Silver for Strikers duo atnational netballchampionships

MACKENZIE O’Dwyer and Eliza Mooney are looking forward to getting back down to business with the Bendigo Strikers after earning silver medals at last week’s Netball Australia National Championships.

Teammates in the VNL Strikers’ 23-and-under side, O’Dwyer and Mooney were members of the Victorian 19-and-under side that finished runners-up to New South Wales in Sydney on Wednesday.

Having upset previously undefeated Queensland in the semi-final round, New South Wales capped its strong finish to the tournament, beating Victoria 35-28 in a tense gold medal showdown.

Highlighting the openness of the competition, the grand final pitted the teams that finished third (Victoria) and fourth in the standings following the completion of seven qualifying rounds.

Despite falling just short of a championship win, Mooney said it was still a fun week and an amazing experience.

“We had a really great team – everyone got along, which made for a fun week on and off the court,” she said.

“You come back from nationals with plenty of netball knowledge, just experiencing that high level of competition and high-performance behaviours.

“We had our chances in the grand final. We got to within a few goals a couple of times and had some opportunities, where, if we had gotten a couple of more turnovers, we might have turned it around.

“We were never really out of it, but New South Wales were very consistent all game and deserved their win.”

It was Mooney’s second appearance at the championships, after representing Victoria’s 19-and-under team last year as a bottom-age player.

The 19-year-old, who spent the bulk of her court time during the tournament at goal keeper, was happy with her own contribution and praised the performance of her VNL teammate O’Dwyer, a mainstay of Victoria’s under-age teams in recent seasons.

“I think I did all that I could do,” Mooney said.

“Macca (O’Dwyer) played really well. She had to do a lot of running being in centre most of the time, but she had a really big week.

“She was super-strong and consistent every game.”

Mackenzie has plenty more representative netball to look forward to next month, as a member of the Melbourne Mavericks Super Netball Reserves team.

The Mavs will be coached by Strikers head coach Tracey Brereton.

Following a split round over the past two weeks, the Strikers returned to action against the Southern Saints on Wednesday night at the State Netball Centre, aiming to make amends for their first loss of the season against the North East Blaze on 9 April.

They entered the contest at 4-1 and in fourth place on the ladder, level on wins with the third-placed Geelong Cougars and one win behind the top-placed Blaze and second-placed Melbourne University Lightning.

After only four wins in their debut season last year, Mooney – a first-year Strikers player – felt the team had laid the groundwork for a promising rest of the season and a tilt at a breakthrough finals berth. “It’s been a great start to the season. I know after last year, they (the Strikers) really wanted to improve on their results,” she said.

“Having those wins at the start of the season, it’s really promising. Especially because I think we still have a lot more we can give.

“It’s really positive signs for the rest of the season.”