Cutters in to finals race after a forfeit

SOUTH Cairns Cutters are poised to play finals netball after a rival team was forced to forfeit its match in the penultimate round of the Senior Division 1 competition

The Cutters jumped into fourth spot with a 41-25 win over North Cairns Tigers on Wednesday night, but it was the result of another game that could have the most bearing on their finals chances.

Saints, who were unable to field a team, had to forfeit their match against Sharks.

While teams usually bank one point for a loss, the forfeit meant Saints earned zero points for Round 9, dropping them to fifth on the ladder with 14 competitions points.

Cutters are in fourth on 15 competition points with one round left.

While most teams will now take a two-week break for the school holidays, defending premiers Sharks will have three weeks between fixtures, after Saints’ forfeit in Round 9.

Sharks coach Richandra Kassman said they would explore their options during the hiatus. “We might have a couple of practice matches with other Division 1 teams,” she said.

“As a coach, you want the upper hand heading into finals, but it helps when we’re all working together, so we’ll reach out to the other clubs and look at our options.”

Netball Queensland will run a free informal workshop for local coaches on Sunday morning, involving four of the six Super Netball coaches here on the weekend, including newly appointed Australian head coach Stacey Marinkovich and the Queensland Firebirds’ Roselee Jencke.

The Firebirds will also host player clinics at Cairns Netball on Monday, with a clinic for players aged 5-10 from 9-10.30am, and players aged 11-15 from 11-12.30pm.