ROC Netball Club

Netball

A tight start for ROC, set up a strong season, finishing third and from 12 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses.

It wasn’t until Round 6 against Olinda Ferny Creek (Premiers) where ROC had a one-sided match.

They started off with five tight games; a two point win over Upwey Tecoma, a two point win over Pakenham, a tie with Beaconsfield, a three point win over Woori Yallock and a five point win over Wandin.

The OFC game halted their momentum as they were hit with a 37 point belting. They got back to their winning ways against Mt Evelyn before losing to Monbulk (who finished fourth) and getting pumped by Narre Warren.

ROC fared better second time around against most teams, comfortably defeating Upwey Tecoma, Pakenham, Beaconsfield and Wandin. They were, however, unable to beat Monbulk and OFC for the second time. The last round saw them pull off an impressive one point win against Narre Warren; a win that would instil confidence as they were previously belted by Narre Warren.

After finishing third, they lost the Qualifying Final to OFC by 14 before Wandin took out revenge on ROC defeating them 60-43.

ROC’s goals for and against for the H&A season were 770 and 752 respectively, highlighting their gritty start to the season and an ability to win a few games comfortably after being thoroughly beaten on two occasions.

They should take plenty of confidence into next year knowing they beat the Runners Up in Round 18 and winning two thirds of their H&A games.

ROC had plenty of options under the ring with Isabella O’Shanassy scoring 253 from 19 games, Keeley Burgmann 251 from 15 and Sarah Castricum 216 from just 12 games. Sidney Kneebone and Samantha Neil also had a few scoring games.

The two absolute standouts across the season were Samantha Neil (BnF) and Olivia Hamilton (runner up), whilst Mikaela Dakic enjoyed a dominant year as did Sarah Castricum.

Having a plethora of options under the ring is a big asset, however despite Mikaela Dakic having a brilliant season, ROC would want to prevent their opposition from scoring heavily against the stronger teams.

There’s no reason why ROC can’t challenge for a top two spot in 2023, in what should be another promising campaign.

The B grade team were runners up, falling short by four to Narre Warren in the Grand Final.

In C Grade ROC finished 6^th and the D Grade team had a brilliant season, falling short to Narre Warren by three, after leading at QT and HT.

 

Written by Jordan Peeler