BW: How tough was it to make the switch from North Albury to Raiders?

KL: It wasn’t a tough decision in the end because I was becoming a bit disengaged with netball and was going to take the year off to focus on some other sporting interests, so when they rang and explained their program and training schedule, I was really interested.

Did you immediately take on a leadership role at the club given your experience?

To a certain extent I guess I did, but because we’re so hungry for success, there’s been a lot of girls who have stepped up and are providing leadership in their own way.

Raiders have been competitive in all bar the last game against Lavington. What went wrong there, particularly after leading 8-0 in the first quarter?

We started really well in that game and we had a point to prove after starting poorly against Albury the week prior. Lavi are an experienced team and they outplayed us after that.

What lessons from the loss to the Panthers and some of the other gun teams do you take into this weekend’s game against Rovers?

We’ve been working a lot on executing our game plan under pressure so we’ll focus on that against Rovers.

What has been Raiders best game this year, win or loss?

We had a great win against Myrtleford but I think our best game was against Wodonga. We lost that game but we played really well and were able to play a fast paced game with good defensive pressure all over the court.

Three weeks ago Raiders would have started favourite on Saturday but after recent results it might have gone the other way. Can you win this weekend and what do you as a team need to do to make that a reality?

We can certainly win but we just need to make sure that we stick to our game plan and lift the intensity when we feel Rovers lift theirs. We’ve worked really hard at training this week to train under pressure and I think the team that displays good decision making on the weekend, will be the team that wins.

Alysha Drummond has been a great find since switching to the goal scoring end, but who else at Raiders has impressed you?

Alysha has been amazing as a goaler and she does a lot of practice in her own time. Brooke Pryse is another girl who shows maturity beyond her years. She is only 15 but she works hard for 100 per cent of the game.

What do you need to do to take the next step and really push for finals?

It’s just executing our decision making under pressure.

What is the benchmark for Raiders for the rest of the year?

We need to improve as a team and as a unit and hopefully when our team game develops strongly, the wins will come.

Who do you rate as the best team you’ve played this year?

So far it would have to be Wodonga, but we are yet to play Yarra.