ASH Gilmore and Chelsea Sartori will be on opposite sides when Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat take to the court on Saturday for their BFNL season opener.
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But the Hawks' goal shooter and Roos' star midcourter found plenty of common ground as they crossed paths during the week.
Preparing to take to the court in a match for premiership points for the first time since September in 2019, both were quick to declare the looming start to the 2021 season as 'surreal'.
It's been a long haul for most netballers across country Victoria after enduring a stop-start - but mostly stop - pre-season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, before eventually having the rug pulled from underneath them.
While 19 months have passed since most leagues played their 2019 grand finals, the countdown to Saturday has brought a mix of nervous apprehension, pure excitement and even a sense of relief.
"It's so exciting, but it kind of feels a bit surreal to actually be finally playing on Saturday," said Sartori, who will be hoping for the Roos to one better this season than their second-place finish in 2019.
"I am really looking forward to getting back out there and playing with the girls again."
Added Gilmore, who crossed to Eaglehawk at the start of 2020 after a pair of consecutive premierships with White Hills in 2018 and '19: " It's been such a huge lead-up, we went through all this last year and it didn't go ahead, so we're very excited.
"It's actually a bit surreal at the moment, the fact that it's on Saturday.
"It does feel like we have waited forever and then this last little bit has crept up on us pretty quickly."
A fresh season brings with it plenty of reasons for optimism for most clubs - Kangaroo Flat and Eaglehawk are no exceptions.
Plenty of hype has surrounded the Roos, who scored a massive coup with the recruitment of reigning Betty Thompson Medal winner Ashley Ryan and her sister Abbey from Eaglehawk, and former three-time Sandhurst premiership defender Carly Van Den Heuvel.
They have also added the versatile Laura McDonald and White Hills premiership defender/midcourter Bronte Deary (who has returned to her former club) to a line-up already stocked with top-end talent and that came within a few goals of a premiership in 2019.
While she was quick to acknowledge the fanfare that had accompanied the Roos' clever recruiting, Sartori said the club felt no extra weight of expectation heading into the season.
"For us, the focus is just on getting out there and enjoying it again, it was disheartening to do all that pre-season last year and not be able to play," she said.
"To have that taken away from you, it makes you appreciate what the game can do for you and what it brings.
"To be able to play alongside your best mates each week is so much fun, so we will be out there to enjoy ourselves."
Sartori is expecting nothing short of a tough contest to kick-off the season and, as someone with a great appreciation of the league, was looking forward to seeing what the Gilmore sisters - Ash and Abby - would bring to the Hawks, who find themselves in rebuild mode following the loss of most of their 2019 team.
"Their line-up will be pretty unfamiliar, but that's one of the great things about the BFNL, every team is tough and every week is a real challenge," she said.
With Eaglehawk's Gayle Annan the last coach in the league to be appointed in January, Ash Gilmore said the Hawks squad had come together quite late in the pre-season, but their early progress had been encouraging.
"We're all virtually new, so we'll take time to get used to each other and to get some chemistry, but it's exciting watching it come together and seeing where we can get to," she said.
"Playing Kangaroo Flat, we know they are going to be a strong side. They have recruited exceptionally, so it's a bit of a benchmark game for us.
"They were already a top-two side in 2019, so adding some really great players to that list is going to put them at a level we need to be at.
"On Saturday, we'll get to see exactly where we are at and what we need to do and work on."
Gilmore and co-captain Renee Sheridan will lead a primarily young team, powered by the likes of top defender Elley Lawton, former BFNL Rising Star winner Bree Heiden, Morgan Keating, Arriah Keogh, Jasmin Gallagher and zippy goal attack Gracie Berryman.
Adding to the excitement, Gilmore is relishing lining up alongside sister Abby for virtually the first time in their careers.
"We tried to do it once before and it didn't turn it, then I came back last year and that didn't go ahead, so I'm hoping third time's a charm for me at Eaglehawk," she said.
"I hope we have a really great year together and it all works out."
The 2021 season will be Abby Gilmore's first at Eaglehawk since the club's last premiership year in 2012.
Storm undaunted by another tough test
Strathfieldsaye coach Steph Freemantle says her young side will embrace another big assignment to open the 2021 BFNL season.
The Storm, who started their season a week earlier than most with a standalone game against reigning premiers Sandhurst on Good Friday, make the trip to Gisborne to face another of the league's perennial powerhouses.
Far from daunted, Freemantle and her team are looking forward to the challenge of not only tackling one of the league's premier teams but building on their impressive showing against the Dragons.
"We were very happy with last week, it was 24 (goals) in the end, but as much as you don't like to blame external factors, the heat was definitely tough to play in and they are definitely a very experienced team," she said.
"But there were lots of positives to take away for us."
The Storm were right in contention at half time, trailing by just three goals (22-19), before a third quarter blitz by the Dragons blew the game out.
High on the list of positives was the brilliant first-up form of goal shooter Ava Hamilton, who despite still being eligible for 17-and-under, earned the honour of the Storm's best in her first game.
Freemantle said Eliza Hynes had acquitted herself well at goal keeper as she eased her way back into netball following a long break.
The first-year coach is unfazed by a second tough contest in a row against one of the league's top teams.
"I don't think it's a bad way to start the season and it gives us a really good understanding of what we need to work on," she said.
"Gisborne is pretty similar to Sandhurst with a tall shooter and pretty quick through the midcourt, so we'd expect a similar sort of game to Sandhurst.
"We're looking forward to another challenge and a chance for us to develop together as a team."
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