LAST weekend Ouyen United realised one of their goals since the 2016 move to the Sunraysia league, but the job is not done yet.
The Kangas, a product of the merger between Ouyen United and Walpeup-Underbool following the demise of the Mallee league at the end of 2015, are out to make history with their first Sunraysia A Grade netball grand final appearance today at City Oval against minor premiers Wentworth.
“That’s been our goal since day one after the merger and the move into the Sunraysia league,” co-coach Casey Crothers said.
“The boys have had great success and we knew we had the team to get there, and B Grade too, we feel very proud and honoured to be doing that in front of our crowd on Saturday.”
Coming from fourth on the ladder the Kangas have battled hard to knock off South Mildura and Irymple in successive weeks for the first time this season to reach today.
“I think we’ve peaked at the right point of the season, I think we’ve had some really challenging games and we’ve applied ourselves really well to the harder games, so leading into the finals we’ve built on that momentum,” Crothers said.
“We’re just playing really good team netball.
“It really just showed what we can do to get into the grand final, having those hard games has developed our team even more so, last year we ended second and had that double chance and we were knocked out, this year was do-or die and we did really well.”
Wentworth coach Amanda Edwards and her side had a week off and ensured they prepared well for today’s game.
“I think we’ve prepared really well with the week off. Our game against Irymple in our first final was very physical and intense, it took a while for our bodies to recover from that,” she said.
“Having the week off, we have still prepared the same, we’ve trained as normal. We also had a practice match in there as well so I think we’ve kept on top of it and leading up to this weekend our preparation has been our key.
“We had a practice match with a few of our Wentworth girls, and also some locals that weren’t in finals anymore … it was nice to get out there and have a bit of a scrimmage.”
With the mercury tipped to be in the mid-20s, Edwards said pressure on the ball would be a decisive factor.
“It’s going to be a really hot day. I think our intensity and defensive pressure over the court will be our key focus,” she said.
“If we can build the pressure from our defence our attacking end should flow nicely.”
While the Roos start favourites, Edwards wasn’t discounting the Kangas in the form they are in.
“I always said, even halfway through the season, Ouyen United will be contenders for the grand final and they’ve shown that,” she said.
“So credit to them and their hard effort getting where they are, it’s not easy – we’ve worked really hard and I’m sure they’ve worked hard as well, they’ve done really well.”
