Cougars on the cusp
Chance for title double
THE Geelong Cougars might have missed out on a spot in the VNL Championship division grand final, but its two teams in division one and under-19s will be out to secure the club some premiership glory tomorrow night.
Having won the club’s first ever premiership title last year, the under-19s side made it to the grand final with a superb 63-62 win over City West Falcons last week.
Geelong under-19 coach Mel Savage said shutting down the Falcons goaling pair of Uneeq Palavi and Madelyn Gray would be critical to her team enjoying the ultimate success again.
“We have to be at our best to beat them, it’s as simple as that,” Savage said. “The first final we played it was a bit of a shootout as both teams have very accurate and strong shooting circles and the scores reflected that.
“It shows the impact the attack ends have on the game, but, in saying that, I have every confidence in the world in our defensive lineup.
“We have got the experience of Jamiee Van Leerdam and Gemma Stavenuiter with one of our young up-andcoming stars, Ruby PekinSchlicht, so we have certainly got the experience and agile athletes to take them on.”
The division one team features reigning GFNL league best-and-fairest winner Zanna Woods in the circle alongside Hannah Van Gemst, as well as midcourt star and captain Bianca Cheever.
Savage said, while that trio would need to be on top of their games for the Cougars to be in contention against DC North East Blaze, stopping shooting sensation Rebecca Colwell — whose 41 goals were shot at 94 per cent accuracy in the 54-55 semifinal loss to Geelong — was of paramount importance.
“The (semi-final and grand final) games are going to be quite similar, I think,” she said.
“We know the Blaze are a very physical team so our attackers need to be prepared for that.
“But both teams have very dominant goal shooters. We have Hannah Van Gemst, who has come up from under-19s last year and just grown in stature, and they have one of the leading goal scorers in Colwell, who is a big force.
“We have done a lot of work with our circle defenders to change up what they do and it’s exciting as this is the first year the division one team has been in a grand final … it will be a really tight tussle again but we are so confident in what our girls can do and with their best game they should win.”
Both finals will be played at the State Hockey Netball Centre in Parkville.