COUGARS SET TO ROAR IN VNL FINALS
All three Geelong Cougars sides will compete in the VNL finals series which starts tonight in Melbourne. Simone Hickman (Division 1), Allie Smith (Championship) and Ellen Doyle (Under-19s), all pictured, will play crucial roles for their sides in the must-win games.
GEELONG Cougars will renew their rivalry with City West Falcons in the Victorian Netball League finals tonight, with a prized spot in the grand final on the line for the winner.
The two teams have shared in some fascinating battles in recent years, including last year’s decider, which the Falcons claimed by eight goals.
Geelong coach Gerard Murphy said the fact so many players on both sides had been teammates in the past or played against each other locally on weekends meant it would probably be another close contest at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
“I think it works both ways,” Murphy said.
“The hard thing for both teams is we haven’t played each other with our full teams yet, so it is probably the first time this season that we have played against each other since the grand final last year.
“I think the girls have continued to develop this year, both those in the ANL program and the girls not in the ANL program.
“There are heaps of opportunities to improve and playing against a few of them on the weekend does help as there is some familiarity with the different types of players and what their strengths and weaknesses are.”
The Cougars are coming off back-to-back wins against the remaining teams in finals, North East Blaze and Casey Demons, but while a win would see them automatically through to the big dance in a fortnight, Murphy said their focus was on the task at hand.
“We will go out with some specific strategies that we have been working on and some different combinations to work out what is going to work and I will make adjustments as we go,” he said.
“We have got a heap of depth and variety so we can make those changes.
“I don’t think it is so bad playing next week (if Geelong loses), we would have to have a practice match anyway to keep up the regular routine.
“But we have played against both third and fourth before finals so we couldn’t have asked for a better preparation coming in, and we will work through it and try to keep up our momentum.”