Fresh-look Burra open season in style

TIPPED to be one of the big improvers in 2026, Sebastopol started its season on the right note with a 29-goal win over East Point.

The Burra, brilliantly led by defender Jami Luhrs and centre Tahlia Watts, confined the Roos to a 0-2 start to the season following a 49-20 victory.

It was their biggest win since round 16 of the 2024 season, when the Burra defeated Ballarat 56-19.

After leading 10-5 at quarter time, the Burra set up the win with a rampant 16-5 second quarter to lead by 16 goals at half time.

Any hopes of a comeback were doused when the Roos were restricted to just three goals in the third quarter.

Burra coach Kiya Eberle was thrilled to have all 10 A-grade players together for the first time

“We got to debut two players, with one of our juniors Sienna Miller stepping up from our under-17s, and Taylor Finch playing her first game for the club,” she said.

“Sienna did a really good job; she played little minutes, but she was tough.

“Taylor’s a good addition and fitted in nicely with Alice (Kain) in defence.

“Both of them have got a lot of height on them and were hard to get a ball off.

“Our defence was really on-song. Jamie (Luhrs) at wing defence and goal defence was really strong and had some great set-ups and was good transitioning from defence for us.”

In attack, Adut Manyiel was a handful for the Roos’ defence with 29 goals at 87.88 per cent, well supported in the circle by Makayla Wright and Laura Bell (10 apiece).

Eberle admitted to being a little wary of the Roos following their bright performance in a five-goal loss to Bacchus Marsh in the standalone Good Friday encounter.

“There was no doubt we were going to have to work for the W; they’re a young team, pretty similar to where we were last year,” she said.

“It was great to see all the girls connecting on court. We’ve done a lot of work in the pre-season, so to see that translate on the court was really pleasing.

“We still have some work to do and things to work on, but I was really stoked to see the pre-season work pay off.

“We were able to accumulate some good goals and some really great defensive transitions.

“Our second quarter, in particular, was satisfying. We didn’t move a lot, giving the girls some time to settle.

“Tahlia Watts was exceptional in centre – really strong down the middle.

“Having her defensive presence means that when we do turn it over, she’s a great asset to have before it crosses into the opposition goaling third.”

The Burra will look to back-up their impressive start this Saturday against Ballarat, which was beaten 30-60 in its season opener by North Ballarat.

East Point faces the toughest assignment in BFNL netball against reigning premier Darley, with the Devils coming off a crushing 70-37 win over last season’s grand final rival Sunbury, which was missing plenty of key personnel.

In other round one encounters, Bacchus Marsh moved to 2-0 with 62-28 win over Melton, and Lake Wendouree defeated Redan 48-31.