Tara Murray
The usual wins may not be on the board for Werribee Centrals but there’s been plenty of positives early in the Geelong and District Netball League season.
Having had a number of changes in the off season, the Centurions were always going to take time to adjust.
Centurions netball coordinator Ellie Tubbs said they always knew it was going to take some time this season.
After six rounds the Centurions sit in eighth spot with two wins and four losses.
“It has been a different start for the A-grade side having not had as many wins as they would have liked,” she said.
“There’s some really positive things. We have a young team, a new team that we have put together.
“There’s positives to see there and there will be development over the season.”
Having had the same core group for more than 10 years, Tubbs said it was going to take time to build those connections that the previous group had.
She highlighted different team bonds, connections and rotations as things that would come as they played together more.
Tubbs said there had been some development in all of those areas.
With one of the top netball programs in the competition, the Centurions have a lot of talent coming through.
Their under-19s haven’t lost for three and half years and all those girls play in higher grades as well.
Tubbs said there had been some good signs from some of the younger players who have stepped up.
“Alual Garang and Caitlin Hendricksen are working really well together in the defensive circle,” she said.
“Olivia Edwards has been a great addition at goal attack and is finding her feet and confidence.
“Natasha Dimkovski is still so young as she’s been part of the side since she was 15. It’s her chance to show a bit more leadership and it’s positive to see her step up into the role and flourish.”
Tubbs, who is coaching C and D-grade while she’s pregnant, said they were expecting to see some more positive results in the second half of the season.
“The second half of the season is really important for us and can be a turning point to get more wins on the board,” she said.
“We wanted to play finals at the start of the season and nothing changes.”
The Centurions B-grade side remains undefeated as well with the experienced group got their eyes on the prize.
Tubbs said their C and D-grade teams have won more games than last year which has been a real positive.
