KANGAS, COUGARS AND DRAGONS
Former Darwin goal-shooter hooter Michelle Winch is finding her groove in a very different rent territory at Bell Park. Read how the Top Endd talent ended up at the Dragons, via the VNL Cougars, in today’s oday’s Court Report. .
BELL Park recruit Michelle Winch says her side has finally started to click and she’s found her groove in her debut GFL netball season.
The talented goal shooter hails from the Northern Territory, having featured for the Territory Storm in its past three ANL seasons.
But it was at a Geelong Cougars’ tryout where the 24year-old crossed paths with Dragons star Kaitlyn Sheringham.
“(I’ve) grown up and played all my netty in Darwin,” Winch said. “Mum and Dad retired to Port Melbourne. I moved with them to Port Melbourne, and then I trialled at the Cougars and that’s where I met Katie.
“I’ve been based in Melbourne the whole time — a lot of the Territory Storm girls are based around the country and we fly back to Darwin and Alice Springs for training camps and then we meet at the different competition locations.”
The goal shooter has been a huge addition to the Dragons, nailing 48 goals in her side’s important 65-49 win over Colac last weekend to help keep her side’s finals hopes intact. Winch conceded she had taken time to jell with her new teammates.
“We did struggle to find some form, especially in the early games, just with combinations and a new team environment, but the belief has been there all along,” she said.
“The win over Colac was solid but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, either — just consolidating what we’ve been working on.
“I think with any new combination it’s going to take a while but we’re definitely finding some form now.”
Winch said her side was good enough to play finals and a win over South Barwon this weekend would show that.
“I think for us, finals has been in the picture from the start of the season,” she said.
“Definitely a top four or five finish, we’re going to push all the way until the end of the season and hopefully we’re at the right end of the ladder.
“We just see it (the South Barwon game) as an opportunity to challenge ourselves against one of the top teams in the league and measure ourselves against the best.”
The young star said she was loving the GFL standard.
“It’s super exciting, especially when you get so many top-level netballers playing,” he said.
“The talent is spread across so many teams so it’s a really exciting competition to be a part of.”