Supersaints not prepared to rest on their laurels

ST ALBANS coach Nicole Richardson says her side won’t take its spot in the GFL top three for granted despite improving its record to 7-1 on Saturday.

A 64-60 shootout win over Colac helped the Supersaints move two games clear of fourth spot after Leopold suffered a shock defeat to St Joseph’s.

But Richardson said her side’s narrow win showed why the Supersaints couldn’t get carried away.

“We played (winless) Grovedale without Tharjini (Sivalingam) and we were pushed there — and yes, she does make a big difference,” Richardson said. “We played Lara and Lara pushed us, and we’ve played Colac and they pushed us as well.

“I don’t take any game for granted as a coach, never did as a player either, and I think it’s important we don’t lose sight of the fact on their day any team can beat anyone.”

Sivalingam was again unstoppable for the Supersaints, nailing 61 of 64 attempts — her output single-handedly beating Colac.

But in an ominous warning to rival clubs, Richardson believed the Sri Lankan import — recognised as the world’s tallest netballer — still had improvement to come. “She’s just a massive post up for us, I guess. She missed the first two rounds prior to getting here and her improvement over six rounds, combined with playing at City West Falcons in the VNL, I think is really starting to take her game to the next level,” Richardson said.

“She’s gone from playing only a handful of games into Sri Lanka to now two and sometimes three games a week depending on the VNL ST ALBANS LEOPOLD ST MARY’S 5 R. Scott 45, E. Murfitt 15. T. Sivalingan 61, M. Gray 3.

R. Stephens, E. Murfitt, G. Finn.

T. Sivalingan, T. Minns, S. Ropati. fixture.” But St Albans must tighten its defence if it’s to challenge the top two sides — Newtown & Chilwell and South Barwon.

The Supersaints have conceded 405 goals, the third most in the competition behind winless clubs Grovedale and North Shore.

While noting her side’s defenders were young, Richardson admitted it was an area that needed tightening.

“To be able to really challenge and threaten Newtown and South Barwon as well, we’re really going to need to try and see if we can get a 10 to 15 per cent increase in our defensive capacity,” she said. NEWTOWN 800 STH BARWON 7 7 10 10 30 440 195.20 32 141.18 110.12 111.83 28 28 112.36 20 16