LAVINGTON will enter the 2016 netball season placing high expectations on themselves under new coach Tamara Matthews.
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The Panthers finished third last season, ahead of Albury and North Albury, with Matthew making a repeat effort the benchmark.
But, with a number of clubs welcoming and farewelling different players, Matthews says more teams could challenge for a finals spot.
“The first few rounds will be a little bit about learning who the new faces are for a few teams, learning what they’re about,” she said.
“I think a few sides could really step up and challenge this season.”
Matthews listed Wodonga and Albury as two sides to watch out for after impressive campaigns in 2015.
“I think it’ll be easy to underestimate sides like the Bulldogs and Tigers,” she said.
“Wodonga have lost a few of their veterans, but they’ve got a pretty strong bunch of young players coming through.
“Wangaratta Magpies will be pretty strong as well, I think.
“They were unlucky to miss out on finals by percentage last season, and their core group is pretty solid.
“If sides like Corowa-Rutherglen and Myrtleford manage to pick up a few, I don’t think they’ll need a lot be be competitive either.”
Though she expected things to tighten up towards the middle of the table, Matthews said Yarrawonga would still be the team to beat, rather than reigning premiers Wodonga.
“Yarrawonga will stay largely the same I think, they’ve kept that group together for quite a long time now.
“They’ll be hard to beat.”
Matthews was nonetheless optimistic about her own team’s chances in the upcoming season.
“It’s early days, we’ll be holding our trials next week for the A-grade side,” she said.
“But we’ve had pretty good numbers in our first week back, so I think we’re well-placed … we’ve had a bit of success in our lower grades recently and the seniors have been performing well.
“Hopefully we get a good turnout.”