FRESH faces in both the playing and coaching ranks have garnered plenty of excitement at Bridgewater.
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Last season's LVFNL 17-and-under premiership coach Caz Wood and Olivia Collicoat have taken over the reins at the Mean Machine, who will be looking to make amends for a rare A-grade season without a finals appearance in 2023 and are tipped to be one of this year's competition's big improvers.
The Mean Machine's 'ins' are headed by Sandhurst triple premiership defender Carly Van Den Heuvel, who has joined the club following a stint at Kangaroo Flat.
With a few other new recruits adding to an already talented playing base, there is no reason why Bridgewater should not be setting their sights on a top-three spot.
An indication of the Mean Machine's strength will come early against Newbridge in round one, with the two clubs having played out a number of close tussles over the last three years.
Q&A WITH CO-COACH CAZ WOOD
How is your A-grade team shaping?
"Olivia and I are excited for the season. We have picked up a few additions to the team. We had a few exit, so there was room to capitalise on some of the movement with some footballers to the club, with their girlfriends coming out. We were lucky to secure some really excitable talent."
One of those newcomers is Carly Van Den Heuvel, who is a big get with her premiership and finals experience in the BFNL with Sandhurst and Kangaroo Flat?
"Carly is an outstanding player - well noted in the BFNL. She has come into the side and brought her passion and expertise and is working really well with Olivia and I as coaches and the girls. We're excited to see what she brings into our group and the Loddon Valley league as well."
Is there anyone else new to the squad?
"We have got Demi Broadbent back after a few years out and we have a few (Strathfieldsaye) Storm players come over as well. The A-B squad is something we are still working on and how our combinations will work. We haven't really named our set A and B teams, we are still working as a squad. I feel we will be stronger across the grades. We had a huge turnout for our selections. We probably could have filled three more sides with the number of girls that turned up. But we couldn't take everyone."
Bridgewater's 17-and-unders were premiers last season. Will we be seeing any of those girls stepping up to seniors?
"There is one who has gone to uni and won't be available and the rest are still eligible and in the under-17s. It was a very bottom-age group last season. Natalie Flood will be playing for Golden Square's under-17s on Saturday, but will be available for us on some weekends and will fill in for our senior teams. But we will definitely be giving some our under-17s more opportunities in the senior grades. We'd love to develop them for the future."
How has the new coaching combination with Olivia Collicoat evolved so far?
"We definitely bounce off each other. I can be a bit hard or strict and Liv has a very calming side to her, so we work really well to get the responses we want out of the girls."
After just missing out on finals last year, a top-five finish must be your goal this season?
"I would like us to be in the top three in both A and B - that's our goal. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of preparation before we even set foot into round one. We've been training since January. We haven't had a lot of practice matches, but we have had a lot of court-time at training, which has been really important, especially for the new girls to get a feeling of how we want to play our style of netball. We did play Elmore (in a practice match) and they were really strong. We did have a few girls away, but Elmore are looking amazing, so credit to them."
From what you have read and heard, where are the biggest threats coming from this season?
"You can't go past Mitiamo. There hasn't been too much change in the team. They are dynamic in their attack end. Hopefully we can challenge that this year with Carly. I do know (Maiden Gully) YCW have lost a fair bit of their side, but it will be interesting to see how they counter that. And Marong has the potential to lift again. We are looking forward to the challenge of those teams. But coming in with our own new lot of girls and the strengths they bring has me excited."
SEASON FIXTURE
ROUND 1 - April 13
v Newbridge (h)
ROUND 2 - April 20
v Maiden Gully YCW (a)
ROUND 3 - April 27
v Inglewood (h)
ROUND 4 - May 4
v Pyramid Hill (a)
ROUND 5 - May 11
v BL-Serpentine (h)
ROUND 6 - May 18
v Marong (a)
ROUND 7 - May 25
Bye
ROUND 8 - June 1
v Mitiamo (h)
ROUND 9 - June 15
v Calivil United (a)
ROUND 10 - June 22
v Newbridge (a)
ROUND 11 - June 29
v Maiden Gully YCW (h)
ROUND 12 - July 6
v Inglewood (a)
ROUND 13 - July 13
v Pyramid Hill (h)
ROUND 14 - July 20
v BL-Serpentine (a)
ROUND 15 - July 27
v Marong (h)
ROUND 16 - August 3
Bye
ROUND 17 - August 10
v Mitiamo (a)
ROUND 18 - August 17
v Calivil United (h)
