Burren Junction Public School’s open netball team win their way through to the state knockout finals

Netball took centre stage when Burren Junction Public School’s open team travelled to Yamba this week, with the beach as a perfect scenic backdrop to their shot at going for state glory.

The small school from the north west proved unstoppable once again in round three of the 2025 NSWPSSA Small Schools Netball Knockout Competition as they scored a dominant victory to book a ticket to the state finals in Sydney this September.

The Burren Junction team travelled to Yamba on Sunday and enjoyed a team dinner that night before taking the court on Monday morning for their round three match against Palmers Island Public School.

Burren had defeated Wee Waa Public School 29-4 in a round one derby before shutting out Gilgai Public School 31-0 in the second round, so they had some serious momentum behind them heading into their coastal road trip.

They managed to keep it rolling as they took down Palmers Island 28-15 to advance to the state finals.

They will now travel to Sydney late next month, where the eight quarter-finalists will line up and attempt to win three more games to be crowned state champions.

The Burren Junction team is coached by Wee Waa Netball’s Kerry Crutcher, and the players were accompanied to Yamba by team managers Annabelle Mackey and Sandy Shearer.

Miss Mackey, a stage two teacher at the school, told The Courier she was proud of the players who showed impressive teamwork and sportsmanship during the match in Yamba.

“It was a long trip. It took us about seven hours to get from Burren Junction to Yamba,” Miss Mackey said.

“We headed off on Sunday, had a team dinner on Sunday night, played Monday morning, and then headed home.

“It was a fun trip and it was nice that we were able to take them to the beach for a celebratory swim after their game. The sun was out and it was nice weather.

“They are definitely rockstars at the moment. Everyone was very excited for them when we got back to school. They’ve all worked so incredibly hard to get to where they are.

“They played incredibly well as a team on the day and they applied everything they learned at training to the game. They are all very good at supporting and encouraging one another.

“This is a huge achievement for them to have qualified for the state finals. To progress as far as they have in this competition, being such a small and remote school, is absolutely incredible.

“They were great sports too. They cheered for the other team and the umpires after the game before they celebrated with each other for themselves. I think that’s pretty special for a group of primary school kids.

“They’re pretty excited to travel to Sydney to play now.”

The first day of the state finals will be held on Wednesday, September 24.