Matt Hewson
Geelong West Giants have booked their place in the Geelong Netball League A-grade semifinals with a convincing 53-41 elimination final win against St Albans on Sunday,
Giants coach Jill Leader said while the victory had strengthened her players’ belief in the side’s system they would need to maintain a healthy respect for this weekend’s opponents South Barwon.
“Once you make the finals you’ve got to really believe you’ve got a chance, so confidence has got to be part of that,” Leader said.
“The girls really put the game plan together and committed to it against St Albans, and that’s what got us the win, playing a really connected game together. You’ve got to believe you can take it to every team, and we do believe that.
“But in saying that, we know we’ve got our work cut out for us this week against South Barwon; they’re playing some really good netball, they’re a really tight unit and very connected as well. So it’s going to be a really good battle.”
The Giants got off to a quick start against St Albans, leading 13-6 at quarter time, and though their opponents cut the deficit to just two goals by half time, Geelong West played a superior second half to seal the 12-goal win.
Leader said her players had demonstrated their ability to compete through a full four quarters of netball, something that had been lacking in their loss to South Barwon in round 11.
“We learnt a lot from that loss, we had a really bad start,” she said.
“We had a few games up till that point where we had bad first quarters, won the last three quarters, but still lost the game, and that game was the last time we did that. I think it was 17-7 at quarter time and we lost by five goals.
“And that game was the last time we did that. If you can take learnings from games like that, you’re doing the right thing, and we reset after that game.
“I think the four-quarter consistency we’ve shown lately will make this game different, and also showing South Barwon respect and bringing our best.”
The Swans lost their qualifying final against Colac on Saturday by just two goals and must now win their next two games to make the grand final, while the Tigers still have the ‘double chance’ up their sleeve as they face minor premiers Newton & Chilwell this week.
