The youngest netballers in the O&K have the chance to grab centre stage on the biggest day of the year, when Bonnie Doon takes on Benalla All Blacks in the 15 and under netball decider.
The Bombers will look to complete their perfect undefeated season by claiming a back-to-back flag, but the Panthers won’t make it easy for them.
They’ve been the best in the business for a while and have experience in the big dance, a feat which Bonnie Doon coach Jess Harris puts down to continuity in gaining new players.
“I think we’ve just stuck to our structures and what we do well, that’s just led to our success,” she said.
“Every year, we lose a couple up to the 17s but we gain a few.
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“We’ve got really good structures with being able to keep some top-agers in each level, their experience always helps with the new ones coming through.
“Particularly through the juniors, we can keep four or five top-agers in each level and we fill it with another four or five newbies, they grow throughout the year and they’re our top-agers.”
The Bombers have swept aside every challenge they’ve faced, highlighted by three wins, one in the qualifying final, against the Panthers, and the court is stacked with stars in the black and red.
“I think there’s no particular end that I would rate more than the other,” Harris said.
“I think we’ve got some dominant players throughout, we’ve got Carly Desmond through our midcourt, we’ve got Erin Mahoney, one of our top-agers in goal keeper who not only leads by example but talks a lot.
“We’ve got Lara [Klingsporn] and Annie [Armsden] in our attack end who know how to play.
“We’ve matched up really well throughout the normal season.
“Obviously the very first final, they really brought the heat, and anything can happen in finals, so we know we’ve got to be at our best and bring our best.”
Even though they’re up against a strong outfit, Benalla All Blacks proved they can never be counted out.
Finishing in the top two after a few tough years is a commendable achievement, but Panthers coach Jemma Smith said they were in a position to challenge for the flag.
“Most of our games have only been won by small margins, they’ve been really, really tight, but the girls managed to pull ahead and they finished second, which is exciting,” she said.
“We’ll take that as a win in itself, considering the last few seasons we’ve had as a club.
“I coach because I want them to experience the netball I experienced growing up, getting the seniors involved with our culture has been a massive thing this year, we’ve had big support from our senior footballers and senior netballers, which was really good.
“We had the senior netballers give the juniors some opportunities to play up in the senior teams, which is also exciting.”
The midcourt-shooter connection will be pivotal for Benalla to get right, and if the Panthers can hit the scoreboard hard and fast on Saturday, the Bombers could be in an uncomfortable position early.
“The girls have played really well together – I think they’ve managed in the last few weeks to really come together as a team, which is good, putting it all in place,” Smith said.
“Darcie Jackson, our centre, she’s a gun, she just runs her little heart out all day.
“She manages to get intercepts, helps feed the ball really well to our strong shooters, Lola Crook and Harper Robertson.
“They’ve had a fantastic year, Lola finished second in the leading goal shooting which is really exciting, she’s a bottom-age player.”
The 15 and under grand final between Bonnie Doon and Benalla All Blacks ignites the grand final proceedings from 9am.
