CENTER PASS
Podcast about a netball powerhouses journey that could reap a premiership in 2024 , my views, my thoughts
CENTER PASS
Defensive Brilliance and Shooting Mastery: Rumbalara's Victory
Can a team really stay undefeated through a grueling netball season? Join us for this exhilarating episode of Centre Pass, where we dissect the fiery clash between Rumbalara and Deniliquin. Witness the masterclass performances that pushed Rumbalara to a sensational 22-10 lead in the first quarter. Discover how key players like Jesse Barnes and Sophie Atkinson dominated the court with their shooting prowess and relentless rebounding. Hear the gripping story of Tiana Steel’s unstoppable drive, even while playing with an injury, and Sarah defying the odds with a standout performance despite her jet lag.
As we navigate through the intense defensive tactics and strategic maneuvers, we reveal how Rumbalara managed to fend off a hungry Deniliquin team eager for redemption. Get a front-row seat to Rumbelara's journey as they secure the minor premiership in the Murray League A-grade netball, showcasing their unparalleled season performance. We also provide an exclusive preview of the upcoming showdown with Moama and celebrate the dramatic rise of Finlay under Chelsea McDonald’s expert coaching. This episode is packed with the season’s most thrilling highlights, strategic insights, and a glimpse into what's next for these powerhouse teams.
Hey everybody, welcome to Centre Pass, a roundabout podcast about a man talking netball and gets criticised for it. Today we're talking about the game yesterday between Rumbelar and Dinaliquin, which was toted to be a cracking game. I mean, obviously, dino Lequin wanting to redeem themselves after the 30 goal drop that they got from Rambalara earlier on in the year Rambalara still trying to make their season undefeated. So, and obviously, danny being a 2022 Premier's Rambalara, as I said, undefeated wanting this year to be their Premiership year. So it was going to be a cracking game. I mean, denny, up until yesterday, yeah, they'd only won 10 games out of 16. So they're sitting sixth at the moment. Probably a bit disappointing for Rihanna, maxwell and that D'Niliquin team. They probably wanted to be at least a bit higher than that, considering last year. They were undefeated all year and got knocked out in straight sets. So a bit of work to do for them coming into this game yesterday Rumbelara coming off a bye, d'niliquin coming off a bye or a split round. So they were very fresh, Rumbelara. The only injury concern they had was Tiana Steele, who no one really knew. She sort of kept it quiet but yeah, yesterday morning while she was walking her dog, her dog and her got attacked by two other dogs so she had a bit of a bite mark on her arm, on her hand, got mauled by a dog, so she was in a bit of pain, had it strapped, but, yeah, just went out and did what she had to do. So, as I said, it was Daniluk and trying to get redemption from, yeah, that first round or first outing they had getting done by 30 goals and you knew they were going to come out hard. You knew they were probably going to work out how they could work on Jesse Barnes and how they could work on Sophie Atkinson in that goal in that shooting circle. And you know what they could do with the midcourt they really try and nullify Rumble's midcourt with Sarah Emily, madika Lani and Kai in that mid-court and then obviously Jesse Bamlett and Tiana Steele in that defensive circle.
Speaker 1:So the game started off and honestly I was a bit shocked. I thought it was a lot closer. But there was a couple of times where there was a couple of turnovers for R and you know they'd shoot two or three goals and then denny would come back and denny were very physical. They were very physical in that midcourt. Um, not not dirty physical. They were just physical on the player, um, and whether that was the rough, you know the rough the players up because Sarah fun fact, sarah Dunley just flew in the day before back from America so she went away on a bit of a holiday and, yeah, she was still a bit jet lagged. So I think Danny was trying to just put body on them because Sarah and Emily are more a free-flowing yeah, they're not a body-on-body um uh, players. They're more free-flowing and try and find space, uh, very quick at what they do, very knowledgeable and very good at what they do. So, as I said, denny was, um, really really trying to put the uh, the pressure on them. Um, also, their defenders were as well. So there was a lot of physicality in that shooting circle for Rumballara. So Jesse Barnes and Soph really had to work hard, and then in that defensive circle, as I said, tiana and Jess Bamlett yeah, ever-reliables, yeah, they're probably two of the best defenders going around in the league at the moment. So they were just ever-reliable.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, I thought the game was a lot closer than what it was, because it just seemed that way. It seemed very close. It seemed like if Rambalara shot two goals and Denny would shoot one, and then Denny might shoot two, and then so forth and so forth, and that first quarter was probably more about sussing each other out, like working out you know Denny working out their defense on Jess and Soph and then their shooters. So you had Rihanna Maxwell in that shooting circle and you know she was commanding that shooting circle. That's what I mean.
Speaker 1:I thought it was a lot closer than what it was, but when it all come down to it, it was pretty much it wasn't a runaway, but it was the score really. Really, as I said, I thought it was a lot closer. But you look at the score breakdown, it was 22 to 10, rumbler's way, and I really really thought that it was. I thought it was a lot closer than that. I sort of had to take a double look at what the score was. And yeah, so Rumbler, obviously shooting 22 goals in that first quarter is a phenomenal effort. Getting 10, 13, 14 goals is pretty special, but to get 22 and the defensive duo of Tiana and Jess Bandler and then you could throw in Medica Medica played a really really good game in that wing defense position and they kept them to pretty much 10 goals. So 10 goals to Danny in that first quarter to 22 for Rumbelara.
Speaker 1:Rumbelara come off pretty confident. Denny had a little bit of work to do. They were sort of suffering in that midcourt because they were sort of going body on body and, as I said, sarah and Emily and Medica. So Sarah playing centre, emily playing wing attack and Medica playing wing defence yeah, they sort of just were able to pick their spots and it sort of had to have Denny really really try and work out what they had to do because, as I said, they were trying to play physical. As I said, it was no dirty physical, it was just the way they were playing the game and yeah, and the umpires let it go, which was great because, yeah, you want that, you want. Yeah, it's a non-contact sport, but if you've got two players going for it, it's contesting, let it go. Yeah, there was a couple of times where there was a couple of calls for contact or whatever, which is, yeah, I understand You're going to have that when you've got players being physical.
Speaker 1:But yeah, all in all, that second quarter or that first quarter, I should say it was really trying to find each other out. So Ruggers said Rumblarra come off the court at quarter time, 22-10. They were pretty happy with what had transpired in that first quarter. Second quarter, still the same starting seven, which I'm pretty sure that'll be their starting seven. Now They've got two massive games coming up next week and the week after and then finals. So, yeah, so their starting seven sorry, but their starting seven was Jess Barnes, sophie Atkinson, emily, sarah Madika in wing defence and then Tiana goal defence and then Jess Bamblin in goalkeeper and you'd pretty much say, and then you had Kai and Lani on the bench.
Speaker 1:Second quarter come out. It was a little bit. It sort of tightened up a bit in that second quarter. So there was, you know, denny was sort of flooding or putting up a wall, putting up a press, and you know they started to double-team Jess Barnes because in that first quarter she was just unstoppable. So you can see they're starting to double-team Jess Barnes.
Speaker 1:But what Rumba did, without giving too much away, was they relied on others. Obviously, if you've got two people and one person, you're going to have one person free and rumble I'll use that person. Um, whether it be, you know, outside the circle, inside the circle, it didn't really matter. They really used it to their advantage. Um, as I said it sort of, yeah, it got, um, it sort of closed itself down a bit. It sort of was starting to tighten up in the gameplay, yeah, and it was just a couple of areas on both sides, say missed passes, or they were just throwing the ball away and then coming back and then throwing the ball away, and that was on both sides, that was on Rumba and that was on Denny and yeah, it wasn't a sloppy second quarter, but it was just yeah, it just it wasn't a sloppy second quarter but it was just.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just sort of slowed down a bit to the free-flowing that was sort of happening in that first quarter and it started to tighten up a bit. Um, so they started to make some changes. Uh, denny, though you know that Roland sub was getting used pretty pretty good. Um Rambalaras, they kept their their seven on. Uh, they're just trying to, um, yeah, nullify what, um, danny were trying to do with their press and everything else and, as I said, they'll double team in jess barnes, so it sort of it didn't.
Speaker 1:It didn't really affect her all that much, but yeah, it just yeah. There was a couple of times where she couldn't get the pass in and Jess Barnes is a tall girl and they were sort of passing it feet or to the chest, where they should be passing it up high so she can jump, because she's got a massive leap on her. And what that did too is also freed up Soph. So Soph was able to start shooting better, she was able to find space. It was a couple of times where she was shooting with no defender defending her because they were too worried about Jess Barnes. And I mean that's the issue that a lot of teams have had over the course of the year in the Murray League Coming up against Rumbelara.
Speaker 1:They're just not too sure how to play Jess Barnes and Soph. Because you double-team Jess, that frees up Soph and Soph, soph, because you double-team Jess, that frees up Soph and Soph is a beautiful shot on goal. And then, yeah, they go back to one-on-one and then obviously then Jess sort of takes over Denny then turned around and they got young girl Ella into their shooting. She started playing goal, attack around Maxwell coming out onto wing attack. So they started to have a little bit more feed and this young girl Ella, she was very, you know, very speedy, very quick and and she, yeah, shot the ball nicely.
Speaker 1:So they started trying to get a bit of pace pace into the game and, as I said, trying to nullify the shooters of Rumblara. And, as I said, rumblara sort of woke up to it. They started to use Soph a lot more. So they started to use Soph down the centre of the court. They were starting to, you know, find her at the centre. Yeah, she'd stand at the top of the circle and she'd receive that pass and then, you know, you'd had Emily and Sarah would just split each pocket and, yeah, sort of opened it up a bit instead of being a bit clogged. But, yeah, so, as I said, denny, they really tried to nullify by putting a press on. And you can tell, yeah, as I said, they shot 22 goals in the first quarter, denny, sorry Rambalara and they only shot 13 in that second quarter. But in doing that, yeah, they sort of restricted Danny to 11. So they won that quarter again Rumba. So, you know, 13, as I said, 13 to 11. That quarter was shot. So halftime score was 35-21. Yeah, you wouldn't say it was over. By all means, 14 goals is pretty much achievable. Normally Rumbler have been 25 or 20 goals up, but 14 goals, as I said, they were sort of putting some press on Rumbler.
Speaker 1:Rumbler come out in that third quarter and they made some changes. Alani went to wing defence, kai went to wing attack. They were giving Sarah and Madika a bit of a break and they made some changes. So Larnie went to wing defense, kai went to wing attack and they sort of, yeah, were giving Sarah and Medica a bit of a break I'm sorry, emily and Medica a bit of a break, and then, yeah, I will say it didn't work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, larnie sort of got found out a bit. Yeah, she was, yeah, I wouldn't say she was slow, but she got, yeah, she got found out like, um, rihanna maxwell. I mean she's a quality player, whether she's in shooting or whether she's, um, yeah, playing wing attack. I mean, she's a coach, she's a coach of the club for a reason. She's a, um, yeah, two-time premiership coach for him, two-time premiership captain, so, um, yeah, so lani sort of got a bit fanned out and she was getting pulled up for a bit of contact because, yeah, just, rhianna Maxwell was a little bit more smarter than her Kai. On the other hand, she really, you know, she does it every week she puts her hand up, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a lot of criticism about Nak nikai bam, but in the way she plays, but she plays with a heart on her sleeve and she plays, um, you know, she, she plays for the team, um, she gets pulled up a lot for contact and and she gets looked at a lot. But, um, yeah, so she, she came on and sort of give him a bit of a mongrel in that wing attack position but, as I said, it sort of it worked, but it didn't. I mean, yeah, it sort of. Yeah, I think obviously Daniliquin made some changes too, but you know, so the girls were on for a little bit and then Lani come back off again and then Emily come on and then they sort of changed it around. So then they were able to get Sarah off to have a bit of a break and have Kai in that centre circle. So, yeah, it sort of wasn't Lani's day yesterday. She sort of got found out a bit. She was a little bit slow, just a very smart wing attacking Rihanna, maxwell and that's what it was, and Lani was like she did a couple of good things, but yeah, it just wasn't her day yesterday and yeah, she just probably needs to work on being a little bit smarter on how she plays her role as a wing defence and just trying to nullify and cover a lot more and work a lot harder in that coverage, especially to help the two girls in that defensive circle. So, tiana and Jess, they'll bust in their ass, bust in their balls. Working hard, working hard.
Speaker 1:All of a sudden, jessie Barnes was finding it again. She was able to leap and get some rebounds. Soph was able to get some rebounds. So in that quarter they shot 17 goals. So they shot 17 goals Rumba did to um Denny's 13. So it was very, very close. So Rumba again won that quarter. But it was very, very close. Um, yeah, and they were able to, yeah, they were able to start shooting a bit more freely to um Denny. They were, yeah, they'd get a couple of turnovers.
Speaker 1:And then, as I said, this young alley who was a goal attack. She was, yeah, all over the place, but she was very, um, very reliable on her shots. Um, so she, she was playing a really fantastic game and sort of, uh, making tiana accountable, which you know that didn't matter to tiana, because she was, yeah, she was onto it. Um, and you could tell to, tiana was starting to hurt with her hand. Um, she had it bandaged up and everything else, but she was sort of um, leading with their right hand a lot, not with her left hand, and sort of, yeah, you could tell she was a bit tentative to go for a couple of things. Um, but her and Jess always work marvelous in that um, in that defensive circle. And, yeah, jesse, barnes and Soph, they were on song.
Speaker 1:They're able to shoot over 10 goals a quarter, which is absolutely fantastic. If you can shoot over 10 goals a quarter and keep on scoring and shoot up to nearly 20 goals a quarter, you're doing great as two shooters. So, yeah, three-quarter time it was 52 to 34. So it was an 18-goal advantage. It was a 14-goal advantage at halftime. So they stretched the lead by four goals and, yeah, 18 goals. You could probably say yep, yep, game's over. I mean, yeah, you'd probably have to shoot a goal every 50 seconds and try and defend zero on the other side to really win the game, denny.
Speaker 1:So they came out and Rumba wanted to make a statement, obviously wanted to push it a lot further. So, um, yeah, last quarter they come out, um, and yeah, defensively, rumba sort of worked out um the shooters, um, and they pretty much started the the last quarter as I started the first quarter with the started players. So lani and kaira on the bench. Again. Sarah had a break so she was fresh into centre. Emily back into wing attack and again, without being crude on their being physical, danny, they were physical but it was fair physical. They were really body on body putting the pressure back on Emily and to her credit and to Sarah's credit, yeah, they held their own, they stood up, they held it. Jesse Barnes and Sofa holding it in that defensive circle because I was trying to defend Jesse Barnes two of them and it was getting a bit physical in that shooting circle.
Speaker 1:And then obviously Etiana and Jess doing a good job on the two shooters down the other end and Rumble, they came out with some purpose and with intent. They were really and I suppose the thing after the game was they were sort of rushing it and there was a reason why they were trying to rush it and I'll get into that in a minute. But they were sort of rushing it and there was a reason why they were trying to rush it and I'll get into that in a minute. But they were sort of rushing the ball in and they sort of had to peg that back a bit and realize, well, no, look, let's just play our game, let's just push the ball in, let's work it around. And the defensive end on Rambalara was absolutely fantastic and probably halfway through the third quarter and all that last quarter, because all of a sudden, denny yeah, there was a couple of times where they could have been done for hell ball and they got rid of it early enough that the umpires didn't call help. There was a couple of times where they did get done for hell ball but they were passing it back a lot of times and trying to reset.
Speaker 1:And yeah, there was the coverage with Madika and Tiana and Jess Bamblett. Probably halfway through that third quarter, into the last quarter, all of a sudden she was just in beast mode. She was just picking the ball out of the air. She was grabbing the ball off the Denny players and some of the things she was doing. And Madika, like Deeks, she was doing exactly the same thing. She was, you know, just grabbing that ball.
Speaker 1:And it was something that I sort of noticed that if you've got a defender down like Tiana, as I said, she was getting sore in that last quarter with her hand. But the others step up, they really step up, and all Tiana had to do was just play her role, and just you know. But the others step up, they really step up, and all Tiana had to do was just play her role, and just you know, she wasn't going to get the intercepts that she normally does and she wasn't going to do this and she wasn't going to do that. But she just played a role and put pressure on the shooters and you know, jessie Bamblett and Madika just sort of took over, and you know. And then that defensive pressure in center for Sarah was just unbelievable.
Speaker 1:She was getting some intercepts and everything else and, as I said, they started to force Rambalara to go backwards. And once you start going backwards, that's not a good thing, because pretty much what that does okay, you can say you're resetting, but what that does is also gets the defenders to reset too. So instead of that ball coming in quick into the shooters and the defenders going, oh shit, what's going on, they can actually physically see that ball come back out into that center. Third, and it helps them set up. That helps them set up and they look at it and go, okay, where are they going? And you can set up, whereas if the ball kept on coming down and they were really coming down quick and then throwing that ball into the shooting circle quick, you really as a defender haven't got time to really defend or have you know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, the talk with Tiana and Jess was phenomenal and, as I said, they were forcing the ball back out to anywhere. They were making sure the ball got back out and then trying to get it back in and reset and there was many a times where they pretty much passed it back into that centre third, probably three or four times. And then there was a couple of times where it was a turnover or the pressure on, you know, the defenders. Putting the pressure on Rumble R's pressure in defence would cause them to throw it out of bounds or miss their target or perceive pressure. So yeah, that last quarter and probably halfway through the third quarter, they really really started to put that pressure back on Rumbelara in that defensive circle and that's a pressure that they've known all year. I mean, yeah, they are known for their defensive pressure and Danny couldn't really do anything about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were struggling a little bit to try and get that ball back into their shooters. Rumbler was setting up well behind the ball and, as I said, you can throw out once to reset, but they were throwing it many times. I'd say what that was doing was it was just making the defender set up even quicker. They were just going right, let's go. You know body on body. You know go post, go front, go high, go side, go pocket. So yeah, danny was sort of in no man's land. They were just throwing it out and trying to get it back in, throwing it out and trying to drive and they'd sort of lost a lot of drive.
Speaker 1:And Rhiannon Maxwell was sort of losing a bit of drive and Deke's been on her and yeah, as I said, lani, it just wasn't her day. She just coughed up a lot of contacts and, yeah, she just wasn't on song. She played a poor game and you know they're all entitled to play poor games. It's just that she needs to realize that when she's on, she's got to be on because you know you're not playing. You know your Cobbams or Brugers and no disrespect for Cobbam and Bruger but you know Rihanna Maxwell very smart, you know they're coming up against Moama next week, which I'll get into in a minute, um, so yeah, so it wasn't Lani's day yesterday she sort of got fanned out a bit, but hopefully she uh comes back um next week, um, and then, yeah, with with Madika on, she sort of stopped that drive that uh Rihanna Maxwell was trying to do in that wing wing attack um position and then the shooters like the goal attack and the goal shooter, they really didn't have anywhere to go. They had no feed, to be honest, and it was getting picked off left, right and centre.
Speaker 1:So last quarter Rumba again shot 14 goals. And what I said before about they were trying to rush the ball in they were trying to get the 70, and they were trying to rush the ball in. They were trying to get the 70, and they were trying to rush the ball in, trying to get the 70. Yeah, they got the 68, and they sort of realized after a while well, that's not us, we've just got to play our processes and play our game, not try and rush it in to get a big score or whatever. As long as you win and as long as you're doing the processes and you know what you're doing and the way you play your game and the way you train, the way you play and everything else, as I said, yeah, so they shot 68 goals all up. So they shot 14 goals in the last quarter.
Speaker 1:Rambalara to 10 goals for Denny. I mean you weren't going to restrict Denny to 15, 20 goals. They got quality shooters Rhiananna Maxwell, this young alley girl they got quality shooters. Yeah, they weren't missing from much and yeah, it was just because of the defensive pressure that Tiana, jess, bann, madika that what their pressure was was sort of having turnovers and missed shots from Denny. So you were never going to restrict them to 20 goals. So, yeah, to have them shoot 44, it's probably a little bit more, it's probably higher than what Rambla would have liked. But I mean, at the end of the day, you know it's all about winning and all about qualifying for finals. And yeah, they pretty much pushed one side away yesterday.
Speaker 1:They got another side next week in Moama, which is going to be an absolutely cracking game. It was a 14-goal turnaround last game. They played so six goals down quarter time and they ended up winning by eight. So they run below one by eight. Moama got some cracking plays. So next week, yeah, everybody for Rumble R has to be on song. Yeah, and that includes Lani and Kai coming off the bench. You want to be able to step in and do your role straight away and not be found out. And you know, if you know you've been found out, you know, go to training and try and work on it, because next week they really need to step it up, as I said.
Speaker 1:Final scores yesterday Rumba 68 to Dunlick on 44. So 24-goal win to Rumba. So it's a six-goal improvement from the first game for denny. So, as I said, they lost by 30 goals last time. I mean you're always going to have those improvements. Um, because, yeah, great teams will look at that and work on what they had to have to do. Um, and you know, and this is going to happen next week, yeah, they, rumble, are now put all their focuses now on Moama and how they're going to nullify Moama.
Speaker 1:We could do a little bit of a preview now. Moama have got some quality players. Lisa Drysdale runs that shooting circle. You've got Charlotte Sheldon, yeah, runs at midcourt. Liv Taverna runs at midcourt. Yeah, abby Larkin up and coming under-23 V&L girl for Benigo Strikers yeah, they've got some quality players, moana.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, rambalara need to be on song. I mean it's not a bad. I think Rambalara don't want to. They don't want to lose games. They want to go through undefeated. But at the end of the day, it's not bad if you lose a game. They can't lose top spot. That was sort of locked in on the weekend because, yeah, their percentage is that high that they can't yeah, you physically cannot, they cannot lose top spot.
Speaker 1:If you look at the ladder, we go full. What's their percentage? Yeah, so their percentage is 192-69, and Moema's is 163. So you're looking at 29%, 29%. Moema would have to beat Rumba by 30 goals next week. So Moema would have to beat Rumba by 30 goals next week. And then Rumbalara come up against Tony the week before and Tony would have to beat him by 20 goals just for Rumbalara to lose top spot. So pretty much, rumbalara are your minor premiers, so they're going to probably stay top. They're two games in front and a massive percentage in front, so I could not see Moema topping them and coming into that top spot. So congratulations to Rumbelara for getting the minor premiership.
Speaker 1:I know there's two games to go, but you'd pretty much say that it's done and dusted. Next week's game will be a preview of the second semifinal which is going to be played at Rumballara. So Moema and Rumballara. They'll duke it out next week at Rumballara and then second week of finals, they'll duke it out again to see who gets into a grand final. So you've got two absolute cracking games coming up against Moema Rumbelara and Moema. It's going to be absolutely, and it's probably a good thing for Rumbelara to be playing these hard games now because it keeps them on song. They know what they need to do. They point playing games against lower size and you're beating them by 40 gold and you start to be a bit complacent. So Rumbelara, yeah, you would.
Speaker 1:As I said, I've pretty much celebrated it. Now that they are the minor premiers, they will stay top. It's just yeah, if Moema I mean, let's have a look. As I said, moema and Rumballara next week. And then the final round who has Moema got? They've got New America. I mean they're going to have to beat New America by 80 goals, the build-up percentage to try and take over from Rumbelara. And obviously too, last game Rumbelara got 20. So the three hard games that Rumbelara had in the last three games for the year ticked the box on Daniloquin. So they beat Denny yesterday, yeah, 68-44. Got Moama next week, going to be an absolute cracking game.
Speaker 1:And then you just look at the ladder, I think pretty much, yeah, the ladder's done. We have a look here. I really don't think Finlay can lose. Third, I mean, well, they probably can, um, because they're only one game behind tiny um, and really they're only, yeah, one, like they're only one game in front of tiny, sorry, and they're only one game in front of nathalia. And if you look, yeah, as I said, the last two rounds, who has finleylay got? They play Cobram next week and then they play who they got last round. Finlay have got Nathalia. So that'll be a cracking game because Nathalia, as I said, they're only one game behind Finlay, but you'd pretty much say that the latter's sorted.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's going to be any changes. As I said, rambalara undefeated on top. Even if they drop the next two games, they will stay on top of the ladder. So congratulations to Rambalara for being minor premiers. Then you're going to have Moama. No one can take away from Moama. Yeah, they're two games in front of Finlay. And then you've got one game behind them, which is Tongala and Nathalia. So pretty much, oh. And then Danny. I mean Danny will stay there because they're two games in front of Moala and one game behind Nathalia. So you'd probably say that Denny will take up that sixth position. So I'm pretty sure with the finals they will play Nathalia in elimination and I'm pretty sure Finlay and Tongayla will play.
Speaker 1:So pretty much two more rounds to go of Murray League A-grade netball and I think the latter is set. So the latter will be Rumbler and Moama Finlay, tongayla, nathalia Dine is set, so the ladder will be Rumballara, moama Finlay, tongala, nathaya Daniloquin. So congratulations to Finlay and Chelsea McDonald because, yeah, last year they were sitting on the bottom of the ladder. They were getting smashed each week. I know the last game they played against Rumballara last year they didn't come back on after three-quarter time. So there was a lot of things going on at Finlay. So, having Chelsea MacDonald and she is a great kid Chelsea MacDonald is a great kid and she's got Finlay up and cracking at the moment and by knowing it tomorrow's paper, we've got a bit of a write-up about whether Finlay can match it with Rumble. At the end of the day, anyone can match anybody. It's just what happens on the day and how you're feeling and nerves and everything else. As I said, congratulations to Chelsea MacDonald and the Finlay Netball Club for getting them where they are Again. Also, nathalia I think they were roundabouts last year. So really, everyone else Rumble, aramawama, tongala, nathalia and Danny have pretty much all been there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the only big surprise and, as I said, it's probably more a disappointment was Moela. Yeah, they played in a premiership. They played in the grand final last year against Tony, got beat by Whaler. Yeah, they played in a premiership. They played in the grand final last year against Tony, got big bike goals and they're languishing in seventh. Yeah, it's amazing what happens when you start losing players or players with caliber.
Speaker 1:And yeah, they lost Lily Sharp at the start of the year. So she went to Finlay Now talking about that. So, finlay, she hasn't played Lily for a while because I think, as you know, she lives in Queensland. So, whether they're saving her for finals, I'm pretty sure she's qualified Now. If they're saving her for finals, yeah, she didn't play against Rumbelara and she's got a leap on her like something shocking. So she's going to match it with Jess Barnes if they have to play each other.
Speaker 1:But yeah, you would want to hope that Rumbelara would beat Moema second week of finals and go straight into the grand final and then let all the other teams battle it out. I honestly think it'll be a Finlay-Moema prelim and then, whatever happens, then it'll be an absolutely cracking game. I think the prelim is in Baruga. So, as I said, I think the latter is pretty much safe. Rumble R and Moema Finlay third I think the latter is pretty much safe. Rumbelara. Moama Finlay third, Tongala fourth, nathalia fifth, denny sixth.
Speaker 1:The disappointing one would be Moala, thinking that they would have had a shot of probably playing finals again this year, and they've bowed out. Probably the other disappointment would be Kengapna. They probably thought that they would have had a good solid team. They have got a good solid team but they lost Morgan Zotti for a little bit with a calf injury. So probably disappointment for them. And then obviously you know the surprise packet for me, on sitting on near the bottom of the ladder, is New America, because you know I watched them against Finland and they only lost and okay, it's a loss by 14 goals, but they really showed some promise and really showed some flair. So that's a weird one for me for them sitting in 11th, second last.
Speaker 1:And then obviously you've got Beruga and I really hope Beruga look at the likes of Finlay and sort of, and have a look at it and say and say, well, it's easy to do, it's easy to turn your, your club around, it's easy to turn your team around, um, it's just a matter of smart um, recruiting and and and really and obviously getting your young kids and getting them up through the ranks. So you know netty, um, under under 11s, you know under 13s, whatever under 15s, under 17s, and then getting them into A-grade netball and getting them to really encourage to play A-grade netball and not be scared of you know A-grade netball. So hopefully, baruga, they look at Finlay and go you know what. We can turn it around. They did, we can, because you know you want these sides up there, you want these sides to be able to turn around and match it with everyone. You want an even playing field across the whole lot. You don't want one team that's going to be totally dominant. Yeah, rumblaro this year, denny last year, the year before, tony as well. So yeah, and probably in the top six, probably the one, really.
Speaker 1:The one thing that has stood out for me at the moment is Tongala, and I'm going to delve into it a little bit more later on, but I'm really not sure what's going on with Tiny, the Premier's last year and they seem to be losing games that they shouldn't be losing. So whether that's a personnel issue, whether it's an inside thing, I don't know premiers last year and they seem to be losing games that they shouldn't be losing. So whether that's a personnel issue, whether it's an inside thing, I don't know. But, um, that's one of the surprises in that top six for me, with tonga really not not showing their full potential. Now we all know finals is a totally different ball game, it's a totally different gig. And, yeah, maybe tiny will come out. They know how to play finals. They've already been there, they've won a premiership, they know what the pressure's like. Maybe, yeah, they're just waiting. I don't know. So that's it for me.
Speaker 1:As I said, rumballara, too strong for Denny. Yesterday they were 68-44. And, yeah, just the next two games for rumble r is going to be. They will not lose top spot. So they have the minor premiers, um, and yeah, it's going to be a fight for them and moama, um, but finley, as I said, um, hats off to Chelsea McDonald and the Finlay A-grade netball, or even the whole netball thing for Finlay at the moment. Congratulations to the whole lot of them because, yeah, they're able to bring a side that was relishing in the bottom of the ladder last year or near the bottom, and yeah, they're sitting third and I don't think they'll lose third, to be honest, and they are really going to shape that final series this year. So, uh, anyway, so that is me enough said uh, this is shooting, uh, this is uh center pass.
Speaker 1:And um, yeah, I will talk to you through the week. I will have a preview of the game against Moama and Rumbalara. Probably put it out on Thursday. Going to be absolutely smacking, cracking game. You know it's going to be brilliant and pity it's not a final where people can come and watch, because you're going to watch two great sides that have got great talent in netball. I really think that these two sides can match it with any A-grade GVL side. I'm just going to put it out there. I really think they could beat some GVL side. I'm just going to put it out there. I really think they could beat some GVL sides. That's how good these two sides are with their talent. So I'll do a preview of it on Thursday, put it out. But again, as I said, rumble are too good over Dinelequin 68-44. I'm Nuff Said. Thank you for listening. Have a great week. I'm out Bye, for I'm nuff said. Thank you for listening. Have a great week, I'm out bye.
