By Lance Jenkinson
Werribee Centrals went on an exploration mission but still came away with a 56-29 win over Geelong West in GDFL Netball at Galvin Park on Saturday.
The top-of-the-ladder Centrals were already forced to shake up their line-up with the unavailablilty of star goal shooter Ellie Tubbs before coach Lina Iuta decided to experiment with a number of other changes.
All the moves made, forced or tactical, worked to perfection as Centrals improved their season record to 8-0 to remain a game and percentage clear on top of the ladder.
Iuta was impressed with her players ability to adapt to new roles.
“We had a few girls play out of position just to see how we would adapt to the changes and they did well,” she said.
“Ellie Tubbs was unavailable, so it gave us an opportunity to play other players in the shooting ring.”
The big question was where the goals would come from for Werribee Centrals.
The answer was Jacinta Savory.
Savory usually plays at goal attack and does a lot more running, but her isolation play in the attacking circle impressed.
She shot 43 from 56, a return of 77 per cent, but was also involved in the connection from the mid-court to the attack.
“She killed it out there,” Iuta said.
“Just her composure in the circle with her movement, her angles, the direction she was giving our feeders, it made both their jobs easier.
“Ball in hand, 77 per cent shooting, I can’t complain, it’s better than 50 per cent she was shooting a couple of weeks ago, so it was a massive improvement.
“Her goal was to link up well with the feeders and get her accuracy up, which I think she nailed both.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Werribee Centrals vs Geelong West
The key drivers for Werribee Centrals were Melissa Prismall and Megan Noonan.
Prismall and Noonan seemed to be on the same wavelength with the Centrals attackers right the way through.
“Placement and communication was key,” Iuta said.
“They were all talking to each other and working out when to change the angles up.”
Defensively, Werribee Centrals was rock solid.
Geelong West put some pressure on in the first half, but goal keeper and goal defence tandem Bridgitte Ardossi and Lauren Winter – they spent a half in each of the defensive bibs – put the clamps on.
Ardossi was the player on the court for her dynamic play. “Putting her back into goal keeper, she’s quite dominant and wanted to be more dynamic in her game,” Iuta said.
“She had so many interceptions, rebounds and shut the shooter down – that’s why she got the three votes.
“Then we put her into goal defence in the second half to see how the changes would go and it paid off.”
Werribee Centrals’ premiership defence is on track, but there is no talk within the camp about back-to-back titles.
Iuta has urged Centrals to simply learn from the mistakes week to week, enjoy the journey and not get too preoccupied with the destination. “We try not to jump the gun on who we’ve got next week,” she said.
“We try and live the moment and soak up our game just gone.
“We’ll take the win and enjoy, then assess what we need to do to get another win against Anakie next week.”
