City West Falcons’ status as favourites for the Victorian Netball League premiership has been strengthened by two big wins in three nights last week.
The Falcons totally dismantled Boroondara Express by 24 goals in the clash of the undefeated sides at Maribyrnong College.
Two nights later, they rolled finals contender Melbourne University Lightning by nine goals at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
The Falcons’ supremacy in the first half of the championship division season is reflected in the standings.
They have opened up a handy two-game break at the top of the table.
Falcons coach Marg Lind declared herself delighted with “two good wins” against quality opposition.
“We’re travelling quite nicely,” she said.
A key to the Falcons of late has been their fast starts.
In the first half of the clash with Boroondara, the Falcons established a double-figure margin in the first quarter and had an unassailable 17-point lead by half-time, en route to a 63-39 victory.
The Falcons also burst out of the blocks against Melbourne University, building a seven-goal lead at the first interval and stretching it to double figures by half-time, before a 49-40 win.
“This year we’ve been starting games fairly well,” Lind said. “We probably get into the warm-up a bit quicker than a lot of other clubs.
“They seem to talk a lot … we’ve done all our talking at training or on the phone or via text, so we don’t need to do that before a game.
“We really focus on warming up hard. I think our girls are fiery … they like to jump out of the blocks.”
The most impressive aspect of the Falcons’ performances has been the feed into goal shoot Kath Knott.
If you get Knott into good scoring position, it’s like money in the bank.
Knott landed 42 from 51 attempts against Boroondara and a super efficient 35 from 37 against Melbourne University.
The high number of attempts and great conversion has a lot to do with the work up the court of Molly Jovic and Maggie Lind.
“Kath’s had a real solid season, but I think where we’ve made improvements is Molly and Maggie are really feeding her well,” Lind said.
“When the feed of the ball is good going into Kath, she’s hard to beat – she’s almost unbeatable because she’s so strong.”
The success of the Falcons’ transition from mid-court to attack has come on the back of their synchronicity training. They repeat their attacking sets over and over at training so they become second nature.
“We do high repetition patterns where the mid-courters have to feed the ball to her [Knott] under pressure,” Lind said.
“I think it’s really paying off because we’re getting lots of good flow in our game.
“It’s sometimes mundane, but if you do it at good speed and good tempo and repeat it over and over, it becomes instinctive. That’s how they look at the moment.”
Coming up
The Falcons will face Monash University Storm in the 8.20 game tonight at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
