By Colin MacGillivray

A group of Wimmera and Mallee netballers celebrated a unique anniversary last week as they marked three decades since being crowned Victoria’s top team.

The Wimmera-Mallee squad reunited to share stories of their triumph in the 1996 Mobil Country Cup – a statewide competition comprising representative netball squads from regional and metropolitan areas.

Teams played opponents in pools during weekly competition, with the top teams from each pool advancing to finals.

The Wimmera-Mallee team topped its pool, beating Melbourne-based Casey in a semi-final before overcoming an 11-goal deficit to top Latrobe Valley in a thrilling grand final played at Warragul.

Ararat’s Megan Shea, one of the team members, said she still cherished memories of the experience.

“We were down by 11 goals in the first quarter and we thought we were done. We thought we’d made the drive all the way across the state for nothing,” she said.

“That was the message at quarter time – we’ve come this far, we’ve really got to dig deep. 

“The game was televised, so we knew everyone back home was watching it on the telly.”

Coach Julie Burke said the experience had been a special one, with both the Wimmera and Horsham District netball associations supporting their best players to represent the region.

“We had all the top players. A lot of teams didn’t want their top players out of the team on a Saturday, so we were able to change the bylaws,” she said.

“If a team had a player who would be out on Saturday because of one of the games, they were able to reschedule to play a Monday night or a Friday night.”

Burke also brought in future Australian and English national coach Julie Hoornweg – whom Shea described as ‘a great motivator’ – to address the Wimmera-Mallee squad.

“I got to know her through working for Netball Victoria because I was the region co-ordinator, and we just became friends through that,” she said.

“I asked if she would mind coming down and she came and sat on the bench with me for the grand final, and she spoke to the girls before the game. It was great.”

Shea said the squad members had put aside typical club rivalries to come together as a team, and had maintained close friendships in the 30 years since their grand final win.

“I keep telling my kids about the connections made through playing and committing to that squad,” she said.

“My son is playing football with the sons of some of the others from the team. The relationships you make through sport are fantastic.

“I had a conversation with a 15-year-old who played for the Wimmera-Mallee netball team at the state titles, and she couldn’t believe we’d won a state competition.

“I told her to keep trying out for these types of squads, because the connections you make are lifelong.”

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