Roosters to play four of BFNL’s five top six teams

NORTH Ballarat coach Annie McCartin says her side is ready to embrace the challenges in a tough five weeks of netball ahead.

The Roosters, currently third on the ladder with an 8-3 record, will play four of the other five top six teams over the next five weeks, starting with Bacchus Marsh this weekend.

That run of matches includes top-of-the-ladder Sunbury, Lake Wendouree (fourth) and Redan (fifth).

The Roosters lost to both Sunbury and Redan in round one, but beat the Lakers by 15 goals at Mars Stadium in round seven.

Having fallen as low as sixth on the ladder after losing to Darley in round eight, the Roosters have rebounded strongly on the back of three wins in a row, setting the scene for a tough month ahead.

“When we meet these top teams, we are going to have to be on our game,” McCartin said.

“These next five matches will really see where we are sitting at – whether we have improved or not.

“I feel we have improved since we last took on Sunbury and Redan, and Lakers and Bacchus March are both very good teams.

“You do have to be playing your best to these teams.

“It will be very interesting to see how we stand up in the second half of the season.”

While their sixth position earlier in the season was certainly rare territory for North Ballarat, McCartin was unfazed at the time.

“In the end, there was only two points separating a couple sides, so it was bound to change, whoever won that week,” she said.

“I wasn’t too concerned, but it has been a little while since we’d been down there on the ladder.

“Let’s hope that’s the end of that.”

McCartin was thrilled with the Roosters’ 39-goal win against Ballarat before the break, highlighted by an outstanding shooting performance from Maddy Selmon, who finished with 64 goals at 91 per cent accuracy.

“Ballarat is rebuilding, but we had to make sure that in those first two quarters that we were getting on top of our game,” she said.

“But I thought we eventually settled into our rhythm nicely.

“The second half was really good.

“Credit to Ballarat, they made us work very hard for the ball.

“It was a real team effort.”

The win capped a special day of milestones for Stacey Matthews and Alana Bodey, who respectively played their 150th and 100th games.

Matthews was a contender for best on court honours in the midcourt.

McCartin praised Selmon’s accuracy under the post in producing her season-high of 64 goals.

“It was unbelievable shooting and she more or less does it every week,” she said.

“Once she’s got that ball in her hands, you know something good is about to happen.”

Particularly in view of Darley’s round 10 win over top-of-the-ladder Sunbury, McCartin said both the Lions and Devils would take some catching.

“It was a good win by Darley – they are really firing at the moment – and very consistent,” she said.

“When you have Olivia (Cawthray) up there in goal shooter to try and stop, it becomes very hard with her height and ability.

“I hope we’ve improved since we’ve first played them, the same with Sunbury.

“But we’ll just continue to take a few things out of each game and continue to work on things.”