WITH three league best and fairests and a 2012 premiership medal already in her keeping, Laura Hicks has well and truly earned her reputation as one of the all-time greats of the LVFNL netball competition.
The star Mitiamo goal attack only further enhanced her lofty status by adding another two medallions to her collection on Saturday.
Hicks was a popular choice as the best on court player in the A-grade grand final premiership win over Newbridge, winning praise from coaches from both sides.
"She is such a solid all-round player," was the verdict from rival coach Jane Reid, whose Maroons side was so gallant in defeat.
"I think what probably sealed that medal (win) was that she got a couple of key intercepts at the right time for them.
"She is just such a solid player, who always performs well. Ultra-consistent."
The humble Superoos skipper described her best on court medal as a nice extra to her premiership one.
"It was very surprising as we had quite a few girls, who stepped up today and could have won it," Hicks said.
"But it's very nice to have."
She added Newbridge was not without some strong contenders for the honours of its own, singling out goal shooter Reid and goal keeper Tracy O'Donnell.
The Superoos and their leader have suffered plenty of heartache since their last flag win in 2012, with losses to Newbridge in 2016 and Pyramid Hill in 2017.
Hicks admitted to some worry, after the Maroons jumped the Superoos to lead 14-8 at quarter time.
"It wasn't a great start, but we knew we had the players to come back," she said.
"It was only 15 minutes, we knew we had 45 minutes to make up the margin. That's what we kept telling ourselves. We won every quarter after that.
"We weren't patient early on, we were just forcing the ball into the circle. That's not our game. But they played very well in that first quarter.
"We knew we could turn it around. We just needed to put up our shots and things would fall our way."
The goal attack finished the match with a cool-handed 28 goals, with 18 coming in the second-half surge as the Superoos turned a three-goal deficit into a seven-goal triumph.
While content to savour the premiership win for a few days, Hicks was hopeful the premiership group would remain intact for next year's title defence.
"Most of us have been here a while - five out of the nine are from juniors," she said.
"I'm sure most of us will be sticking around.
"I don't think anyone will be moving too far away."
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