St Joseph’s enjoying timely GNL break

ST JOSEPH’S A grade netball team is enjoying a fortnight break in the GNL.

Joeys beat Grovedale 63-21 away in Round 10 before they had their own bye last weekend and there is the league bye this weekend.

They are second on the ladder with a 9-2 record and co-coach Tracy Howard said the rest was timely.

“We’ve actually had a really hard draw,” she said.

“We’ve had back-to-back games with Newtown and South and then Bell Park.

“We’ve played all the top teams pretty much already.”

In Round 7, they beat Newtown and Chilwell 44-33 but then lost to South Barwon 48-37.

Joeys were without goal keeper Brooke Allan and midcourter Elli Leydin for the Eagles clash, which limited their rotations.

Howard said they played to their strengths in the pouring rain.

“Coming into South Barwon was a little bit different,” she said.

“They play quite differently to Newtown, so we sort of went in, I think a little bit more focused on trying to shut down elements of their game rather than focusing on our game plan as much. They played exceptional on the day.”

Joeys play St Mary’s next at Herne Hill Reserve on Saturday, July 19, at 1.40pm in Round 12.

“We’ve got 10 extremely talented players, so we change our line up a little bit in the sense we don’t have to use the same set up every time,” Howard said of their approach to that game.

“So it’s just reinforcing the different combinations that we have on court as well.”

Allen injured her ankle against Colac and is still about three weeks away from a return, according to the co-coach.

In other Round 12 matches, Geelong West will host Bell Park, Grovedale will battle Lara, Leopold has South Barwon, St Albans welcome Colac and Newtown and Chilwell has the bye.