The Riddell District Football Netball League entered its break at the weekend which meant all teams across the region took the time to reflect on its performance for the next half of the season.
The season started with the Romsey senior footballers travelling to Wallan, taking down the home side 51 to 62 in a contest that saw both sides eager to kick off the season with a bang.
Romsey continued to hold onto its winning streak until its loss against Riddell in round five, which put Romsey third behind Riddell on the ladder, but the side hasn’t lost a game since.
Romsey Coach Justin Sherman said Romsey wanted to take it as far as they could this year.
“We’ve had a few minor injuries, but for the most part, we’ve kept a healthy squad together, which at the end of the day, gives you the best chance to win games of footy, [and] to play the way that you want to play,” he said.
“Twelve months down the track after a hard preseason – and obviously the younger guys haven’t experienced it, this time around they’re still coming in, there’s still some growth in our game to go – but we believe that we’re playing some of the best footy that we play.”
Lancefield have not had the best start to the season, with no wins to their name yet, but are ready to embark on the second half.
Coach Tim Bannan said the side needed to play four quarter games for a chance to finish the season well.
“It’s been a really rough start to the season with injuries,” he said.
“Hopefully we will see all of them back within the next three and four weeks, and hopefully get some wins in the later part of the season.
“Sitting bottom of the ladder is not where we thought we would see ourselves, but it’s happened … and we have got some games into some local young talent, and hopefully going forward that puts us in a good position to hold onto them and be around in the future.”
For Wallan, the side fell short in its first game of the season, but the direction of the footy changed when Wallan began to show more consistent games after its loss against Riddell in round three.
Wallan sits underneath Romsey on the ladder with five wins and two losses and will host Kyneton this Saturday in round nine.
Netball
The A grade netball competition has been a mixed bag for the teams among the district, but Wallan is still on top of the ladder with six wins and one loss.
Each week, the Magpies have experienced close games, especially in round four when the side had a one-point loss to Melton Centrals.
Besides the loss, Wallan has hit the 50 mark on the scoreboard for the majority of its games.
Coach Lucas Bennett-Hullin said the team had bonded incredibly well.
“Everyone is playing for the team, and I believe that mentality has had an impact on their own consistency,” he said.
“We are looking forward to the second half of the season and to see where the team lines up coming into finals.”
Both Romsey and Lancefield have had two wins – including one of which saw Lancefield win a game that got cancelled in the fourth term in Romsey’s 150th anniversary match.
Lancefield is sitting much lower on the ladder, but moving forward, Coach Ciara Stewart said the side would focus on remaining competitive, no matter what.
“We’ve won two which is more than we’ve ever won, so we’re going well, playing the top teams and only losing by 16 goals,” she said.
“Of course, we’d prefer to be up the ladder than down, but considering we’ve got … a point issue where we can’t really fill our team with 10 players that haven’t played a game already,” she said.
“This break is at a really good time … as we need one of our girls in our starting seven to recover from their injury, so it gives us an extra … two weeks, which is critical for us.
“We’d like to take some wins, but realistically with our play movements and injuries, our focus is building for a 2025 season.”
The first few rounds were going strong for Romsey who won their first few games, but the side have experienced a few unsettling challenges in the first half of the season, including a draw in round five against Riddell.
Romsey Coach Lena Way said she was confident the second half would be different.
“We’re yet to put our strongest combination out on court, and when we do, I think we will climb our way back up the ladder, just like we did last year,” she said.
“We are feeling really good about our position, knowing we haven’t yet played our best combination or reached close to our potential.”
