Heathcote primed to make most of drought-breaking HDFNL netball finals opportunity

The Saints' clash against Mount Pleasant at North Bendigo will be their first finals appearance since the 2011 season.

Coached that year by Jenna Sing, Heathcote overcame Lockington-Bamawm United by one goal (37-36) in an elimination final thriller, before bowing out in the following week's first semi-final against Colbinabbin 50-33.

Described this week by their playing-coach as a bit of a 'throw together' line-up, the nonetheless talented Saints team included Laura Sing, Sophie Dickinson, Chantal Moore (nee O'Brien), Alyssa Cole, Courtney Kerr and Brit Fitzpatrick.

It would virtually be the start and end of an era.

The Saints, who did not reach the finals in playing-coach Sing's first season at the helm in 2010, would again miss out in 2012 ... and every year since.

They remained a permanent fixture in the HDFNL's bottom two every year until 2021, when they finished seventh.

From 2014 to 2019, Heathcote twice finished the season without a win and in one other season only won one game. On two other occasions, they finished the year with two wins.

An obvious key to the revival was the arrival of dual Sandhurst premiership winning centre Brooke Bolton, who joined the club following the end of 2019.

Much like their finals fortunes over the years, the Saints would have to learn to be patient as the COVID pandemic put paid to the 2020 season without a single game being played.

With Bolton firmly entrenched in the midcourt, the Saints would win four of 13 games played in 2021 before the season was again cut short due to COVID.

A definite bright spark was Bolton's Esther Cheatley Medal win as the league's best and fairest player, a feat she would repeat the following season when, alongside co-coach Kelsey Hayes, the pair led a new and improved Saints to five wins and sixth place.

Easily their best season in more than a decade, it was the catalyst for much optimism and excitement heading into 2023 and no doubt a touch of nervous apprehension.

But as the Saints prepare for a stirring cut-throat final against the Blues, the coaches are thrilled to have finally exorcised the ghosts of a tough era for the club on the netball court.

"Kelsey and I are really proud of the team and what we have been able to achieve. It's been a long time obviously since Heathcote has been in finals," Bolton said.

"It's nice, especially after being so close last year, to go one better and be in there this year.

"Last year wasn't the ideal situation, but we moved on."

The Saints were cruelly denied a 2022 finals berth when they finished the home and away season four points behind Huntly, after Elmore was stripped of the four points from its round 17 thrashing of the Hawks following a scoresheet infringement.

The points were awarded to the Hawks, who claimed fifth spot.

Had the Hawks' not obtained the points, the Saints would have scraped into fifth on percentage after downing Leitchville-Gunbower in round 18.

There were no such dramas this season, with the Saints assuring themselves of a spot inside the five well ahead of time, following their 50-30 win over Lockington-Bamawm United in round 16.

A narrow two-goal loss to North Bendigo in round 17 proved only a temporary hiccup, as Heathcote put the cap on a breakout regular season with a 55-34 victory over Huntly last week.

Bolton is keen to see the Saints make the most of their finals opportunity, starting with Mount Pleasant.

The Blues have been as much of a thorn in the Saints' side and progress as any team over the last two years, beating them by two and four goals last season and again by one goal earlier this year.

In what should give Heathcote plenty of confidence, the Saints were finally able to get over the hump against the Blues in round 15 by 11 goals.

"Since Kelsey and I have been coaching, we have probably had our consistently closest games against Mounts, so it was great to finally get that win late in the year," Bolton said.

"They are a really good side. They have got some great young girls in there, but also have some girls with recent finals experience.

"I'm sure they'll be drawing on their experienced players and getting around their young ones and will come out ready to have a really good crack.

"They've had a tougher second half of the year with their playing group being in and out with players going away and being injured, but they will be keen to show what they're capable of."

Particularly with a former Sandhurst clubmate at the helm, the Saints' 2011 finals coach said it was easy to get caught up in the emotion of the club's new-found A-grade success.

Sing, who returned to Heathcote from Sandhurst in 2010 at a time when the club was struggling to attract a coach and players, was able to draw comparisons between the then and now, with their 2011 finals run also coming at the end of a leaner period for the netball team.

"At the time, my dad (Trevor) was president of the Heathcote Football Club and they were struggling to get an A-grade team, so I thought he'd better not have two daughters playing for other clubs and not help him out," she said.

"It was a pretty handy side, but it took a bit of a 'yell-out' to anyone I knew who could play and was happy to play in the team to get one together.

"I don't remember it being really structured and we hardly trained. (It was) kind of one of those years where we thought, 'let's just get a team on the court and see where it goes'. But we did have a fair bit of fun."

Born and bred in Heathcote, Sing initially left the Saints as a 16-year-old to play under-17s with Sandhurst, before later returning to coach for two seasons.

At the end of 2011, it was time to head back to to the Dragons' den, where she would eventually clock up more than 200 games.

But she has never stopped keeping tabs on the Saints and is as rapt as anyone, not only for the club, but for her former clubmate Bolton.

"It's not easy to walk away from a winning A-grade side to go out to a struggling Heathcote league side like Brooke did," Sing said.

"It took some real guts. But she's done it and done it with some real integrity.

"She should be proud of herself."

The word proud doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere around Barrack Reserve as the Saints netballers and footballers get set to embark on their exhilarating finals adventure.

"With the (senior) footballers finishing top and A-grade making finals, I don't know how long it's been since both footy and netball have been in finals, other than that it has been a long time. It's really exciting ," Bolton said.

"It's a real credit to the club, it hasn't been an easy 10-or-so years at times, but there have been a lot of people at the club, who have worked really hard and kept pushing.

"They've done a great job to get things where they are now.

"For us to go from five wins last year to having eight this year has been fantastic. And I think we have been a lot more competitive against the top teams.

"It's been a pretty good season and, hopefully, we can make it an even better one."

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