NETBALL FEATURE | Dragons ready for Flat battle

BY KIERAN ILES
BENDIGO TIMES

SANDHURST’S four-time premiership coach Tamara Gilchrist hopes the passage of time will stand the Dragons in good stead against Kangaroo Flat in this Saturday’s second semi-final at the QEO.

The Dragons won the right to be the minor premier’s first challenger this finals series with an impressive 11-goal victory over Gisborne in last Saturday’s qualifying final at the QEO.

They have not played the Roos since early-July.

Since that meeting, which culminated in a 15-goal win (the same margin as at quarter-time) to Kangaroo Flat, the Dragons have quietly and efficiently notched up six wins in a row, half of them against reigning back-to-back premiers Gisborne.

Their winning streak also includes victories over finalists South Bendigo by 23 goals and Eaglehawk (41 goals).

It’s why Gilchrist is not alone in thinking the Dragons are peaking at the right time.

An absorbing battle for three quarters, Sandhurst took the wind out of Gisborne’s sails in the final term, ramping up the pressure all across the court.

In defence, Ruby Turner and Sophie Shoebridge restricted the Bulldogs to just five final quarter goals, while Bec Smith and Kelsey Meade capitalised on some excellent work by their midcourters to pile on 14 goals.

The Dragons at one point added seven unanswered goals on their way to their fourth and biggest win over Gisborne this season.

Gilchrist praised her side’s persistence over four quarters and endeavour to seize control of the contest when the opportunity presented in the final quarter.

“It’s always such an awesome contest when we play Gisborne – both teams just want it so much,” she said.

“It generally comes down to a couple of small errors and who capitalises on those turnovers.

“They certainly made us earn it again.

“The last quarter was fantastic. We’re really happy with how things are coming together.

“We’ve been working on playing out the full 60 minutes, and sometimes when you have those momentum swings, being able to peg it back it back quickly is something we work on and are proud of.

“That change-up of Ruby and Sophie in the last quarter, just to give their goalers something to think about, was the right option for us.

“We were super-happy with our defensive structures.”

A superb win was made to look even more impressive after it was revealed Shoebridge, Turner and Smith had all battled illness in the lead-up to Saturday.

Gilchrist was rapt to have earned the first shot at Kangaroo Flat, which entered finals on the back of an undefeated regular season.

“We needed that finals win, but the girls are up and about,” Gilchrist said, referencing the Dragons’ back-to-back finals losses to end their 2024 campaign at the preliminary final stage.

“We feel we are peaking as a club.

“We train together, A and A-res, as an A-squad and we feel we’ve done the work.

“There is always things to work on though.

“Kangaroo Flat have been amazing this year, no doubt about it, but I feel everyone is beatable on their day.

“It’s been ages since we played them – 10 weeks – so we’re looking forward to a great contest to see where we are all at.”

Gisborne coach Tarryn Rymer could not hide her disappointment with the loss, with the final quarter fadeout easily the most pressing of the Bulldogs’ concerns.

“Our first half was nice and clean; just a few little errors crept in,” she said.

“But towards the end of the third we really dropped off the mark and that was when Sandhurst went bang and just punished us.

“The ball came out of our attack end quite a lot – more than usual. Not from the girls not looking after the ball, but just a few simple errors.

“Credit to Sandhurst, they were forced errors due to their hard work.

“They just threw themselves at everything and came up with the ball.

“We tried to make some changes, but ultimately we have to pull through in these tough moments and be able to get the job done.”

Rymer further credited the Dragons for an ‘even’ and ‘collectively strong’ finals performance.

Zoe Davies was a clear standout for the Bulldogs in defence, with her bevy of intercepts a highlight.

The Bulldogs will aim to rebound against South Bendigo, which defeated Eaglehawk 59-38 in Sunday’s elimination final.

It’s the first time the Bloods have advanced past the elimination final in more than 20 years.

They were knocked out in the elimination final in each of their last three finals appearances in 2019, 2022 and 2023.