By Tara Murray
Rockbank’s season may have come to an end on Saturday, but there was smiles aplenty from the players post-game.
Having made it further through the finals than any of the players dreamed possible, a win against Romsey in the Riddell District Netball League preliminary final would have been an even greater bonus.
But after upsetting Wallan and Rupertswood in the first two weeks of the finals, it wasn’t to be against the Redbacks, who won 52-41.
Rams co-captain Mary Brodie was thrilled to have made it that far.
“We’re still happy,” she said. “It was good and we didn’t expect to get as far as we did. Anything past the first week of the finals was a bonus.”
On Saturday, the Rams struggled to recapture the form they had shown earlier in the finals.
They were down by seven goals at quarter-time and nine at the main break.
The Redbacks managed to maintain their lead despite switching positions around to give some other players a go.
Brodie said that in the end, the Rams were beaten by a better team.
“We didn’t play our best netball and the best team won on the day,” she said.
“We just went out there to play the way we had been playing. Their first quarter blew us out of the park … they kept building every quarter. Their defence was fantastic and their whole team was fantastic. It was a hard game.”
Rebecca Hicks, who earlier in the week had been named the Western Water player of the year, was the Rams’ best with 31 goals from 35 attempts.
For the Rams, it’s been a season of firsts, including making A-grade finals for the first time.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, with the club parting ways with coach Lizzy Masterson towards the back end of the season.
Brodie said it spoke highly of the players that they responded so well and continued to win.
“It’s fantastic how we have all stuck together,” she said. “We could have fallen apart with no coach. The girls really rallied around each other and were able to handle it.”
Based on the success they’ve had as a team and individually, Brodie said there was exciting times ahead.
She said support from the club for the team had been massive.
Romsey will face Macedon in the grand final on Sunday at Clarke Oval.
The Redbacks will be shooting for back-to-back flags.
In other RDNL news:
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/macedons-chloe-wilson-doubles-down-for-end-of-year-netball-honours/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/rockbank-pair-among-winners-at-rdfnl-best-and-fairest-night/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/romsey-fans-flag-fever/
