Supersaints poised
SHE may not be able to vote, legally drive by herself or buy an alcoholic drink, but that hasn’t stopped St Albans captain Alahria Smith from leading her team to the GFNL premier division grand final.
The 17-year-old took over the captaincy this season and on Saturday will step out on to the court to face the undefeated Newtown in what will be the biggest match of her fledgling career.
Smith has already won one premiership this season with the Geelong Cougars under-19s team, and while taking on the Eagles will undoubtedly be an enormous challenge, it is nothing she has not had to overcome as a young leader of a senior team.
“They just said straight out, we want you to be captain, so I took it on,” she said.
“It kind of took me a while to come out of my shell and help the girls, and direct them and talk to them on the court, but then I had Maggie (Lind) telling me, ‘ Alahria, talk on the court’.
“I started to do that and on Saturday (against South Barwon) she came up to me and said (my talk on the court) was great and we really needed that.
“But even with the encouragement we have got women with kids my age and I’m leading them on the court, so it has taken me a while but I’m there and I’m enjoying it.”
St Albans was well below its best when it lost to Newtown in Round 13, with Lind and several other high-profile players missing from the side that lost 37-69 at home.
But despite their return, Smith said trying to shut down the best team in the competition would require a holistic approach.
“We had a few girls away because of VNL and Suncorp Super Netball, so we had a few out and had a few of our B-grade team in,” she said.
“Newtown is obviously the strongest team in the league, especially through the midcourt into their goalers, so we just have to work hard to stop that drive from the midcourt because that is where they have the biggest impact in games.
“It’s going to require a whole team effort, it’s not just the defenders who have to do all the work, it is all the way down from the goalshooter as well. We have to put pressure on, obviously, to stop those assists.”
Smith said the entire club was over the moon having made its first A-grade grand final since the GFNL started back in 200.
“When we got into finals I was over-excited and the whole club was ecstatic for us,” she said.
“It just shows we are such a strong club with a strong culture and it is just awesome for all of our players who have done their bit and now here we are.”