‘Ready to go’: Strikers primed for round one

BENDIGO Strikers championship coach Tracey Brereton says she expects her fresh-look squad to relish the higher expectations after last year’s Victorian Netball League (VNL) finals breakthrough.

The Strikers, semi-finalists last season, will open their 2026 campaign this Saturday night against Boroondara Express at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo.

A curtain raiser to the Suncorp Super Netball round one clash between Melbourne Mavericks and Giants, the game will likely be the most-attended the Strikers have played in across their three seasons in the state’s premier netball competition.

Having savoured their first taste of finals last season, with a win over Casey Demons and a loss to the Express, the Strikers are ready to embrace the challenge of being a contender again, knowing rivals will be gunning for them as the season gets underway.

“It will be a hard act to follow, but we have to take the view that each year we can take another step forward, or another step up the ladder,” Brereton said.

“We don’t want to win just one final, when you can win two or three.

“The goal is always to make finals and from there anything can happen.

“But it is a very different looking team we’ll have out on court.”

Gone from last year’s squad are skipper Chelsea Sartori, goal shooters Gabe Richards and Bridgette Furphy, midcourters Emma Walters and Ash Ryan, defender Zoe Davies and the versatile Milly Wicks and Heather Oliver.

In comes new captain Elle McDonald, young goal shooter Hayley Howard (Southern Saints), defender Dayna Williams (Melbourne University Lightning) and Kristiana Manu’a, fresh from her final SSN season with Sunshine Coast Lightning.

Last year’s 23-and-under league MVP Shae Clifford and goaler Mia McCrann-Peters have been elevated from the 23-and-under team, while Harriett Gall has made a successful recovery from the ACL injury that sidelined her for the entire 2025 season.

That leaves recently announced Mavs 11th player Charlotte Sexton, Mavs training partner Teal Hocking, Ruby Turner and Meg Williams as the holdovers from last year’s line-up that won 12 of 18 regular season games.

Despite Sexton and Hocking spending considerable time away from the squad due to Mavs duties, and Turner and Gall also unavailable at times due to their commitments with the Melbourne Vixens Academy, Brereton insists the Strikers have made the most of what time they have had together and will be primed for Saturday night.

 

“We’ve done all we can and as coach you feel like you have covered everything you need to cover and we’ve got the girls prepped,” she said.

“But you really don’t know until you get to that first game or a little way into the season, do you?

“I think we’re ready to go.

“It has been a bit of a juggling act, but I’m sure it’s been the same for Express – with all the girls that have been in different, higher programs, making sure you get some of them together at some point to gel.

“Those first few games are always very interesting.”

The third-year Strikers head coach said the accomplishments of Sexton, Hocking, Turner and Gall reflected not only on the individuals themselves, but also the club.

“That’s what we are here for, to help these girls with a pathway and to be a stepping stone up,” Brereton said

“What we’ve got here in Bendigo and in our region is really good and great for the girls.

“Hopefully, we as a club, the Bendigo Strikers can have some success along the way with them.”

The Strikers have drawn a tough first-up opponent.

They have not beaten the Express in five previous attempts across their first two VNL seasons, albeit they have come close to a breakthrough.

The margins were only one and three goals during the 2025 regular season, and 12 in the second round of finals with the Strikers still firmly in contention early in the final quarter.

Only two goals separated the teams in their second meeting in the 2024 season.

While the SSN and overseas of experience of McDonald and Manu’a, one of two vice-captains alongside Sexton, will be invaluable, the Strikers push for back-to-back finals will be as much led by youth.

A source of tremendous pride for Brereton and the club, eight of the Strikers’ championship squad remains eligible to play 23-and-unders.

“That’s huge … and I’m talking about girls like Charlotte Sexton and Teal Hocking. They can still play 23s,” she said.

“When you factor in players who have been elevated like Shae, Mia and Harriet, who have come up, and young Hayley Howard coming across from Saints, it might be a new group, but it’s refreshing.

“I can see so much potential in where this season could go.”

The Strikers championship team hits the court at 2pm, with the 23-and-under to take on the Express at 12.30pm on the former stadium showcourt (court six).