![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/07\/7dadcdf4-a3df-4796-b_08548-1-819x1024.jpg?_t=1753314041\")
<\/p>\n
“They kept coming the whole time \u2013 it was a real pressure game from both sides,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s good to see both of these clubs pushing; and it was a good standard game too.<\/p>\n
“I thought it was a team effort by our girls, probably the best they have played as a team for a while.<\/p>\n
“(They were) very connected and they just kept on fighting.<\/p>\n
“Pleasingly, we held our composure at the end.”<\/p>\n
Hobbs pointed to the big-game and higher-level experience of captain Holmes and goal shooter Langley as critical in such a tight contest.<\/p>\n
“To have one at each end is a real positive,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They are great with their talk, The other girls are fairly young, so their influence is always going to be important.<\/p>\n
“I’m not quite sure how it (the ladder) all works in terms of the Castlemaine bye, but that should be enough to hang on to a spot in the five.<\/p>\n
“We do have two hard games to come in Kangaroo Flat and Sandhurst, but we will go out and do all we can and see what happens.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The girls have worked hard for it, and it’s a new group.<\/p>\n “We feel we are getting better each week.”<\/p>\n Eaglehawk now sits two-and-a half games clear of Strathfieldsaye with four rounds remaining.<\/p>\n While it’s possible for the Storm to overtake the Hawks if they win all three of their remaining matches and Eaglehawk loses both of its, it will take something extraordinary to get past Kangaroo Flat this weekend and Gisborne a fortnight later.<\/p>\n For the Storm, the inconsistency that has plagued much of their season peppered their performance against the Hawks.<\/p>\n They led at quarter time, but found themselves down by four and five goals at stages of the game, and at one point seven, only to bridge the margin back to one or two goals on occasions.<\/p>\n Playing coach Jess Mangan admitted it was disappointing to see their finals hopes all but evaporate.<\/p>\n “There were a lot of things we did that lost us the game,” she said.<\/p>\n “Credit to Eaglehawk, their pressure was really good, but our ball placement and passing is something we really need to work on if we want to compete at the higher level,” she said.<\/p>\n “That’s something we’ll focus on as we move on to our next couple of games.<\/p>\n “We seem to find our flow and then somehow, we seem to find ourselves out of it.<\/p>\n “We need to identify what is causing us to drop momentum. If we could put together a solid four quarters, we’d definitely be better off.<\/p>\n “All teams have their high lows, but that’s something we in particular struggle with.”<\/p>\n Rachelle Mangan at wing attack was the pick of the Storm players, narrowly ahead of sister Brooke at centre.<\/p>\n Mangan identified greater accuracy in their passing game as a priority for the Storm in their final three matches, including a very winnable contest against Golden Square in round 16.<\/p>\n The Storm players wore black armbands as a mark of respect for inaugural A-grade coach Lou Chilver, who lost her brave battle with cancer on July 9.<\/p>\n In other games, Sandhurst halted South Bendigo’s win streak at three with a season-best to date 73-50 win over South Bendigo at the QEO, while Kangaroo Flat extended its unbeaten run to 10 with a 58-goal win over Golden Square.<\/p>\n This weekend’s round 13 will be headlined by Gisborne’s clash with Sandhurst at Gardiner Reserve in a third versus second battle.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/07\/48413d5f-123d-40c5-9_29176.jpg\")