Strikers 23s ready to rise to the occasion against familiar foe

BENDIGO Strikers 23-and-under skipper Shae Clifford is backing her teammates to rise to the occasion in their VNL elimination final clash against Geelong Cougars this Wednesday night, despite an up and down finish to the home and away season.

In a season that has in so many ways already exceeded expectations for the Strikers young guns, they will contest finals for the first time in only their second year in the state’s premier netball competition.

Not even consecutive losses to second-placed Melbourne University Lightning and the Cougars to round out the minor season can take the gloss of what’s been a remarkable achievement.

Having put themselves in a position to contend for a title, Clifford said the Strikers were eager to make the most of their finals’ opportunity.

 

“It’s been a great season, especially coming off last year when we only won four games for the year,” she said.

“To finish fourth in the end is a great achievement.

“Everyone has the same mindset; everyone puts in a 100 per cent every week and never gives up.

“I’m really proud to see how far we have come as a team from round one to now.

“I feel we have developed a lot as a group and are playing really good netball.”

Put in context, the Lightning and Cougars losses came well after the Strikers’ finals berth was secured, and their hopes of the double chance extinguished.

“We’ve obviously had a couple of losses, but it’s been our mistakes that have cost us,” Clifford said.

“And we did have a week where we played Sunday- Wednesday, with footy-netball club commitments thrown in (in the lead-up to the Lightning match), so I think we were a bit fatigued as well.”

Those losses came only a few weeks after the Strikers’ season highlight to date, a stirring 15-goal victory at home over top side North East Blaze at Red Energy Arena.

It remains the Blaze’s only defeat this season and a gauge of just what this Strikers group is capable of on its day.

They followed up with a gutsy five-goal win over Western Warriors.

Last week’s four goal loss to Geelong has thrust the Strikers into the rare situation of playing the same opponent in consecutive weeks, with the loser to bow out of the finals race.

It’s a scenario Clifford views as being advantageous.

“We know what went wrong (last) Wednesday night, so to have a training session (on Sunday) and be able to go through situations from that game should put us in a better position this week,” she said.

“It’s pretty even between us; it will just come down to who performs better on the night.

“But there’s obviously no second chances, so we will have to put everything out there.”

The ledger between the two clubs stands at one apiece this season, with the Strikers winning by the same margin of four goals earlier in the season.

For most of the Strikers squad, the clash against the Cougars will be their first VNL final.

Only midcourter Asha Gray (formerly Lightning), Mackenzie O’Dwyer (City West Falcons) and Chloe Langley (Falcons) have played in finals before.

Given their meteoric rise this season, Clifford was quick to praise the Strikers’ coaching team of Tracey Brereton, Carol Cathcart and Teigan Redwood for their behind-the-scenes work.

“All the effort they go to in providing us feedback – they go above and beyond to make sure they can put the best team on the court on the night, and to make sure we are ready to put out our best performance,” she said.

“We’d love to do them proud on Wednesday night.”

23-and-under week one finals draw:

Qualifying final: North East Blaze v Melbourne University Lightning

Elimination final 1: Hawks Netball v City West Falcons

Elimination final 2: Bendigo Strikers v Geelong Cougars