Narre Warren off to great start with premiership defence

Narre Warren Football Netball Club had a great day on Saturday, with a near clean sweep of results across their football and netball teams to kickstart the 2021 season.

With the 2019 premiership flags from the reserves and senior football teams unfurled in front of their supporters, the respective sides went on to dominate Olinda Ferny Creek, defeating them by over 80 points.

The netball teams secured three of four wins on the court, with the A grade side going down by 8 points.

Reflecting on the day, Club Vice President Darren Dwyer says the Magpies enjoyed a great day on both the football field and netball court to start a new season.

“The club had a fantastic day, we unfurled our flags from 2019 for our seniors and reserves teams and for one of our netball teams,” Dwyer said.

“We had a big crowd and the buzz around the ground from the start of the day was amazing, I think everyone was just happy to be back to local sport.”

Losing the elimination final to Woori Yallock in 2019, the Magpies will be looking for ways to overcome the Bloods as they work to make themselves better when they face off against them later in the year.

The netball sides have great talent within them but as the year goes on, the clear aim is for all the magpie netball teams to be in contention for finals.

While a few players departed over the last 18 months, the football sides gained some great talent as well which have proved to be great additions to the club.

“We have kept the majority of our younger guys, which is crucial for us and I think they will be competitive throughout the year,” Dwyer explained.

“We are hoping to be back up there at the end of the year when it comes to finals time.”

A strong culture possesses the club across the football and netball department which Narre Warren hopes will again translate into on-field success in 2021.

The Magpies aim to be competitive and a leader, on and off the field throughout the year, but is also doing its part in carrying out the work necessary to keep the season going.

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the last four months and we are doing all the right things with regard to the COVID-19 protocols because we want to keep the season going,” Dwyer said.

“We are all just wrapped to be back playing local sport and we hope to get through 2021 with no problems.”