Tara Murray
Consistency continues to be a focus for the Western Warriors after another disappointing loss on Friday night against the Wilson Storage Southern Saints in the Victorian Netball League championship.
The Warriors have had an up and down debut season and against the Saints they showed glimpses of their best and worst.
The Warriors were in control of the game in the first half, before fading with the Saints making the most of it, winning 59-45.
Warriors coach Kim Bailey said it was a pretty disappointing result in the end.
“We had a really good first half of the game but we gave up the lead in the second half which was disappointing.
“The Saints had Jessie Grenvold back which helped and she shut down Kim [Borger]. Kim has been such a focal point for us the last few weeks.
“Mia Van Wyk at wing defence also shut down our attack.”
Borger still finished with 26 goals, but didn’t have her usual influence.
Bailey said while their attack end was down, there had been some pleasing work from their defence end.
She said Elly Randall and Georgia Berry both came on and had an impact.
Bailey said the biggest thing for the group at this stage was just getting that consistency going.
“We’re still building relationships across the whole four quarters,” she said. “We’re getting to know each other and there are some issues that come with not having played that much together as a unit.
“We will improve as we go. We’ll do a bit more analysing and work out when we drop off as it’s not fitness.”
The Warriors now sit second bottom with two wins from the first nine matches. They are two games outside the top four, but have played an extra game than all teams but top side Boroondara Express.
The Warriors under-23s also suffered a loss to the Saints but it was a much better performance than the last few weeks.
The Saints took the win 52-47.
Bailey said they were happy with that performance.
“They have been decimated by injury and had three development girls in the team,” she said.
“To go down by five against a really good side was good.
“Three of their leaders are out in Eliza Gollant with a meniscus injury, Kiralee Collings who was away and Nerana Baker who was also unavailable.
“It was a much improved performance.”
Ella Closter shut 37 goals for the Warriors.
The championship side will have a bye this week with Gippsland Stars not having a side.
The under-23s will face the Stars with Bailey saying they believe they are a good chance for a win.
Bailey said the championship side would still train this week but would look to review things a bit more with the longer break.
After that the Warriors face the Casey Demons and Melbourne University.
