By Lauren Henry

Horsham Saints were once again crowned premiers and champions of Wimmera league A Grade netball, but they were pushed hard by Dimboola in Saturday’s grand final. 

A fired-up Roos got out to a four-goal lead early, but the Saints pegged back the margin to just one goal at quarter-time. 

The pressure from Dimboola forced the Saints to make positional changes early in the second term, with usual goal attack Lena Marshman moved into goal keeper to quell the influence of the Roos’ tall goalers.

The move meant Olivia Taylor, who had just played with Marshman in the 17-and-under grand final, came onto the court in goal attack.

The Roos initially maintained their lead, out to 18-14, and their defenders Eloise Wills and Stephanie Glover had the Saints attacking ends’ measure.

The Saints took a while to settle and find their groove – no team had seriously come this close all season, so they were not used to the tight margins. Whereas for the Roos, close margins were their jam.

But as the saying goes ‘you can’t keep a good team down’, and the Saints showed why they are the number-one team in the competition.

Scores were goal-for-goal for most of the second term, until the Saints pulled away at the end of the quarter to take a 28-23 lead into the main break.

Saints coach Vernetta Taylor said despite her team’s slow start, she was confident it would weather the storm.

“We had to work hard for it. It was such a cracking game,” she said. 

“Dimboola just was so impressive, from the very first whistle to the last. 

“They really brought it. We had to work so hard, so all credit to them. It was a great contest.

“Dimboola’s start was incredible. I had to make positional changes. It’s not often I actually have to do that in a game, so they made us make a few changes, so good on them.

“But  I just trusted the girls. I had a belief that we had the team, we had the game, we just had to ride it out, which we did, and stay calm and composed, and I thought we did that really well.”

The Saints coach’s call to move Marshman into defence proved a master stroke.

“Their goalers are quite tall, they’re accurate, and they were putting in a lot of high balls and we weren’t able to contest them,” Taylor said. 

“Lena has an incredible vertical jump. She has an incredible stretch and read on the ball, so we always had that up our sleeve. 

“Lena was our goal keeper last year – she’s so versatile, so I knew that moving her into that goal circle would make them hesitate about putting in the high balls.

“She got hands on so many – I thought she was incredible.”

With Olivia Taylor goaling well, Saints star goal shooter Jorja Clode began to work herself into the game, getting on top of the Roos’ defenders, who would often double-team her, and overcoming the Dimboola crowd, which tried to put the league’s leading shooter off her game.

Coach Taylor said winning a premiership with her daughter Olivia was a special moment.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so proud of her because it was such a high-pressure moment – it was such a high-pressure game,” she said.

“She’d just come off an under-17 loss, so there was a lot of emotion there. 

“But I trusted that she was more than capable to go out and do the job and I thought she did a fantastic job.

“The team rallied around her because obviously she doesn’t have the experience of the other players, but they supported her so well, made sure she always had an easy ball that she could give, and I thought she did an outstanding job for us.”

Trailing by eight goals halfway through the third term, the Roos made positional changes of their own, bringing youngster Giselle Clugston into goal attack.

But by that stage, the Saints were powering ahead and found their modus operandi, jumping out to a 43-33 lead by three-quarter time.

The Roos continued to throw everything at the Saints, making several positional changes including moving leading defender Glover to goal keeper to try to quell Clode’s growing influence.

“I thought Jorja was incredible, as she is every week. But to have that pressure from the crowd, it was intense, and to have a swap of goal attacks – because normally she is playing with Lena – she was so strong under the post against two incredible defenders,” Taylor said.

“Steph Glover is amazing – all credit to her being best-on-court because she had an incredible game, and Eloise Wills was putting on good pressure.”

In the end, the Saints proved their consistency and class to continue their unbeaten run and win the grand final 57-39.

While Marshman and league best-and-fairest Ashlee Grace, in centre, were judged the Saints’ best, the best-player medal went to Dimboola’s Stephanie Glover.

Taylor described the match as ‘one for the ages’. 

“I think for the spectators, I hope they can really appreciate a good match and seeing the standard of netballers we have in our region,” she said. 

“We have a high-standard competition. Our athletes are up there with the best in the state, and they should be really proud of it. 

“The spectacle they put on today was amazing.”

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