A NEW A-grade coach and plenty of fresh faces have brought plenty of hope and optimism to Lockington-Bamawm United, where former VNL player and region representative Ash Cullen has taken over the reins from former coach Jessie Hardess.
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Cullen, who last played in the HDFNL in 2022 with Leitchville-Gunbower - the team she coached in 2021 - has been extremely active on the recruting front, with the Cats set to field a vastly different A-grade line-up to the one that won just one game last season.
She says the Cats would like to consider themselves as a 'happy threat' in 2024, a team which enjoys its netball, but wins games.
Q&A with coach Ashley Cullen
How did your trials go and what has the pre-season looked like?
"I'm really excited. We had really good numbers at trials. Believe it or not we had over 80 girls turn up for trials. I don't know where they all came from, but it was unbelievable. It's something we probably haven't had to navigate before. You get people naturally drop off, but the club didn't want to necessarily cut players, which made it pretty difficult. We wanted to be as inclusive as possible. There was a also a lot of juniors turn up. The upshot is there are a lot of new faces. It's a nice situation to walk into."
How is your A-grade team shaping ahead of the season?
"It's looking pretty good. We've recruited three girls from Echuca United - Kate Pearson, Jessica Davidson and Georgia McGowan. Kate's a shooter, Jess is a midcourter and Georgia is a defender, so it's a boost to all three parts of the court. We've also picked up a couple of girls from Moama - Georgie Crowe and Delaney Laffey, who is also a pretty handy cricketer, and midcourter Lily Buckingham has also come across from Calivil United. That's probably it for A-grade, but we have been training more as an A-squad just to create a bit of healthy competition. I feel with a bit of movement at the top level, we are looking strong across all four senior netball teams. We still have (former coach) Jessie Hardess playing in goals and Jessie Milligan in defence. I think Jessie (Hardess) will thrive only having to worry about being a player. And there's the likes of Stacey Bacon and Annalese Turner capable of playing A-grade. Everyone is putting in the hard yards and training well."
You obviously intend on being a playing coach?
"I'm still trying to get the body right after having (daughter) Ellidy (last year), so I'm there if they need me. I am the oldest in the team - most of the girls are in there early 20s and no one else has kids. Hopefully I can give them a bit of experience out on the court and a bit of a voice."
Any hiccups so far during the pre-season?
"We've already had one injury. Tracey Leech (nee Ogden) did her ACL in trials. I was pretty gutted, especially for her. She would definitely have been in our A-grade team. She's a really handy defender. She'll still be very much of the team, being my team manager, and she still comes along to training and does whatever she can. It was a bit of a kick in the guts for her."
What is the ambition for LBU this season?
"The aim is absolutely finals. Absolutely! And probably just to be competitive every week and to not be seen as an easy game. It would be nice for us to be a bit of a underdog and to be competitive. We are calling ourselves a 'happy threat'. We want to have fun, but we also want to win games. I guess, not having played in the HDFNL for a while, I'm not as aware of who plays where (in regards to opposition teams), but I have a kept a bit of an eye on things, like who have been the stronger teams. I dare say White Hills, Elmore and Colbinabbin as a starting point will all be strong this year."
How much are you enjoying being back at LBU?
"It's nice. I won't lie, it's nice being just five minutes from the courts. But everyone has been really welcoming. Obviously, if I have to take the kids, everyone is super helpful. It's nice giving back to the community as well.""
SEASON FIXTURE
ROUND 1 - April 6
v Leitchville-Gunbower (h)
ROUND 2 - April 13
v Heathcote (a)
ROUND 3 - April 20
v White Hills (h)
ROUND 4 - April 27
v Huntly (a)
ROUND 5 - May 4
v Mount Pleasant (h)
ROUND 6 - May 11
Bye
ROUND 7 - May 18
v Colbinabbin (a)
ROUND 8 - May 25
v North Bendigo (h)
ROUND 9 - June 1
v Elmore (a)
ROUND 10 - June 15
v White Hills (a)
ROUND 11 - June 22
v Heathcote (h)
ROUND 12 - June 29
v Leitchville-Gunbower (a)
ROUND 13 - July 6
v Huntly (h)
ROUND 14 - July 13
v Mount Pleasant (a)
ROUND 15 - July 20
Bye
ROUND 16 - July 27
v Colbinabbin (h)
ROUND 17 - August 3
v North Bendigo (a)
ROUND 18 - August 10
v Elmore (h)
