Ready for an electrifying netball showdown? Discover how Rumbalara's homecoming after a relentless series of away games will ignite their unbeaten streak, and unravel the strategic maneuvers Nathalia must deploy to overcome their season fraught with injuries. This episode of "Shooting From the Circle" guarantees an in-depth preview of the much-anticipated clash between these fierce competitors. With analysis on Nathalia's critical player acquisitions like Tracy Brereton and Ash Khan, and the significance of Rumbalara's top-tier standing, you won't want to miss the intricate breakdown of team dynamics and game strategies.
Join us as we dissect Nathalia's recent performances , exploring their strengths, vulnerabilities, and the impact of key players such as Cara Blizzard. Hear how coaching dynamics and team unity play pivotal roles in their quest against Rumbalara's scoring powerhouse, Jessie Barnes. As we wrap up with our gratitude for your support and a tantalizing hint at our upcoming game review, prepare for a passionate commentary on the thrilling world of netball. Tune in and get ready to be enlightened!
Ready for an electrifying netball showdown? Discover how Rumbalara's homecoming after a relentless series of away games will ignite their unbeaten streak, and unravel the strategic maneuvers Nathalia must deploy to overcome their season fraught with injuries. This episode of "Shooting From the Circle" guarantees an in-depth preview of the much-anticipated clash between these fierce competitors. With analysis on Nathalia's critical player acquisitions like Tracy Brereton and Ash Khan, and the significance of Rumbalara's top-tier standing, you won't want to miss the intricate breakdown of team dynamics and game strategies.
Join us as we dissect Nathalia's recent performances , exploring their strengths, vulnerabilities, and the impact of key players such as Cara Blizzard. Hear how coaching dynamics and team unity play pivotal roles in their quest against Rumbalara's scoring powerhouse, Jessie Barnes. As we wrap up with our gratitude for your support and a tantalizing hint at our upcoming game review, prepare for a passionate commentary on the thrilling world of netball. Tune in and get ready to be enlightened!
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Shooting From the Circle, a podcast all about the Rumballara Football Netball Club's A-grade netball side on a quest to win a premiership in 2024. I'm your host, brett. Thank you again for listening. And today is preview day. So today we're going to preview the match this weekend at home. I've been told it's at home at Rumballara. So well done on getting the facilities up and running. So I think that's a great effort. It's been a long time running. I've been told it's definitely this weekend. So a home game for Rumballara. Finally, they've been traveling all over the countryside for the last eight games, or nine games actually, so it'd be nice to be able to get back home and they are playing Nathalia. So another tough game for Rumballara. I think this weekend Nathalia have recruited well in their offseason. Think this weekend, um, if they have recruited well in their off season, um, so hopefully, you know, being the first home game at natha at rumballara, that yeah, hopefully they can come off the chocolates. One thing you don't want to be is undefeated and play your very first game at home and, yeah, pretty much lose the game. So hopefully rumballara won't do that. I mean, I'm I'm stoked that it's back at rumballara um for everyone to come and watch um and then to come and watch this rumballara side at the moment. The way they've been going, um, they have been absolutely extraordinary. So, as I said, we're going to do a bit of a review on the rumballara and nathalia game. We're just going to go through uh, what I think the latter um how nathalia game. We're just going to go through what I think the latter, how.
Speaker 1:
Nathalia have been going since day one because, as I said, they did recruit, unfortunately at the start of the season, probably, I think in one of their practice matches, georgie Walpole, who was an absolute superstar at Shep United, did her knee. I think. She's done her ACL, so she's out for the year. So she went back home to Nathalia. Her family are from Nathalia and Yermurka area, the War Poles. Her sister, bree, I think, went back as well. So good luck to Georgie because, as I said, she is a great shooter. Anyone would love her on their side, so I hope she gets well.
Speaker 1:
But yeah, for Rumbler or for Nathalia too, they required Tracy Breton as their coach. So she coached Shepparton for 17 years to no premiership success, but she's just been appointed to Vixen's reserves coach in the netball. I think she coached Australian and Victorian state and she also coaches the championship side for Bendigo Strikers. So she's a qualified coach, heaps of experience. Alongside her is Cara Blizzard. Everyone knows who Cara Blizzard is Absolute Shep United store. She's won a premiership at United A fierce competitor.
Speaker 1:
I don't think she's played this year yet. I think, from what I got told that she was having some troubles with her back after the birth of her second child. So I hope she gets better, because netball is a great place while she's playing, because she's a fantastic player. And then I think they recruited Rebecca Bond from Roopna. I think she was a B-grade shooter or B-grade, I don't know. I don't know too much about her. I've seen her play when I watched them play in America, so she's a tall shooter. When I watched them play in the America, so she's a tall shooter. And then I think they've got a girl, brooks, in center and, I think, a couple of other girls that they recruited, I think Kellogg, I think or Calic was one of them, but she apparently has done a knee as well. So not good for the Thalia who really, I think at the start of the year had plans on going deep into finals and hopefully to do something in finals. And, yeah, with injuries, as I said, georgie Walpole, they'll probably put a stint or put a rock in the sock of them and weigh them down a bit. So hopefully, yeah, georgie comes up real well for next year.
Speaker 1:
Um, but you know, in saying that, thank god, she's not playing this weekend. Um, so with rumballara, yeah, as I said, they're nine and zero. They haven't lost a game yet. Um, they don't want to lose any games. They really want to um, stretch that lead, um and continue on because, yeah, the top of the ladder is pretty close. Um, so what we'll do? We'll just go through first. Uh, so obviously, rumble are nine and zero, uh, sitting pretty on top of the ladder. Nathalia are fifth, so they're six and three. So you know they've.
Speaker 1:
I thought, yeah, being being with the injuries, I guess it's probably about where they should be. I guess, and I think if they didn't have the injuries to Georgie Walpole and a couple others, they'd probably. Oh, I'm sorry, but one big inclusion for Nathalia is Ash Khan down in that defensive circle. So she'd come over from Shep stored at Shep. She'd been with Tracy Brereton for a long time. I still remember watching her and a girl called Morgan Gibson at Shep when my daughter was playing at United, and they were just, yeah, ash Khan was just, well, ash Allen back then. So she was just an absolute, yeah, a rocking, pretty much like a Jess Bamblett at Rumbelara, yeah.
Speaker 1:
But in saying that, I said I went and seen them play New Merca and New Merca only lost by 14 goals. They seemed slow in their defensive circle, the Thayer, they seemed slow in their shooting circle and their mid-court just wasn't. Yeah, they probably could have beaten Yumerka by a lot more, but they didn't. So it's going to be interesting. But, as I said, we'll go through Nathalia's games, their wins, losses and their margins, just to get an idea on where they are, and then I'll go through the ladder, because that that mid pack is very, very tight at the moment. It's anyone's ball game, uh, with that mid pack, um from second down to six. So so, nathalia, they played 21st game and um 21, so it was, uh, 44 to 29. So you're looking at 15 goals, um, so you probably expect that Tongala being reigning premiers, nathalia just trying to find their feet with new girls. So you probably expect that First game. You sort of. Yeah, we can work on things.
Speaker 1:
Second game Nathalia then came up against Denny. So, as we all know, two years ago Denny won two premierships in a row Not really not really playing a netball that they probably were hoping to play and Rhianna Maxwell, yeah, she's probably disappointed in the way things have panned out for them because they're sort of middle of the pack now, so being up there for two years and then middle of the pack, so Nathalia beat them, like it was only 39 to 37. So it was only two goals 37. So it was only um two goals. So it was really um, yeah, it was probably um, maybe finding each other out. Uh, I would say that was that was it for the second game. So, as I said, nathalia lost against tiny, so they're probably fine and they. So they went in the third game they played Beruga. I mean Beruga have only come a draw with Numerica, so they're sitting pretty much relishing on the bottom and, yeah, I don't think they're going to make impact. So it was a 47-10 scoreline 37 goals. Maybe, you know, nathalia probably should have shot more, but to keep um beruga at 10 goals was a fantastic effort by their defensive um, their defensive end.
Speaker 1:
Uh, they came into round four they beat new merca. Uh, that was a game I went and seen which was a work safe game. Um, new merca, I thought it improved and they were doing very well. Um, it was a 14-goal win, so 45-31. But, as I said, they did look slow, nathalia. They looked slow in a defensive circle. They sort of defended that corridor in the circle. So if the ball came back out to a pocket and come back in again, they weren't really quick on that change. They were pretty much defending that circle. It was like I said, it was like they were a little bit slow on the uptake and on that exchange. So that's my view, I've seen it, that's mainly my view, that's how I've seen the game. And also their shooting circle was very slow. They were trying to lob it into Rebecca Bond and Yumerka sort of found out after a while that they pushed her out a bit. She's very much an under-the-ring shooter and likes to pass it off if she's outside the ring a little bit. So something that the defenders from Rumballara will look at, something that the defenders from Rumballara will look at and I know Tiana Steele and Jess Bamber will look at it and work it out pretty much straight away and push her out and maybe she's improved in her long shooting. I don't know, but it'll be interesting to see.
Speaker 1:
They again came up against Kengutna and they beat Kengutna by seven goals, so it was 35 to 28. Again, you would probably expect that it'd be a close game. Kengutna are not really thereabouts at the moment and obviously with Nathalia they're sort of mid-pack Very hard I suppose, because Tracy Berriton's coaching, obviously Benigo's strikers and Cara Blizzard's doing all the coaching herself, so very hard to try and get unity within the team. They then turn around and beat Achuki United by 20 goals. So you'd expect that Achuki United just not up there at the moment. So 20 goals is probably a fair effort by Nathalia.
Speaker 1:
Then they come up against the powerhouse in Moama and Moama won by 17 goals. So which is probably you know thereabouts with Moama and Nathalia. Moama's got quality shooters, they've got quality defenders and obviously their mid-court is quality too, with Sheldon and them there. So then they turn around and then they beat Moela. So they only beat Moela again by a goal. Moela grand finalists last year, you know beating them by one goal. You know Moela's probably dropped down a bit this year in the way they play. Yeah, they lost Lily Sharp and a couple others. So maybe that's probably an indication where, probably a true indication where they were.
Speaker 1:
Then they come up against Tongala Tongala, reigning premiers, and really this is a surprise packet for me because Nathalia only lost by five goals. So I'm not sure what's going on with Tongala. But so Nathalia, they know they can match it. They can match it with the higher play side. So in Tongala, moama, as I said, moama beat them by 17. Tongala beat them by five. Obviously they haven't played Finlay yet, so Finlay is pretty much a dark horse as well, with Chelsea McDonald there.
Speaker 1:
But yeah, as I said, for me, I look at this and think that they're not really putting teams away and obviously teams aren't really putting them away except um. You know um well, moama. Moama is the only team that's put them away by 17 goals. But when you look at their wins, um, yeah, they're not really big wins. The biggest win they had was against baruga, and you can understand that. Then they're 15s and 10s and um, so you probably look at the ladder where they are. So they are fifth, six and three. As I said, it's probably actually where you know. It's a true indication of where nathalia is at the moment.
Speaker 1:
Um, now, that's not to say that they're not going to be competitive this weekend against uh rumballara. They'll probably come out. They know what they got to do, um, they know, they know sophie and they know jesse barnes, because ash ash khan, ash allen, um has played yeah, I think, 17, 18 years in gbl, um, so they've played. They've played well. Ash ash allen has played against jesse barnes so many times. She's probably played against sophie so many times as well. And then carrieari Blizzard. Well, kari Blizzard and Jessie Barnes were teammates when they won their premiership at United, so they've played a lot of netball together. So, yeah, kari Blizzard inside hacks, Knowing how Jess Barnes plays, and maybe you know that's their focus this week in training is to how to curb, and you know, you look at well, how to curb Jessie Barnes because she's just been on fire with Soph and their scoring power has just been phenomenal.
Speaker 1:
They have scored 70-plus goals in four games. They've scored 50-plus goals in eight games. So the only game they didn't score 50-plus was against Moama, and I think they scored 48. So they were two goals off. So, yeah, it was 48 to 41. So that was two goals off, scoring, you know, nine consecutive games of 50-plus goals. Now to score, you know, 30 goals, goals, 20 goals or whatever, or 40 goals. You know it's not a bad effort by shooters, but when you've got a team that's scoring, as I said, they've scored four goals, uh, four times 70 goals or more, eight times 50 goals or more.
Speaker 1:
That puts a lot of pressure on defense, um, and do I think nathalia have got the defense to withstand that? No, I don't um, I think ash allen or ash khan will be a little bit slow. I think I'm not too sure um who the other defender is, a girl, sexton, I think it is. Um, do I think she's going to be up to it? I don't know um, are they going to be able to curb?
Speaker 1:
Also, um rumballara's midcourt? I mean, you know, and I and I do apologize in my uh review of the game against jumerica I forgot to mention lavelle turner. She came on and she played a wing defense role um on the weekend and she played an extraordinary game as well. So you know when? Know, when you've got Sarah. Hopefully Madika will be back this week. Yeah, she did pull a little bit of a hammy, so hopefully she will be back. So when you've got Sarah, madika, kai. Then you've got these girls like Ella Morgan, lavelle, jorah. These young girls have stepped into roles that are way more mature than they are and they they've done well. So, you know, maybe, um the midcourt might be on par um.
Speaker 1:
For what I've seen against new merca, um, I don't think their midcourt was all that flash and that's not putting. That's no disrespect for nathalia, that's just my view. And then their shooting circle, as I said, you've got Rebecca Bond, who's tall and she likes the wave, so she likes to put out, you know, just the hold and put the hand up and try and get the lob in. I think Tiana and Jess will work that out pretty quick. Um, I think tiana and jess will work that out pretty quick. Um, I mean, they worked it out against um millie, uh, tongala, and millie is probably a 10 times quality, more shooter than what rebecca bond is and, as I said, there's no disrespect to rebecca bond, that's just the way it is. Um, and then brian brie, uh, walpole, georgie's um sister. Well, I think she only played B-grade at United. So you know, you've got two shooters that are coming up against quality defenders Across the board.
Speaker 1:
I don't think Nathalia have got it. But in saying that, you know, but there will be times. Yeah, there's going to be times where, yeah, rumbelara is going to drop a game and yeah, as I said, the pressure's on Rumbelara now to continue. If they had have lost one or two games, it's like, oh well, okay, yeah, let's get back to it. But yeah, at the moment they are undefeated nine and zip, you know. And also, yeah, first home game, first home game, and if it's going to be good weather, you're going to have a big crowd because people are going to want to come and watch this Rumballara netball side, this A-grade side, because they are quality. They're quality across the court. So Nathalia have got nothing to lose. They're going to come out and they're probably going to hit Rumballara hard.
Speaker 1:
Cara Blizzard, quality player, quality coach. I'm not sure whether Tracy will be there, but you know Nathalia are going to want to prove that. You know that they want to be the first team to knock Rambalara off and, to be honest, you know it'll probably do Rambalara the world of good. They don't want to lose because next week they come up against Brugge. I think then they've got to buy after that. So, unless they've got to buy and then Baruga. I'm not too sure, but after the Baruga game Rambalara will be pretty much full strength. So Emily will come back from overseas. So Nathalia will be really, really pushing to try and get a win against Rambalara.
Speaker 1:
And the reason being is because I said before, the ladder positions at the moment between second and sixth it's tight. So Rambalara are two games in front, so they're sitting on 36 points. They're two games in front. You've got three teams that are on 28. So you've got Moama, then Finlay and Tongala, so you've got second, third and fourth sitting on 28. So you've got those teams. And then you've got Nathalia breathing down your neck. Nathalia's on 24. So they're only a game out of second, third and fourth. Any one of those top teams, any one of those teams Moama, finlay, tiny drop a game and if Nathalia are successful on the weekend against Rumbelara, they're straight into fourth.
Speaker 1:
The competition for the top, say for the bottom five out of the six. Because at the moment, as I said, rambalara two games in front. You've also got well Denny's only a game away from the Thayer. So the draw over the next period of time it's going to be a telltale sign. So you look at it. I'm pretty sure Moema is going to be playing Finlay and I'm pretty sure the top I think the top five is going to be playing Finlay, and I'm pretty sure the top I think the top five and Rumba I know Rumba. So Rumbulara's last three games are massive, a massive game. So they play Dunilliquin, then they play Moama and then their last game is against Tongawa. So you would not want to drop any of those games. So that's why I think Rumbulara are really, really intent in trying to get as far in front of everybody else as you can.
Speaker 1:
But, as I said, you've got these other sides that are mixing and matching from third, as I said, third, fourth and fifth, moema, finlay and Tongala, all sitting on 28. And then you've got Nathalia on 24, denny on 26. Throw a blanket over the whole five of those to where it's going to sit. I think it's going to be tight this year in that midsection of the six because, as I said, with the way the points are and these teams are playing and Finlay at the moment is probably the dark horse they're sliding under the radar. They're winning games and no one's really talking about them, and they're winning games and they're winning quality games. So they're going to be a side that you know they're up there. They weren't up there last year they were easy beats last year, unfortunately and this year they recruited well, with Chelsea McDonald and, I think, lily Sharpe's playing a couple of games with them and whatever.
Speaker 1:
So Nathalia on the weekend will want to really come out and try their hardest to knock off Rumballara, because that gives them an opportunity to try and get into that top four, top five. So, yeah, well, the top four anyway, because, as I said, it's Rumballara, moama, finlay, tonny, nathalia, Danny, and a blanket covers a lot of them in points. So it's going to be a very interesting game. Do I think Nathalia will win? No, I don't. Do I think they'll put a good showing on? Yes, I do. I think it'll be a quality game. I think it'll be a tough netball game.
Speaker 1:
All Rumbelara need to do is just play to their strengths, play to the processes that they've been playing with for the last nine games. They've come up some. They know they can beat quality size they. They beat moama by eight, they beat um tongala by 29 or 30 goals. So yeah, and they've beaten denny. So this is just another um, another, you know, another um, road, uh, road, hump that they need to get over to really solidify themselves as the top side in 2024 in the A-grade netball at Murray League. So it's just another game at the end of the day. They'll be a little bit nervous because Nathalia's an unknown.
Speaker 1:
Nathalia are going to be a little bit nervous because they've seen, you know the thing is, a lot of these sides now are starting to see the scores that Rumballara are putting up and you know they're going to start to go. Well, we need to nullify this. How do we nullify it? How do we, how do we our defense put that much pressure on Rumballara? Because at the moment, when Rumballara play, they play, they command the game, they play on their terms and pretty much every other side is chasing them. So it'll be an interesting game on the weekend, rumballara and Athaya.
Speaker 1:
As I said back home at Rumballara, after eight or nine games, finally they do play one more game away, which is Beruga next week, I think. But this weekend get down to Mercury Drive. Watch this netball side. They are phenomenal. They've got quality players across the board. This will be a hard-fought game for them, but I really think that they'll win. Will they win by 20, 30 goals? No, maybe 10, 15. Will they score over 40? I don't think so. It all depends on the defense. As I said, they have got a quality defense in Ashkahn, so it all depends on their defense. They just need to come out, play to their strengths, play to their zones, play to their procedures and the rest will be history for them. So, as I said, that is my review of the game this weekend.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that ladder is looking very, very tight in that mid-pack and teams are going to be wanting to start to try and win. As I said, those probably the top five, or even the top five below Rumballara, will play each other again. So it's going to be interesting how that ladder turns itself. And, as I said, rumballara want to try and get as far up front as they can just in case they do drop some games. They want to get as big a percentage as they can, just in case something happens. So, as I said, that is my review. Thank you for listening Me.
Speaker 1:
I think it'll be Rumballara by 16, um, but who knows, who knows this nathalia side. As I said there, you know they had a winning streak of what? One, two, three, four, five, six. A winning streak of six in between losing to tiny and then losing to moama. So, yeah, they're top eight. So they're top six sides, that's top sides, and they lost to both of them. They beat Denny but, as I said, they only beat Denny by two goals. So you know they've failed against the top three. You know two of the top three. So, whether that's just how it is with Nthaya that they're not quite top three, so, um, whether that's just how it is with nathalia that they're? No, they're not quite top three, but they'll be six, you know, in the top six, who knows? Uh, be interesting to see how the game pans out, whether it's going to be dry, whether it's going to be wet, who knows? But, as I said, that is me.
Speaker 1:
Brett. Thank you again for listening. Um, I'll have my review of the game on sund. Hope it's going to be a cracker. And, as I said, rumbaboy16,. Thank you very much for listening. I'm out, bye.
