McLean praises Lakers’ resilience in tough win over Melton

THE 2025 version of Lake Wendouree is still a work in progress, but A-grade netball coach Courtney McLean spotted some encouraging signs in the Lakers’ three-goal come-from-behind win over Melton on Saturday.

In a see-sawing contest, the Lakers came from four goals down in the final quarter to claim a stirring 56-53 victory.

They had earlier led by four goals at half-time, before the Bloods clawed their way to the front at three-quarter-time.

McLean admitted to plenty of anxious moments throughout the second half as the ascendancy fluctuated, but ultimately could not have been prouder of her players’ resilience.

“I was pleased to win, but we did not put ourselves in a good position early on,” she said.

“What pleased me most was the girls’ relentless effort. It could have been easy to say, ‘we’re eight or nine goals down, we can just settle in’, but I never felt we were out of it.

“It was our own errors that got us down at times.

“I would say there’s a bit to work on with our attack and transition.”

The win made it two-from-two for the Lakers this season, following a hard-fought win over a much-improved Bacchus Marsh in round one.

A strong defensive effort was led by a standout performance from Remi Hooper, with solid support from Audrey Domaille.

Hooper, who has returned from overseas, is among the newcomers to have bolstered the lineup early in the season.

Others include impressive young goaler Ebony Porter, who has come across from North Ballarat, and Eliza Williams (elevated from B-grade).

McLean is hoping the influx of talent can help lift the Lakers beyond last year’s fourth place finish and semi-finals exit.

“We’ve made finals the last few years, but never quite progressed past the first or second week, so hopefully we can improve on that,” she said.

“I feel we have got more depth, a great lot of versatility and a nice combination of experienced players and young talent.

“I’m hoping we smooth out our transitional errors and things start to look a bit nicer.”

An obvious bright spot for the Lakers continues to be the contributions of their trio of 16-year-olds – Porter, Domaille and Addison Funcke, who took on the unusual role at wing defence for part of the game.

McLean gave plenty of credit to a new-look Melton for a brave performance and fierce challenge.

“They were missing a defender, who would have been pretty handy, and their goal shooter-goal attack combo (Malia Seumanutafa and Akira McCormack) was really strong,” she said.

The Lakers, whose next assignment is a young Ballarat Swans on Anzac Day, is joined on two wins by North Ballarat, which sits atop the ladder following a 59-48 win over East Point.

Sunbury warmed up for its Good Friday clash against Redan with a 60-39 win over Darley.

Sebastopol rebounded from a round one loss to beat Ballarat 47-36.