Narrabri Netball Association’s under-17s representative side continued to shine in the lead-up to Netball NSW’s 2023 Senior State Titles on Sunday when it excelled at Newcastle Netball Association’s carnival at Cooks Hill.
The NNA side, which includes a mixture of players from both Narrabri and Wee Waa, finished fourth on a 13-team ladder in division two of the 17-years age group.
The team played in six 30-minute matches and won four of them to go with a draw and a loss.
That saw it finish on nine points, just three less than the top-ranked team, Bellingen, which won six of its seven games on the day.
Narrabri impressively finished with the second-best defensive record as it conceded 54 goals across six matches.
Only second-placed Muswellbrook, which conceded 47 goals, was better defensively on the day.
The NNA under-17s side’s coach Kerry Crutcher was impressed with the way her girls performed on what was a cold and windy day on the coast against some quality opposition.
She told The Courier that the side was particularly brilliant in defence.
“We’ve gone from losing games by a little bit (at previous carnivals) to now winning by a little bit to comfortably,” Crutcher said.
“Our defence is keeping us in the games. We have a pretty powerhouse defence. They have height, they are mobile, and they come down with the rebounds.
“We are very strong in defence.
“Our attackers defended well too. If they didn’t get the goal, they defended straight away. We defended right across the court.
“We didn’t crack the 20-goal mark on the day. It would be good to be cracking that to give the defence some respite because you know that you can defend that quite comfortably.
“We’re just not quite there at the moment, so our shooting accuracy needs to come up a little bit.”
Narrabri will play in division four at the NSW State Titles next month, but five of the six teams that it challenged on Sunday in Newcastle were division three sides.
That made the team’s performances and results even more impressive.
“They are doing well,” Crutcher said of her players.
“It’s really good to know that we can compete against these teams that are traditionally meant to be at a higher level than we are.
“They are from quite bigger centres, they have a lot more development opportunities, and they don’t have to travel as far as we do.
“They might get 60 or 70 kids trial for a team and we might get 15.
“I think we punch above our weight pretty well.”
NNA’s under-17 girls kicked off the carnival with a 15-9 victory against Great Lakes in round one and then finished all square with Dubbo in round two as the sides contested a 12-all draw.
Narrabri went up against Singleton next and scored a 12-10 win before it produced a defensive masterclass in round four as it beat Port Stephens 10-2 after it kept the opposition scoreless in the first half.
Round five saw the NNA girls sit out with a bye, and that extended break on a cold day led to them coming out slightly flat in round six as they had their only loss of the carnival.
They went down 17-11 to Macleay in that match but bounced back in style with a 17-4 victory against Gunnedah to end their appearance at the coastal carnival on a huge high.
Meanwhile, the Narrabri Netball Association’s under-15s side was also in action on the day.
Like the 17s, the under-15s team was in division two in its age group and was playing against higher-ranked teams.
The NNA girls went down in all six of their games on the day, but it was a valuable hitout at the venue where they and the 17s will contest Netball NSW’s 2023 Senior State Titles across the June long weekend.
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