Big night for Bragg, bigger for Cougars
GEELONG Cougars captain Mel Bragg says she is confident her 100th game will not distract her team from its pursuit of booking a grand final berth tonight.
Bragg will complete the milestone in the second semifinal against Melbourne University Lightning, with the winner to advance to the final on Sunday week.
It is a far cry from the early days of the Cougars, when they were fighting to compete in the Victorian Netball League, but they have become a powerhouse in recent years thanks to the addition of local talent and have qualified for finals in all grades for the second straight season.
Bragg said she was proud to have been part of the journey that had seen Geelong establish itself as a strong and successful Victorian Netball League club.
“My first season at Cougars we won one game, then the next year we won two and then it might have been four, so it has been a long process,” Bragg said.
“This is my sixth year and I love the club and I wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t a great club.
“It is like a family, so to be able to work through those challenges along the way, (reaching) 100 games is awesome, but there is a bigger challenge for us now and I don’t want it to be about me, it is about the team and what we have to do.”
Bragg has enjoyed a whirlwind 12 months, earning a spot with Collingwood Magpies as a training partner, claiming an Australian Netball League title with the Tasmania Magpies and making her Super Netball debut.
But she said adding to the cabinet with a maiden VNL championship flag with the Cougars would top the year off.
“Between all of those things and now having the opportunity to go into finals with Cougars, it’s been a very rewarding season, but it is ob- viously not done yet and our focus is on hopefully getting a win to get us straight through (to the grand final),” she said.
“If that doesn’t happen then we have the double chance, which we have worked really hard to get, so it is a credit to all of the girls for the work they have had to do while ANL players have been away. When they have come back we have been able to jell pretty well.”
The Lightning and Cougars met twice in the homeand-away season, registering a win apiece, but Bragg said it was difficult to read too much into earlier results.
“We haven’t played them when both teams were at full strength,” she said.
“We have done our homework on them but we have got to stick to what we want to do and we can’t focus too much on their game plan or we won’t execute ours.”
The second semi-final between the Lightning and the Cougars will be held at the State Netball and Hockey Centre and starts at 8.25pm.