HEALESVILLE – SEASON REVIEW

By Matt Fotia

It was a long old year for the proud Healesville Football Netball Club, as the Bloods recorded just one win in the Senior Football and one win in the A Grade Netball. But before we can look towards 2020, we should look back on the year that was.

It’s Healesville’s 2019 review.

Football :

Position : 9th (1-15)

For : 771 (Ranked #9)

Against : 2185 (Ranked #9)

Leading Goal Kicker : Rodney Woodford (26)

Best and Fairest :  Unknown

What went well: The Bloods, to their absolute credit, fought it out til the very end of the season despite the fact their fate had been locked in a long time before.

The back half of the year saw them knock off Upwey Tecoma at the Tigers Den, just a week after they ran Wandin close at the Kennel. They finished off the season against the Dogs and fell just short of their second victory.

Players such as Woodford, Casey Adams and league Life Member Daniel Plozza showcased the pride that the Bloods have in their club as they battled on gamely throughout the season.

They may have only won one game for the year, but hopefully the youth that gave plenty of game time to will have taken something from the level of opposition, but also from the determination and commitment of their senior teammates.

What went wrong : The lack of preparation left the club unguarded to the step up in football this year. This made the Bloods first half of the year look a lot worse then it actually was.

Although they recovered well, their lack of preparation left them high and dry to start the season.

What they need : Healesville need to keep doing what they’ve been doing since seasons end.

They’ve re-signed a number of their youngsters from the 2019 campaign and will need them to keep building on the experiences they had in the Premier Division.

Outside of that they need to re-group as a club, top up with a couple recruits and enjoy life in a more suitable division.

Grade – D

Could possibly have pinched three to four victories with better preparation. In the grand scheme of things though this might not be the worst thing for the Bloods, who can enjoy more success and look to plot their eventual return to the Premier Division.

Netball :

Position : 9th (1-15)

For : 404 (#9)

Against : 947 (#9)

Leading Goal Scorer : Jade Rogers (163)

Best and Fairest : Unknown

What went well :  Similar to the football operation, the way that the Bloods netballers went about their task, right til the end, improving as the season went on and nicking a victory to end the year (41-39 over Wandin) was extremely admirable.

Once again it is little consolation, but it will no doubt have been a good way for the A Graders to finish off the year.

What went wrong : The Bloods didn’t end up that much worse off than 2018. They won one more game that season, but didn’t have the same level of competition as they did in 2019.

So the worst thing is that they have stagnated on the netball court. Whilst they were never likely to make the finals, the lack of improvement will be the biggest grievance.

What they need : A big focus on the junior netball sector. They’ve announced some talented coaches in this section which is good too see.

If they can strengthen this area they can look to build a strong netball sector for the future.

As we all know, a good re-build comes from the bottom up.