Woodside met Rosedale on the Heyfield Football-Netball Club courts on Saturday afternoon for the 2022 North Gippsland Football-Netball League Grand Final.
The Australian flag flew at half mast in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The Australian national anthem was sung, and it was time for the A Grade netball Grand Final to begin – a repeat of the last NGFNL A Grade decider of 2019.
Woodside and Rosedale supporters flocked in masses, forming a sea of blue behind the court’s fences with acclamations so vociferous they were heard on the far side of the football field.
The Wildcats took the court, determined to claim victory, having not won a NGFNL netball Grand Final against the Blues since 2016.
The Blues took the court, determined to claim their third consecutive flag.
Let the game begin: NGFNL’s netball elites would be crowned in just 60 minutes.
With each side as determined as the other, it’s no surprise teams hit the court running.
The young centre from Woodside, Taylah Buckley, certainly proved herself as one of the Wildcats’ paramount players with her fantastic on-court movement. Buckley was a dominating presence from start to finish.
Woodside took a slight early lead, but Rosedale’s goal defence/goalkeeper, Bronwyn Tebb, exercised an unwavering tenacity in the shooting ring, shutting down the Wildcats’ towering goal shooter and playing coach, Elizabeth Nicol.
The Blues hit a rhythm, and the crowds began to sing as Rosedale’s goal shooter Meg Gordyn stamped her dominance in the shooting ring.
Using her height to good use, Gordyn showcased her accuracy and strength, adding consecutive points to the board and closing the score.
Rosedale’s wing attack, Demi Plunkett, provided grit and brains in the midcourt with her excellent court movement and wise ball distribution, feeding well into the Blues’ shooting ring.
The Wildcats’ goalkeeper Holly Johnston and goal defence Caitlin Ponton were work-horses in their third, generating substantial defensive pressure throughout the game.
The crowd’s anomalously rising volume substantiated an electric first quarter, and as teams returned for the second, Rosedale was out to dethrone Woodside of their lead.
Woodside wing attack Leah Stoffels made a fiery intercept in the opening minutes of the second.
Enter Sarah Mayman.
Seconds later, Rosedale’s playing-coach retaliated with a superb intercept, flying into Woodside’s pass out of nowhere before linking up with Plunkett, who fed the ball to Gordyn in the shooting ring.
The Wildcats drew strength from the collaboration between Ponton and Buckley; their speed and accuracy in the midcourt and their comprehension of each other’s play made one hell of a dangerous combination.
Maybe it was an energy drink or just good old H2o and pure determination; whatever it was, it worked for Mayman, taking the second quarter by the scruff as if to say, ‘This is my fricking game’.
Mayman was like a bull out of a gate, charging up and down the court almost single-handedly, regaining Rosedale’s control of the game.
Her wisdom on the court was evident in every pass, which saw Rosedale’s midcourt feed ball after ball to Gordyn in the shooting ring, who played a ripper second quarter.
Buckley, the Wildcats little energiser bunny, continued to be a dominating presence on the court.
Scores were tied as teams entered the second quarter break.
The pressure was rising on and off the court, expelling from the crowd an exciting nervousness, and among the players, aggression built.
Fast forward to the end of the third, and Woodside had taken back their lead. Two points separated the Blues and the Wildcats as teams took their positions for the final quarter.
The crowd was now so loud it was a distraction for those watching the football across the way.
Signs waved; blue, white and silver streamers flailed as they were caught in the increasing wind, and the whistles sounded to let the final quarter begin.
Heyfield FNC’s court was a battlefield, and this was war.
Bodies hit the ground, and elbows and shoulders found faces. To the unsuspecting eye, this game was no longer netball, and these were no longer netball players; rather, this was MMA, and these women were now fighters.
Plunkett’s great feed into the shooting circle saw Rosedale be the first to score and consecutive goals from Gordyn and Rosedale’s goal attack Lorelle Lowe, evened the board.
Mayman’s stellar performance continued, allowing the Blues to penetrate into their attacking third.
Buckley and Ponton persisted in wreaking havoc in Woodside’s defensive third and through the midcourt.
Gordyn and Lowe were on point, literally, wielding an unfathomable accuracy in Rosedale’s shooting ring.
Woodside’s goal attack Brittany Mustoe and Nicol showcased an incredible partnership; once these two had the ball, the Wildcats were almost guaranteed a goal.
Rosedale broke away despite the relentless defensive pressure from Ponton and Johnston.
Sixty seconds left; Rosedale 40, Woodside 39.
It was Woodside’s centre pass.
Buckley to Mustoe, Mustoe back to Buckley, to Mustoe again. Nicol was there, Rosedale’s goal defence, Emily McInnes holding tight.
McInnes’ efforts to block Nicol were overturned; literally, Nicol’s sending McInnes to the ground.
Less than 60 seconds left: Rosedale 40, Woodside 40.
It was Rosedale’s centre pass.
From the Blues centre, Carly Johnstone, to Plunkett, Plunkett to Mayman, Mayman feeding the ball to Gordyn.
Obstruction Woodside goalkeeper, Gordyn misses.
Lowe sets up for her shot, time is called.
The 60 minutes were up, and the scores were tied; NGFNL’s elite was yet to be decided.
Teams returned to their bench, hastily taping body parts and sipping much-needed water before returning to the court to play seven minutes each side in overtime.
Woodside was first to score. Woodside scored again and again and again.
A belligerent Nicol put away eight consecutive goals for Woodside, exhausting Rosedale’s Tebb and McInness. No one was stopping Nicol. No one.
Rosedale scrounged up a few goals, but as Woodside pulled away and despite endearments from Mayman, the Blues’ hearts fell heavy.
After 74 exhausting minutes, Woodside claimed their victory, defeating Rosedale 56 to 48.
The talent and efforts from both teams was exceptional, but it was Woodside’s Ponton who took home the best on court.
Woodside playing coach Elizabeth Nicol said, “to win it in overtime is just an unreal feeling”.
“We had nothing but trust for each other; we said at the start of the overtime that we were just going to trust each other, and we just went out there and stuck to our process and played it moment by moment.”
“It was just amazing; we said every pass counts, every play counts, we can’t get up and then let it go, we had to play pass by pass, moment by moment, and the girls just executed it perfectly.
“Today was just amazing, just beautiful.”
