GREAT rivals on the netball court, Heathcote and Mount Pleasant will meet in round one of the 2024 Bendigo Bank Heathcote DFNL season.<\/p>\n
The Saints make their way to Mounts\u2019 territory at Toolleen for the 6 April clash.<\/p>\n
Mounts put the Saints out of this year\u2019s premiership race when they won the elimination final at Hibo Hotel Oval in North Bendigo by five goals.<\/p>\n
Gun mid-courter Brooke Bolton will again team up with Kelsey Hayes as co-coach of Heathcote\u2019s A-grade netball team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a challenging start to the season,\u201d Bolton said of the round one showdown with the Blues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had a lot of close games with them the past two seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ledger from the past five A Grade matches between the clubs stands at 4-1 in favour of Mount Pleasant.<\/p>\n
Margin in four of those contests was five goals or less.<\/p>\n
Heathcote\u2019s tally of eight wins last season included an 11-goal win against the Blues in the 15th round.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are a strong club across all grades, so it will be a great test to see where we are at, not only for A-grade, but the entire senior playing group,\u201d Bolton said of the start to another campaign.<\/p>\n
The Saints\u2019 pre-season will start late January or early February.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were rapt with the quality of players at our initial try-out,\u201d said Bolton.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few have registered and impressed at try-outs run last Saturday at Heathcote and last Monday at the Red Energy Arena courts in West Bendigo,\u201d said Bolton.<\/p>\n
The club had more than 50 at try-outs, which included all eight players from the under-17 team which also played finals last season.<\/p>\n
On the coaching front, Georgia Bolton will be in charge of A Reserve.<\/p>\n
Anna Dundon will coach B Grade, and Kate Sidebottom the B Reserve team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GREAT rivals on the netball court, Heathcote and Mount Pleasant will meet in round one of the 2024 Bendigo Bank Heathcote DFNL season. The Saints make their way to Mounts\u2019 territory at Toolleen for the 6 April clash. Mounts put the Saints out of this year\u2019s premiership race when they won the elimination final at […]<\/p>\n