LVFNL 2024 season netball preview: MITIAMO

The Superoos will hit the court with six of their seven grand final starters from last year and will be further bolstered by the inclusions of Kelly Pay and Sarah Ludeman.

When added to the likes of star goaler Laura Hicks, class midcourter Amelia Ludeman and the quality defensive duo of Caitlyn Hocking and Abbey Battersby, the Superoos look set to be among the strongest contenders again this season.

Early indications are that your team will be just as strong as the past few seasons?

"We've kept all of the same girls, so that's a real positive that they want to hang around and go again. We have Kelly Pay, who played in the grand final in 2022, back after having a baby. Emma and Jess Pay have gone down to B-grade. That will give them more game time, rather than being that eighth and ninth players. (Midcourter) Sarah Ludeman isn't quite back yet, but will be at some point after having a baby as well. That's a positive too. A lot will depend on what other clubs have done. I hear Bridgewater has picked up a few players, including Carly Van Den Heuvel, from Kangaroo Flat. But I guess all we can do is worry about what we do and what we've got and not what everyone else has got. I would hope we are thereabouts again."

I'm sure losing the last two grand finals - and relatively narrow will provide you with a fair bit of motivation to make amends?

"There are more than a few girls that are pretty keen. They have been working quite hard on their fitness. We played a practice match (last Saturday) against Lancaster and I thought they held up really well in the heat. Getting towards the end of the game, they really started to step it up. One of the girls said they were feeling a lot better than they were at this time last year. That's a positive. But we'll see what happens in a couple of weeks. We have Marong first-up, so it will be interesting to front up against them after some close ones against them in recent times. They've lost a few players, but they've been a tough proposition the last few years. Definitely not a team to be taken lightly."

With a similar group of players, where do you think you think you need to improve to make that step back to being premiers?

"We obviously lacked in our defence in terms of height. That hasn't changed - we haven't grown over the summer. But our fitness is really going to help things. (Wing attack) Alicia Hay s going to be another year experienced and that will be a help to us also. We're still working on that tall defender - we haven't given up on finding that person - so we'll see how that plays out over the next few weeks. We'll likely just have to do better before the ball gets to the ring, which is where Abbey Battersby was brilliant last year. The work that she put in in that defensive third and the intercepts she took were awesome. We just need to step that up, which is where Kelly (Pay) I think will be good, coming into wing defence, helping slow things up before the ball gets into the ring."

Fair to say Alicia Hay was a real success story last year. It will be exciting to see how she progresses?

"She really was (a success story). She really found her spot and grew in confidence by the end of the year. She'll be another year older and wiser. She has been training for a marathon, I think, so her fitness levels will be right up there."

Your attacking end has long been a strength for more more than a decade. The combination of four-time league medallist Laura Hicks and sharpshooter Carly Scholes must give you plenty of confidence about putting up a winning score most weeks?

"Surely keeping the group together for the amount of time we have and just making a few adjustments from the grand final we played in a couple of years ago - bringing Caity Hocking in and Alicia who have had 12 months now - we should be a well oiled machine. They should know where each other goes on the court and how they play, so that should work in our favour. If a few sides have a few recruits, it might take them a little bit longer to settle into the season. I'm hoping the same foundation of girls gives us every chance. And I'm sure Laura and Carly will be a big part of that."

SEASON FIXTURE

ROUND 1 - April 13

v Marong (a)

ROUND 2 - April 20

Bye

ROUND 3 - April 27

v Maiden Gully YCW (h)

ROUND 4 - May 4

v Calivil United (a)

ROUND 5 - May 11

v Pyramid Hill (h)

ROUND 6 - May 18

v Inglewood (a)

ROUND 7 - May 25

v BL-Serpentine (h)

ROUND 8 - June 1

v Bridgewater (a)

ROUND 9 - June 15

v Newbridge (h)

ROUND 10 - June 22

v Marong (h)

ROUND 11 - June 29

Bye

ROUND 12 - July 6

v Maiden Gully YCW (a)

ROUND 13 - July 13

v Calivil United (h)

ROUND 14 - July 20

v Pyramid Hill (a)

ROUND 15 - July 27

v Inglewood (h)

ROUND 16 - August 3

v BL-Serpentine (a)

ROUND 17 - August 10

v Bridgewater (h)

ROUND 18 - August 17

v Newbridge (a)