The Albury Tigers netballers will take to the court for the first time in a finals series in 12 years – and they believe they deserve to go even further.
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It was 2003 when Albury last had a netball team at this stage of the Ovens and Murray competition, but coach Olivia Aughton said the goal for 2015 was always to make that change.
The weekend’s 49 to 29 win over Wangaratta Rovers marked the end of the long drought, securing fourth spot on the ladder and an elimination final against North Albury at Wangaratta’s Norm Minns Oval on Sunday.
“The girls are really pumped and they worked really hard from the start… They are there to have a red-hot crack,” Aughton said.
“They’re wanting to progress; it’s not just enough to make finals.”
Albury’s previous lack of finals games was a topic of conversation at this week’s training.
The inexperienced Tigers will look for guidance from players like Aughton, who played finals series during her time in the Victorian Netball League, and ex-Lady Bandits basketballers on the team, who have also dealt with the pressure of finals.
Aughton said the team’s mood is more excitement than nervousness and wants the girls to lap up the atmosphere of the day, which will be a lot more intense than a normal home and away match.
Albury finished the season strongly with a win over minor premier Yarrawonga a couple of weeks ago, but lost by five goals to North Albury when the teams last met in July.
Aughton said the girls were frustrated with their performance on that day and she will be interested to see if they have learned from their mistakes.
“We really just didn’t capitalise on our strengths,” she said.
“They’ve had a good run the last couple of games and we’re aware of that.”
The game is expected to be a defensive battle between the two closely-matched teams.
Aughton suffered an ankle injury during her last game, but confirmed she would not miss out on finals, especially with a job to do on the Hoppers’ accurate shooters.
“There’s no stopping the determination,” she said.
“We’ll mean business when we turn up on Sunday.”
At the other end of the court, Albury will come up against 2014 best and fairest winner from the Hoppers, Jacqui Newton, with the centre court players aware they will have to do more than just put balls up in the air for their shooters.
In the weekend’s other match, second-placed Wodonga Bulldogs will take on third-placed Lavington at Bunton Park in North Albury in a qualifying final.
