North Albury's Nat Heagney on target for her debut senior season with Hoppers

The 18-year-old Hopper scored 354 goals this season, making her the competition's second highest scorer.

While Corowa-Rutherglen shooter Grace Senior topped the charts with 533 goals from 13 matches, her and Heagney both shot at 76 per cent accuracy this season.

After coming up through North Albury's under-16s, Heagney said she enjoyed the challenge in the senior ranks.

"It was definitely more challenging in competition, but I thought it was really good," she said.

"There were always a few defenders that I thought challenged me, but I always just tried my best."

Heagney played her debut A-grade game back in 2019, coming up against Corowa-Rutherglen for her first match.

She admits it was a tough introduction to senior netball as she went toe-to-toe with Roos' defender and two-time Toni Wilson medallist Sophie Hanrahan.

"I was very nervous for it," Heagney said.

She's always felt most at home under the ring and hasn't shied away from putting in the hard yards to be on target come match day.

"I try and practice every day for an hour," she said.

Nat wasn't the only Heagney to take to the court this season, with sister Breanna down in the Hoppers' defensive end for A and B grade.

With just a year between them, the sibling duo have always enjoyed the sport together.

"It's good having her close to my age because we've played netball together pretty much our whole lives," Heagney said.

"We got to play together for a couple of games this season."

The Hoppers' campaign has now come to an end following the cancellation of the last Ovens and Murray home and away round.

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The young North Albury side claimed three wins under coach Fiona Boyer, who has become a mentor for Heagney.

"She's always there for me," she said.

"Sometimes when I lose my technique I can come back to her and she corrects it."

The NSW lockdown has now sent the year 12 Xavier High School student into home learning.

While she admits it's been a challenging time, she's taking it in her stride.

"It's been a bit difficult just trying to gather all of the work, but it's alright because we finished trials just in time before lockdown," she said.

"We were thinking that we were going to play netball this weekend, but we can't do much about it."

Wangaratta goal shooter Amanda Umanski has had another good season under the ring, shooting 333 goals from 10 games.

Just five teams are now left standing and are waiting patiently for the league's finals series to commence.

Corowa-Rutherglen, Yarrawonga, Wangaratta Magpies, Lavington Panthers and Myrtelford all remain in the running for the 2021 A-grade flag.

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