Ballarat NL: New Bloods provide edge in search for finals redemption

Melton will go into the final stretch of the Ballarat league netball season as one of the form teams of the competition.

The Bloods have lost just twice this year and are outright second on the ladder.

After welcoming several new faces during the first two thirds of the season, Melton netball director Kate Williams is rapt with the way the A-grade side has progressed.

“The girls have been doing really well,” she said.

“They’ve been training hard this year because they know the last couple of years they have lost grand finals.

“We’ve got some new recruits as well and they’ve all stood up.”

Melton is likely to go into finals full of confidence, having been the only side to defeat the top-of-the-table Sunbury throughout the season.

The Bloods won by 16 goals when the teams clashed in round six.

Melton has established itself as one of the most consistent teams in A-grade, with its total of 598 goals for and 376 goals against among the best. But in scary news for opposition players, Williams thinks her side will only get better.

“I think there’s a little bit more improvement in the group,” she said.

“They have been focusing on that in training.

“The coaches have just been seeing where the girls fit best and what positions they have been playing.

‘‘I think they’ve got better netball to play in the next couple of weeks.”

Melton’s premiership credentials will be put to the test in the final round of the season when the Bloods take on fellow top-four occupants Redan on August 23.

Before looking that far ahead, the Bloods will focus on this week’s game against East Point at MacPherson Park on Saturday.