By Blair Burns
Three Narre Warren netballers took the court for the open netball interleague clash against Western Football Netball League on Saturday in Werribee.
Brittany Mashado, Grace Loelu and Gabrielle Dwyer all played in the Magpies’ victory over Caulfield Bears last Thursday in Round 6, but they had another big game approaching on the weekend.
Mashado was dominant in the midcourt for the interleague side and was recognised as Southern’s best player on the day, earning a medal for her outstanding performance.
The Narre Warren star said she wasn’t trying to do anything too special and was instead just focused on playing her role.
“I just did what I usually do and that is playing my part for the team…not (playing) for any form of individual accolades or recognition,” Mashado said.
“We had opportunities (to win the game) … but it’s hard playing with new people and learning how each other plays, also while playing a competitive game of interleague.”
Mashado said playing alongside a couple of her teammates definitely eased some nerves and helped the side produce some quality netball.
“When all three of us were on the court, we connected really well and transitioned the ball seamlessly,” she said.
“It was nice having some girls around you that you knew how to play with, and could feed and pass the ball to.
“We had (Dwyer) at the defensive end, me in the midcourt and (Loelu) at the other end.”
Conditions were tough as the rain came down and the girls were forced to adjust, after originally expecting to play on indoor courts.
“A lot of us went there thinking we were playing indoors … but it turned out to be outdoor courts in the cold and wet weather,” she said.
“It happened to rain for the majority of the game which made it a bit tougher … it became a bit of a ping pong game at one point with dropped balls and passing errors.
“But we did pretty well as a collective after going into the game without even knowing each other’s names.”
Narre Warren netball president Chelsea Tonna said it was great to have almost a third of the team selected to play interleague.
“It was so good to have a strong representation with three out of our 10 Narre Warren players selected in there, which was huge,” she said.
“For Grace to be able to play with some great players was a great experience and big for her development.”
