PANTHERS BOW OUT
Tough Jets advance in Ruby Series finals series
NETBALL: It wasn’t the way it was meant to end.
The Darling Downs Panthers fairytale season came to a crashing halt in the Ruby Series semi finals, falling to USQ Jets 61-41 in Brisbane.
The experience of the Ipswich side came to the fore as they led from start to finish, with the Panthers unable to peg them back.
Coach Bec Stower said the side were gallant in defeat.
“We can’t take away from the fact that we’ve gone from last to fourth. It’s pretty remarkable really,”
she said.
“We got so many messages before the game that no matter what the outcome was, we should be proud. We didn’t want to feel patronised. We’d beaten all the teams in the top four and thought we had a true chance.
“People say finals is a whole different game, and I think that was the case. Mentally I don’t think we were in it, we just let little things get on top of us.
“There were patches where I could see what we were capable of but we couldn’t put it out there for enough minutes. Normally we’re pretty good at coming from behind, but as soon as we got some momentum, we lost it.”
Despite the heartbreak of the conclusion, Stower said there is a lot of positives to take out of the season, as they build towards a bigger 2022.
The Panthers rose from a winless wooden spoon season to the finals, and there could be another step up on the horizon.
“We got here, we worked hard to get here and we deserved it,” Stower said.
“We’re in the process of applying for a Sapphire Series licence which would be an important building block for us.
“We’ve got the depth and talent in the region. Moving forward things are all positive, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved as a team.”