Player absences fuel uncertainty ahead of important clashes
Constantly changing player availabilitiy is likely to continue in Wimmera netball during the next few weeks as part of an extensive settling period.
League insiders remain unsure how indicative A Grade results will be for a big season ahead with clubs falling short of having all players available.
Players from a variety of grades are the subject of late call-ups, generating an expectation that the season could be even with few standout teams.
Ultimately, it might be the clubs with the best ability to cover injuries and illness that come out on top.
An Anzac Day clash on Monday between Horsham and Horsham Saints is the marque contest for roundtwo netball action.
Horsham has yet to hit the court this season and will be keen to launch its 2022 assault with victory against a Saints team coming off a first-up win.
Of particular significance is the striking of the Ivy Delany Medal for the player from either side who best presents an example of Anzac spirit during the A Grade contest.
Ivy Vera Delany was 27, single and a nurse at Horsham District Hospital when she enlisted as an army Staff Nurse with the Hospital Transport Corp, Australian Imperial Force in 1917 during the First World War.
She worked with the 60th, 66th, 43rd and 52nd General Hospital after travelling with 300 army nurses to Suez.
Similar to many others of the time, she suffered severe illness while treating soldiers and despite her condition returned to duty several times after recovery.
She received the British War Medal the Victory Medal on her discharge in 1919 and in 1921 was working as an occupation nurse at Armadale.
Horsham president Ashley Hopper said striking the medal was fitting recognition for the game’s best player.
“With the success and history of the Bert Perry Medal for our senior footballers, discussions between the clubs revolved around duplicating a similar award honouring a female serviceperson from Horsham,” he said.
“Following this decision, we reached out to the Horsham RSL to get a list of suitable candidates. The RSL presented a great list and each one had an incredible story. It was difficult to tell from the old information if any were directly related to the Horsham or Saints clubs.
“We will endeavour to research Ivy Delany’s family tree and see if we can find any family members around who could possibly present the medal on future Anzac days.”
Monday’s game should draw keen spectator interest with young players such as Grace and Eva Manserra and Imogen Worthy coming into the Demons’ team. Players to watch for the Saints will include Ashley Brace and Steffi Mcdonald.
Both teams have versatility and could vary their starting line-ups but there is little doubt every ball will be the subject of fierce contest.
The regular round
Weekend action gets underway on Saturday with Warrack Eagles meeting Southern Mallee Giants and Dimboola up against Minyip-murtoa.
The Eagles-giants encounter at Warracknabeal’s Anzac Park features the Eagles coming off a bye and Giants resuming after a tough, hard-fought round-one win. Both the Giants and Dimboola took a few quarters to settle last round with inaccurate passing early creating many intercept opportunities for both teams.
The Giants cannot afford a slow start this week because the Eagles will be out to impress in their first match of the season in front of a home crowd.
Sarah Spicer’s absence presents the Eagles with a big hole to fill, but the team has depth, with Emma Koschitzke and Ashlynn Mckenzie through centre court who could have a good tussle with Codie Robins.
Abby White was steady in defence for the Giants last round and will need to do that again should she line up against the likes of Briodi Mckenzie and Molly Stewart.
At Dimboola, both teams will be looking for a win after narrow firstround losses.
Dimboola slogged it out with Giants for the entirety of match and applied strong defence, but will need to finish off opportunities.
The Burras started slowly first up but are capable of much more.
Paige Glover, in her first year of senior netball, played a strong game last week and her match-up with Tamika Mentha will be a good test.
Ararat proved too good for Stawell Warriors in a Good Friday match, which rounded off round-one games last weekend.
Jemma Clarkson shone in the Rats’ 50-40 win at Stawell’s North Park.
Both Ararat and Stawell have byes this weekend.