A SENSE of deja vu has crept into the thought process of Werrimull coach Anna Marshall ahead of Saturday’s preliminary final against Bambill.
The Magpies and the Saints fought out an amazing Millewa Netball Association A Grade contest 12 months ago that went into overtime, which Bambill eventually won 52-45.
Marshall and her Magpies hope lightning doesn’t strike twice at Cardross this weekend, already having to deal with a heart stopper last week when they snuck home over Gol Gol 48-47 in an elimination final.
The winner of this weekend’s contest goes on to play Nangiloc in the 2023 grand final, but there’s no thinking that far ahead yet.
“We’ll definitely just be focusing on Bambill and each 15 minutes we play,” Marshall said.
“We play very different game styles for Bambill and Nangi so there’s no thoughts of looking ahead to next week yet.
“Cassie (Morris), Brooke (Watson) and I have all played a lot of finals netball together and won a few grand finals as well so we know we have the experience to be able to make a difference and we’ll use that to our advantage.
“All the girls in our squad are strong players and bring something to the team.”Marshall sat on the sidelines with an ankle injury for last year’s thriller, and she’s glad she can take to the court this time around.
She also praised her squad for standing up when required against a surging Hawks team last week.
“It was very nerve wracking there at the end,” she said.
“We did make a change coming into the last quarter and managed a four goal lead at one stage but they kept coming at us and luckily we held the lead.”
The Saints are 2-1 head-to-head against the Magpies in 2023, but Marshall said her side will take plenty of positives from their 48-28 victory in round 13.
“They didn’t have their full side and not having someone like Tessa (Houkamau) made a difference but at the same time we felt like we played a good brand of netball,” she said.
“We know what we need to focus on and what match-ups we need to get right coming into this one.”
MILLEWA NETBALL ASSOCIATION PRELIMINARY FINAL FIXTURES
9am: 15 and under – Meringur v Bambill
10am: 18 and under – Werrimull v Cardross
11am: C Grade – Werrimull v Gol Gol
Noon: B Grade – Bambill v Gol Gol
1pm: A Grade – Bambill v Werrimull
