THE top spot and premiership favouritism will be decided once and for all this weekend, with the Central Murray’s two undefeated A Grade teams set to go head-to-head out at Lalbert this Saturday afternoon.
The Mallee Eagles and Kerang have taken all before them so far this season, with their highly anticipated clash also set to give the victor bragging rights until they meet again – hopefully – in this year’s finals series.
The Eagles have been one of the teams to beat for several seasons now and have steadily built their squad to finally be in the position of dominance they currently find themselves in.
Kerang on the other hand has been more a of an overnight sensation, with the Blues finishing ninth last season.
While 2024 may not have gone entirely to plan, the foundations of success began to appear at the end of last year, with Kerang winning four of their last six games and incredibly making a late charge towards an unlikely finals berth.
Having spent many seasons in the bottom half of the ladder, the Blues now find themselves in one of the biggest games in recent memory, with Kerang co-coach Chloe Adams telling The Guardian her team can’t wait for the challenge that Saturday will bring.
“At the moment the entire playing group are all really excited for tomorrow,” Adams said.
“It’s going to be a great challenge and one that we feel as though we are up to and that we’re ready for.
“I think the season has been building towards tomorrow as well, it’s the middle of the season and both teams have played everyone else so far and to play each other last in the first round of games is exciting and I think it’ll be a good contest.”
Very little has separated the two clubs across their first nine matches, with the Eagles having scored just 30 more goals than Kerang and the Blues having conceded just 10 goals more.
While the two teams may be very similar on the ladder, they both play a very different brand of netball, with the Blues using their height advantage at either end of the court and the Eagles preferring to use their pace and speed to transition the ball quickly from defence to attack.
With a clash of styles set to occur, it all adds up to be a very intriguing contest according to Mallee Eagles co-coach Alicia Harvey.
“Ultimately I think it’s just going to come down to possession, composure and momentum and literally who wants it more on the day,” Harvey said.
“It’s going to take a team effort from both teams I feel for whichever side gets the points.
“Our advantage is definitely with our speed and our agility through the mid court.
“We’re not one of the tallest teams in the league and obviously Kerang has that height advantage and even the physicality as well.
“But I think if there is any area where we have the advantage, it’s definitely with our quick ball movement and our speed, agility and the fact that we’ve all played together for years.
“Even the newcomers like Lily (Brennan) and Jemma (Meehan), they’ve played with each other for years as well, so the connections we have down the court is going to hopefully be an advantage for us.”
The individual contests at either end of the court between Kerang defender Adams and Eagles goal shooter Megan Thorneycroft, as well as the battle between the Blues’ shooters Denise Snyder and Katelyn Wright and Mallee defenders Nevaeh Roberts and Jemma Meehan will be mouth-watering ones.
But it’s likely to be through the midcourt where the winning side will have an advantage, with Adams expecting the match to be won and lost in the centre third.
“I think there’ll be some really good contests at both ends and both teams match up really well there, but the midcourt will be the key battle I feel,” Adams said.
“It’ll be which team can stand up in midcourt and I think if our girls can really stand tall on Saturday, I think we’ll be in with a really good shot of winning.
“Both teams have the ability to win ball, both teams have the ability to convert and can shoot really well, so it’s going to come down to who can actually transition it between the ends and convert on each set of passing.”
With nothing separating the two teams for the first 10 rounds of the season, I don’t anticipate that is likely to change on Saturday, with home court advantage and big game experience, however minor they may be, potentially the only thing that finally separates both clubs.
Tip – Mallee Eagles to win by one goal.
