COUGARS CONNECTION KEY IN TITLE HUNT
GEELONG Cougars midcourt jet Vanessa Augustini says there’s a unique unity among the squad as it strives for VNL premiership glory.
Augustini, who will line up for the Cougars in Wednesday night’s championship grand final against City West Falcons, said the group had a close bond on the back of sharing the court in the local netball scene.
“Because we all play netball in the GFNL, we know each other’s style of play from Saturday and Wednesday games,” she said. “We all work really well together, know the strength of how we present, and enjoy playing together and working together.
“We had a bit of a stumble in finals, but last week’s game was a bit of a blessing in disguise because we found a bit of a groove and are now feeling good.”
Augustini, who plays for GFNL powerhouse Newtown & Chilwell alongside Cougars teammates Zanna Woods and Julia Woolley, said coach Gerard Murphy had been careful to manage the load of the players through the course of a long season.
“It’s been physically and mentally challenging, but Gerard has been great about how much playing and training we have,” Augustini said.
“We all play on Wednesdays together, then everyone also plays on the Saturday, so we’ve had to be careful about not doing too much.
“You would think that playing two games of really high-quality netball each week would be a drain on energy, but it’s really positive.
“It sharpens us up for each game, once we got over the barrier of playing two hard games a week it has helped and prepared us, and it’s definitely noticeable on court with the connection and relationships advantages we have.”
The Cougars face the Falcons at 8.45pm on Wednesday.