Eagles captain defends team’s style

THE joint winner of last week’s controversial GFL netball A-grade league best-andfairest count says online comments about the way her team plays its netball have been disappointing.

Champion goaler and Newtown captain Julia Woolley tied with Geelong Cougars teammate and Leopold star Zanna Woods, but there was an overwhelming feeling of shock on the night when not one of her teammates polled a vote in the 92-goal drubbing of cellar dweller North Shore in Round 17.

The Eagles, who have not lost a match since 2012, told the Geelong Advertiser there was nothing that immediately sprung to mind that would have caused the officiating umpires not to reward one of their players with a vote.

But while most netball followers agreed it seemed an odd decision to give the three votes, two votes and one vote all to North Shore players, Woolley said suggestions that Newtown did not play the game in right spirit had been disappointing.

“I read the comments and I kind of wish I hadn’t because that upset me a little bit,” she said.

“We don’t go into any game thinking we want to smash them (our opposition) by 150 goals, we just want to play well.

“We have walked away from games where we have won but played poorly and have walked away disappointed because that is how we play regardless of the score.

“So that was a bit disappointing, because we just want to go out there and play well together, regardless scoreline.”

Woolley shot 49 goals from 56 attempts in the lop-sided affair, but she said she did not think she should have polled votes and was elated to share the award with Woods.

“We looked back on the game and we can’t think of anything that happened to put the umpires off side,” she said.

“I think it was a good contest, we just had some young umpires and when the game is loud and intimidating, I remember we were calling for ‘held’ and North Shore kept of the turning around and were saying to stop abusing the umpires.

“And we said, ‘we are not abusing them, we are calling for held — we are not swearing at them or yelling at them’, and I just think they might have heard that and been put on the back foot.

“So that was disappointing. But I would have been lucky to poll votes in that game.

“I was happy to share it with Zanna.”

Newtown will aim for its sixth straight GFL A-grade title when it faces St Albans in Saturday’s grand final.