ELMORE has not lost a HDFNL A-grade netball game since 2019, but joint coach Gabe Richards insists the Bloods are far from the finished product.
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Like clubs everywhere, the Bloods have been hard hit by COVID-19, influenza and injuries, most notably to fellow coach Allira Holmes (calf) and Tahnee Cannan.
But they have still managed to piece together nine straight wins this season, their latest, a 74-38 victory over Lockington-Bamawm United on Saturday.
Albeit again at less than full strength, it was another powerful statement.
The Cats are a much-improved outfit in 2022 and entered the contest on the back of two straight wins and have found themselves in the top five for the first time at this point of the season since 2017.
Richards, who is in her second season at Elmore, but first as a coach, could not have been much happier with her side's 36-goal win, with the promise of plenty of upside still to come.
"It was a really good win, but for us, I've been really concentrating on trying to get our full side on the court each week," she said.
"We are slowly getting everyone back to form.
"Allira played a little over a quarter (on Saturday), so we are getting there.
"It's been a long grind, but hopefully by the end of the year we will have everyone firing."
While they are not alone, the Bloods have not fielded a full A-grade team all season.
"We have had parts of it - Allira played that quarter and a bit (against LBU) and Tahnee is coming back from illness," she said.
"We have had a lot of girls out with COVID and players missing for various things.
"Where we've been lucky is we have got girls that can play multiple positions and girls that have played together for a bit over a year.
"Our A-reserve girls, we all train together, so we are all pretty familiar with each other, and when we have needed players to step up, they have done a ripper job for us."
The win over LBU was built on strong contributions across the court, with centre Andrea Wilson arguably the standout in a sea of brilliant performances.
"You can see from that score that everyone played a good game," Richards said.
"Andrea Wilson played a ripper game in the centre, but of defensive end has really stepped it up a gear.
"When you put Allira into that, she's just such a force and talks so well, and can really do it in traffic."
Saturday's win was Elmore's 21st straight since the start of the 2021 season.
Attention now turns to this Saturday's match against third-placed Mount Pleasant, which produced one of its best performances of the year on Saturday in an 19-goal win over Colbinabbin.
The Bloods prevailed in their earlier season contest at Elmore 59-33.
Having already played their round 12 encounter against Colbinabbin as a standalone contest in early April, the Bloods can look forward to consecutive weekends off on June 25 and July 2.
The double break will give them a good opportunity to rest and recover from any injuries ahead of a much-anticipated finals campaign.
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