Two Narrabri Netball Association rep sides compete at Coffs Harbour carnival

A change of scenery saw the Narrabri Netball Association’s under-15s and under-17s representative sides head off to the coast and compete at Coffs Harbour Netball Association’s 2023 representative carnival on Sunday as their Senior State Titles preparation ramped up.

It was a challenging day for both sides as they met opposition teams that will feature in higher divisions at the state titles, but they both came away happy with their efforts, having learnt some valuable lessons.

The under-17s outfit lined up in a 12-team competition and played five games on the day.

They were scheduled to play six but won by forfeit in round two against Nambucca.

The NNA side met Bellingen in round one and went down 6-2, and then won 8-7 against Great Lakes in round three.

The NNA girls were then beaten in two close matches as they were edged out 12-10 by Coffs Harbour in round four and 9-8 by Woolgoolga in round five.

Their carnival ended with a 15-6 loss against Macleay as they settled for sixth spot on the ladder.

The under-17s coach Kerry Crutcher was proud of the girls’ efforts against higher-ranked opposition and said that the NNA girls were capable of a lot more.

“They’re still not at their peak. They still have a lot more to offer,” Crutcher said.

“They did well. Of the five teams they played, four of them are in a higher division than what we are.

“We could have easily won a few more games too, and the girls know that, and they realised they’ve got to work some things out as we get closer to state titles.

“They had a good training session (on Tuesday night).

“They’ve still got a lot more potential as a team.”

NNA’s under-17s side will compete at another representative carnival this Sunday much closer to home when it heads over to Tamworth, and will travel to Newcastle two weeks later for a representative carnival there on Sunday, May 21.

The under-15s team went through the day winless at Coffs Harbour but had a valuable hitout at what was its first carnival of the year.

The side’s results were 14-4 against Macleay in round one, 16-4 against Coffs Harbour in round two, 15-6 against Tamworth in round three, 19-12 against Woolgoolga in round four, 22-4 against Grafton in round five and 21-3 against Hastings in the sixth and final round.

Rod Kirk, who is coaching the side alongside Andrea Fernance in 2023, said he was impressed with the way the girls never gave up on the day against some tough opposition.

“That was their first carnival of the year and they didn’t go too bad,” Kirk said.

“Their intensity was pretty good and they never gave up.

“It was pretty good exposure for them because they were playing against girls one to two divisions above them.

“There were three games there where we were only down by one goal at half-time.

“It was quite humid over there, which hurt the fitness side of things.
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But all in all, I was quite happy with their first hitout for the year.

“We weren’t there to win the comp, we were there to learn.

“A few things we’ve been doing at training, we are trying to put that into practice on the court before the state titles.”

The under-15s side will play at three more representative carnivals before it travels to Newcastle for the 2023 senior state titles on the June long weekend.

The first of those is this Sunday at Tamworth, followed by Newcastle on May 21 and Dubbo on May 28.