, the Lions under new coach Kim Bailey have been rebuilding the program.
Speaking ahead of the side’s practice match against Gisborne, Bailey said they were keen to just get out on the court.
“We have a really strong squad together, it’s now about getting those combinations to work the first few weeks,” she said.
“We’ve got North Ballarat [last season’s premiers] straight up, which will be a good test. We’ve got the practice match against Gisborne, which has some really talented players, we’ll see where we sit.”
“We have a talented squad and hopefully it will not take too long to start to gel.”
The Lions squad has plenty of experience, along with a bit of youth.
Former Melbourne Vixens midcourter Tayla Honey is the biggest name signing for the Lions.
Lions premiership players Elly Randall, Ruth Smith and Sophie O’Kane have all returned to the club.
Tara O’Grady, who has previously played for Riddell and Georgia Hellyer, who previously played for Rupertswood, both join the club. Both have played in the Victorian Netball League previously.
Former Australian under-17 player Freya Langston, had signed with the club but will no longer be playing.
Bailey said they had added Simona Di Filippo to replace her.
“She was at Melton South,” she said. “We’re really lucky to have her on board and we’re keen to see what she’ll do in that combination with Tayla.”
Ava Hellyer, younger sister of Georgia, has been promoted from the B-grade squad to A-grade.
“She’s really young,” Bailey said. “It’s a good opportunity to learn around these more experienced players like Tayla and Elly.
“It’ll give her some experience and the two [Georgia and Ava] will give a spark in the midcourt.”
Bailey said it had been challenging at times having to put a whole team together, which gave other sides and advantage over them.
She said they were expecting to be competitive.
In a big bonus for the Lions, they will field sides in every division.
Bailey said that was the first focus for the club this season.
“The first goal was to get every team on the court and we’ve done that, now we want to win some matches,” she said.
“We’ve almost got too many girls to be honest, it’s a great position to be in. Every single girl will get a game with us.
“We’ve had huge numbers at training and it’s been a lot of fun which is what it is about.
“There’s been a significant shift and we’re trying to change things. All the boys have been really supportive and we’ve really excited to see what we can do.”
The Lions season starts at home on April 15 against North Ballarat.
