Melton Centrals are preparing for another year as the hunted in the Riddell District Netball League.
Coming off last season’s premiership success, Centrals’ coach Randy Pereira knows there will be a target on his team’s back come round one next year.
But he says that’s nothing new after a long period of sustained success.
“We have been the hunted for six years,” he said.
“In that time we have played in four grand finals and apart from this year we were the favourites in every one.
“At the end of the day you want to win every game and finish on top, so then you become the hunted.”
Melton saved its best until late in the 2014 season, avenging a semi-final loss to Riddell by defeating the Bombers by 16 goals in the grand final two weeks later.
Centrals finished third in the home-and-away season, losing just four games.
It’s unclear how many members of the premiership-winning squad will return in 2015.
But Pereira says it’s almost certain that star shooter Rebecca Morabito won’t play.
“We’re 99 per cent sure Bec won’t be playing.
“That means we’ll need another goaler and we have a couple we’re looking at. We’ll have to look outside the club for that. We have a couple of good goalers, but they’re in the under-18s and are still pretty young and they’ll take time to come up.”
Tran Truong and Jess May are also weighing up whether to play next season.
The Centrals will continue to run trials in the lead-up to Christmas as they form their squads for next season.
Even though he’s expecting a much more even A-grade competition, Pereira says he’s still aiming for back-to-back successes for Centrals.
“I really like to see a competition where the difference between the top team and bottom team is 10 or 12 goals, not 40 or 50,” he said.
“The reality is, the middle-of-the-road teams and the top two or three are getting closer . . . the gap is closing.
“You just don’t know until the season starts how you’re going to go.
“I’d like to think that, yes, we’re going to push for back-to-back, but we’re also going to just wait and see.”
