Narrabri Netball Association will host playoff games for its 2022 mixed campaign at the Bev Burrows Courts from this Thursday evening following the seventh and final round of the regular season for two divisions last week.
On Thursday, December 1, the high school-aged competition and the two open pool teams played the last set of games that would determine their ladder standings, and now they will play for their final placings across the next two weeks.
Wilga Wales secured a first-place finish on the open Kaputar ladder by winning their final-round match.
They beat last-placed team Boss Babes 20-10 to finish with 12 points following an unbeaten regular season that included six wins and a bye.
What A Catch finished in second place after it prevailed 11-9 against Dantone Designs in round seven, a result that saw the losing team finish fourth.
T-Table Trolls placed third in that pool despite losing 16-12 against fifth-placed team Mums and Bubs.
AFF Farm Dogs, which had the round seven bye, placed sixth.
In the open Namoi pool, the second-placed side Oreos needed to win to join Galaxy on 10 points, and they did that by downing The Fraggles 19-12 despite playing the majority of the game with five players.
However, Galaxy held on to finish on top of the table after sitting out in round seven with the bye.
The Fraggles finished the regular season without a win and at the foot of the ladder.
Hoop There It Is claimed third place on the open Namoi ladder after it beat sixth-placed side Jam Drops 20-12, while the Two390 Phoenixs downed sixth-placed side Nets Get Physical 28-18 to finish fourth on the ladder.
Those two pools will join together this Thursday, and there are four sides that are playing for first, which are the two top-ranked teams from each pool, including Galaxy, Oreos, Wilga Wales and What A Catch.
Those four sides will finish the 2022 campaign ranked from first to fourth, while the remaining 10 teams will be playing for places five to 14.
The fixtures for Thursday’s senior division playoff games are as follows:
6.30pm:
Galaxy v What a Catch (court two), Wilga Wales v Oreos (court three), Dantone Designs v Hoop There It Is (court six), Boss Babes v The Fraggles (court seven).
7.30pm:
Mums and Bubs v Nets Get Physical (court three), T-Table Trolls v Two390 Phoenixs (court seven), AFF Farm Dogs v Jam Drops (court eight).
In the high school-aged division, the top-ranked team was AGT, which went into the seventh and final round last Thursday undefeated and lost 23-16 against S’n’B.
That saw S’n’B place second on the ladder, finishing alongside AGT on 12 points after both sides scored six wins and lost once during the season.
Just one point behind them after it scored five wins, a draw and a loss this season was Cloud 11, which won 17-8 against the fourth-placed Rowdy Rockets in round seven.
The other matches saw Goal Diggers score an 18-7 win against Mix It Up, which saw those sides finish ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, and the seventh-placed Young Guns outscore eighth-placed side The Lunatics 20-6.
The teams ranked first to fourth on the ladder now break off into the high school blue division, and the teams ranked fifth to eighth are now in the high school red division.
This Thursday’s fixtures for those teams are as follows:
5.30pm:
Goal Diggers v The Lunatics (court eight), AGT v Rowdy Rockets (court one).
6.30pm:
Mix It Up v Young Guns (court one), Cloud 11 v S’n’B (court eight).
In the junior division, teams will continue to play through to the final round on Thursday, December 15, as is scheduled according to the original nine-week draw.
Round seven saw Net Setters beat Go Getters 20-3, and Shooting Stars outscore Swamp Donkeys 9-1, while Jetts had the bye.
Round eight fixtures will see the Net Setters take on Jetts, the Swamp Donkeys meet Go Getters, and the Shooting Stars have the bye.
High school-aged comp ladder:
AGT (12), S’n’B (12), Cloud 11 (11), Rowdy Rockets (8), Goal Diggers (6), Mix It Up (4), Young Guns (3), The Lunatics (0).
