Tara Murray
The realisation of a first A-grade grand final for Woodend-Hesket in the Riddell District Netball League is slowly starting to sink in.
Having never played finals before, the side is now the first team through to the decider after beating Macedon on Saturday.
Hawks coach and star defender Meg Grbac said it was a pretty amazing feeling for the club as a whole.
“It is crazy,” she said. “We’re all super excited.
“Following the game it was a bit hard to comprehend what we had done, but now it is awesome.
“At the start of the season we had the belief that we had a really good squad, it was more about getting more consistency playing with each. The girls have all hit form at the right of the year.”
The Hawks won through to the decider after knocking off minor premiers Macedon, 31-27. The Hawks led at every break and were able to hold off the fast finishing Cats.
One of the early adjustments the Hawks had to make was how to defend the Cats, who were without the competition’s leading goal scorer Chloe Williams.
“Chloe makes a massive difference,” Grbac said. “She’s such a beautiful player.
“We didn’t know what to expect defensively for us. We had to adapt to what they were going to do. We were able to do it quite well.”
The Hawks were also a player down with midcourter Hayley Rogers missing the game. She’s expected to be back for the grand final.
Grbac said that other players stepped up in her absence, highlighting the performance of Mackenzie Brown.
“We didn’t have as many rotations off the bench as in the past,” she said. “We made sure we had fresh legs off the bench and everyone played their role.
“Mackenize started on for us and played the whole game. She hasn’t played four quarters in one match in A-grade all season.”
Grbac said the game overall was a tough one, but they were able to hold their nerve against a more experienced Macedon side.
She said the last two weeks against Diggers Rest and Macedon, had really shown what the side could do.
The Hawks under-19 side will be hoping to join the A-grade team in a grand final this weekend, as they play in a preliminary final.
Grbac said they would just try to keep things as normal as possible the next few weeks.
“I feel really lucky to have come to the club at a good time,” she said.
“So much has been done the last five to six years to get the netball program where it is. There’s so much support and so many people at the club getting behind us.”
Macedon will face Diggers Rest in the preliminary final.
The Burras beat Riddell 47-29 in the knock out semi final.
