Werribee Centrals have ruled the Geelong District A-grade netball competition with an iron fist.
The Centurions are back-to-back premiers and have done it mercilessly, with consecutive undefeated seasons.
Teams have tried and failed to bring them down, but the Centurions’ insatiable quest for perfection was too strong, churning out 40 wins from 40 matches under the watchful eyes of second-year coach Lina Iuta, who is yet to taste defeat in her role.
The Centurions overcame Bell Post Hill on Saturday with a hard-fought 39-33 win in the grand final at St Albans Reserve.
Centurions goaler Ellie Tubbs, the competition’s leading shooter and recipient of best-on-court honours in the season decider, spoke of an unbreakable sisterhood and the team’s unwavering belief.
“We’re all just so happy, so proud of each other,’’ she said. ‘‘We have such trust in each other, we’re such a strong team unit.”
The Centurions led from start to finish and didn’t have to endure the same worries they had when coming from behind to beat Bell Post Hill in the semi-final two weeks earlier.
That’s not to say the Centurions had it all their own way; the game wasn’t in the bag until the final minute.
“We had the lead the whole game, so I think we felt a little bit more in control than the game before when they jumped us in the first quarter and we were down by six or eight and we had to kind of come back,” Tubbs said.
“There were times when you’d feel like you were comfortable … but their goaler Jess Crow was putting them in from long distances and kept bringing it back to three or four.
“I was just so relieved when the final siren went.”
A modest Tubbs underlined the strength of the side by saying she felt it was not right for her to be singled out for special recognition, despite scoring 25 goals.
“In the team that I play in, I don’t know how they can pick out one person,” she said. “Anything I do is in total relation to everything my teammates do.”
The other standouts were Noni McClure in the defensive circle and Melissa Jeka at wing defence. It was a week to remember for McClure, who took out the Margaret Webb Medal for best-and-fairest in the A-grade competition, despite missing a handful of games late in the season through illness.
The A-grade team of the year was dominated by Centurions players with Tubbs and McClure joined by Amanda Wilson, Nicole Stewart and Amy Giaini.
The Centurions also went through the D-grade season undefeated, topped off by a 43-20 grand final trouncing of East Geelong.
Werribee Centrals grand finals
A-grade: Werribee Centrals 39 d Bell Post Hill 33
C-grade: Werribee Centrals 30 lt Thomson 31
D-grade: Werribee Centrals 43 d East Geelong 20
15 & under: Werribee Centrals 20 lt Inverleigh 24
