By David Nagel
The finest netballers in the region will be back out on court this weekend as the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) begins in earnest.
It’s been almost two-and-a-half years since the last grand final day in September 2019, with just 11 games being played since that wonderful day at Garfield.
It feels like so long ago!
And while the positive vibes are strong heading into this week’s season opener, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Covid is still looming large.
The competition will more than likely continue, unabated, but the impact on individuals is still having a massive impact on the preparations for the 2022 season.
Cora Lynn coach Allan Douglas said this pre-season has simply been like no other.
“We’ve been impacted massively, probably more than any other pre-season we’ve had over the last two years,” Douglas explained.
“Probably 30 percent of the list has had Covid, so we’ve had players turn up to training for a week and then be forced to stay home for a fortnight.
“Some players come back and are not impacted, while others come back and they can’t run anymore, it takes a few weeks or more to get over it.
“Physically it’s having an impact, but also mentality it’s been challenging…we’ve had a few players pull out close to the season and I know some other clubs are in the same boat as well.
“But we’ll be there on Sunday with four senior teams, and a full complement of juniors, so hopefully we don’t get affected any further, we get some players back once the season starts and we move forward.”
When the last posts were pulled on the 2021 season, Dalyston sat on top, two games clear of Korumburra-Bena and Tooradin, with Bunyip, Warragul Industrials and Inverloch-Kongwak making up the top six.
Douglas believes those teams will be solid contenders again, while he is hopeful some new recruits will push the Cobras up the ladder as well.
“The good sides are still going to be good, Tooradin appears to still be strong, and every year it appears Bunyip is going to be good, and they could be again,” he said.
“Dalyston and Korumburra are always strong, they appear to be the sides, and with some new players in A Grade we’re hoping we can climb a few rungs and be more competitive against those better sides.
“We’ve picked up three very handy players and that will make a difference to our team for sure.”
Leading the charge is ex-Beaconsfield star Danielle Cameron, while some new talent from Ellinbank and Officer is bringing some great excitement to the club.
“Definitely, we’ve been training since the third week in November, and game day is always the best and most exciting day of the week,” Douglas said, before giving an insight into Sunday’s home-game against Phillip Island.
“They towelled us up at Cora Lynn last year after we beat them the year before at their court,” he said.
“I remember going into that game last year pretty confident, but half an hour later they were all over us and we couldn’t stop them.
‘We’ll try some different structures this week and hopefully we can turn things back in our favour.”
