CENTRAL MURRAY FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
GRAND FINAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
ALAN GARDEN RESERVE – COURT 1
3.00PM SWAN HILL v BALRANALD
KEY PLAYER
SWAN HILL
Madeleine Nalder
Fresh off winning the league’s A Grade Best & Fairest on Sunday night alongside Jess Parry, Nalder is one of the competitions best players – and has been for over a decade. Will have the task of trying to stop the rampant Roo’s from piling on the goals, with her match-up against Ella Mirtschin sure to be a match defining one.
BALRANALD
Jess Parry
The Balranald coach is capable of turning a game with a withering 10-minute burst – as evidenced by her winning the A Grade league Best & Fairest on Sunday evening for the second year running. Will need to be at her best, but rarely plays a bad game and will be the player who will take up most of the Swans pre-match planning.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Have met twice this year, with Swan Hill claiming victory both times – by four goals in round 6 and then by 14 goals in round 16.
KEY MATCH-UP
Zoe O’Sullivan v Bonnie Jolliffe
Both teams rely heavily on run through the mid-court, and O’Sullivan and Jolliffe are sure to have a big say on that element of the match in the centre. O’Sullivan is often the firestarter for the Swans and gets momentum going their way, while Jolliffe has been instrumental for Balranald in their semi final and preliminary final wins.
MATCH PREVIEW
BALRANALD will be out to create their own slice of history tomorrow afternoon when they play Swan Hill in this years CMFNL A Grade grand final.
It’s been a long time since Balranald’s A Grade were one of the last two teams standing – so long in fact that it was before their time in the Mid-Murray Football Netball League, let alone the Central Murray.
Swan Hill, on the other hand, are well-acquainted with grand final day, having played in the last decider in 2019 against Woorinen – and last taking home the silverware in 2014.
Tomorrow is a whole new day for the Swans, however, with a sea of blue and white expected to descend on the Alan Garden courts prior to 3pm tomorrow – with the entire township set to gather behind the Roo’s efforts to break their drought.
While there will be a lot of goodwill behind Balranald’s attempts to claim their first premiership in living memory, they also have form on their side as well – with hard-fought wins over Lake Boga and the Mallee Eagles in the past fortnight. It’s with these previous finals in mind that Balranald coach Jess Parry feels her side is primed and ready to take on whatever Swan Hill throw at them.
“We’ve drawn a lot of confidence from our last two finals – it was probably some of the best netball that we’ve played all season to be honest,” Parry said.
“They’re big believers these girls, they definitely think that we’re good enough – but in saying that, we know that Swan Hill are a very disciplined and well-drilled team, so it won’t be an easy game.
“We’ve had it pretty tough and had some high-pressure moments over these last three weeks, which will hold us in good stead, I hope.”
It’s a sentiment that Swan Hill joint coach Madeleine Nalder agrees with, having seen the Roo’s victory over the Mallee Eagles last weekend.
“They were very good last Saturday, it’s a grand final and it’s anyone’s for the taking and I’m sure they want it just as much as we do,” Nalder said.
“We go in with a bit of experience with a few girls having played in grand finals before, but in terms of the actual game, once you’re out there, everyone wants to win and you have to be at your best regardless of your experience or whether you’ve been there before.”
Another aspect of tomorrow’s match that both coaches agree on is that it will take a full court performance from either side to get the win, such is the evenness between both clubs, with Nalder expecting very little to be separating either side come the final whistle.
“They’re (Balranald) strong all over the court, we’ll need to bring a full team effort and need to work together that’s for sure,” Nalder said.
“They have a strong shooting duo and goals win games, so we’re going to have to go to work on limiting them as much as we can in a similar way to what I’m sure they are going to do with us.
“Across the board, I feel the match-up’s are very even and there really aren’t too many dominant combinations that favour either side – there are good match-ups all over the court which I think will produce an exceptionally good contest.”
Parry agreed with her coaching counterpart, noting that their good form in recent weeks has been born from the pressure her players have been able to apply across the court.
“I think it’ll take a team effort from all of us to get the job done,” Parry said.
“As a coach, I’ve been really proud with how our younger girls have played throughout the finals, they’ve really stepped it up a notch and I think they’ll be really important again tomorrow.”
“‘Mads’ Nalder and Mollie Quin in defence are quite strong, their mid-court are very fast and their goalies are always accurate as well. They don’t really have a weakness, so that just means we have to be at our best and apply pressure early and play to our strengths really.”
If the previous 169 days have been any indication, then nothing can be ruled out.
In what has been one of the closest and most extraordinary seasons of A Grade netball ever played, then a hard-fought grand final, that goes into over time and produces an upset is every bit possible – and while the heart says Balranald, the head says Swan Hill will win their first premiership since 2014. Tip – Swan Hill to win by 4 goals.
