Narrabri Netball Association to host the 2023 campaign deciders this Saturday

Narrabri Netball Association will host the 2023 season grand final day at the Bev Burrows Courts this Saturday, with four highly-anticipated matches to wrap up another memorable year.

Some top-quality netball is in store as the teams that finished ranked first and second in all four grades line up in their respective deciders.

In the senior A-grade competition, those two sides are Tourist Tornadoes and Fever, who will contest a 2022 grand final rematch.

The Tornadoes are the defending champions and they continued their momentum in 2023 as they rolled through the 14-round regular season unbeaten to earn the minor premiership.

That saw them line up opposite the fourth-placed side All Nets in their semi-final contest on Saturday, and they got the job done with a 50-18 victory.

Fever placed second on the ladder but only lost one game on court all year after forfeiting twice.

They finished the regular season having won nine games and they made it 10 on Saturday when they beat the third-placed side The Flames 39-25 in the other semi-final match.

Tourist Tornadoes and Fever only met once during the regular season, which saw the defending champions score a dominant 58-26 victory in the 14th and final round.

However, Fever’s semi-final win saw them bounce back in style and they are now ready for Saturday’s grand challenge against the undefeated and in-form Tornadoes.

The B-grade decider will be played between minor premiers the Hairy GOATs and second-placed side The Golfie Grubs.

Hairy GOATS won 13 of their 14 games in 2023 to claim the top spot before they prevailed 29-13 against fourth-placed side Hot Shots in their semi-final on Saturday to advance to the big dance.

The Golfie Grubs won 12 of the 13 games they played and also lost one game by forfeit. They went into the semi-final having beaten third-placed side Baxter Babes 53-24 in round 14, and the knockout clash between the two sides finished almost the exact same way as the Grubs won 54-24.

Hairy GOATS and The Golfie Grubs have met twice so far this year, with the minor premiers winning a close contest 33-30 in round five before scoring a much more dominant win in round 12 when they outscored the second-placed side 47-29.

Their highly-anticipated third clash will determine who becomes the 2023 B-grade champs.

The finals format for the under-11/12 junior competition differed from that of the senior divisions this year.

The under-11/12 sides played a 15-round regular season that ended on Saturday, with the two top-ranked teams going straight through to the decider.

Those two teams are minor premiers C and W Firebirds and their fellow Wee Waa side the Namoi Cotton Thunderbirds.

The Firebirds sat out with the round 15 bye on Saturday and finished the year having been victorious in 11 of their 12 matches.

The Thunderbirds finished just four points back after scoring their ninth win of the year in round 15 as they downed the fourth-placed Swifts 32-3.

The other round 15 contest saw third-placed Giants beat fifth-placed Lighting 15-11.

The season has now come to an end for Giants, Swifts and Lightning, with the two Wee Waa sides to go head-to-head for the premiership on Saturday.

They have met three times this year, with the Thunderbirds winning their first meeting 16-10 back in round two and then the Firebirds prevailing 20-11 in round seven and 12-9 in round 12.

The under-9/10 junior competition was made up of four teams this year, and all of them had the chance to play finals.

A three-team finals series saw major and minor semi-finals played ahead of Saturday’s preliminary final and this Saturday’s grand final.

The elimination semi-final between Sapphires and the Valley Vixens on Saturday, September 2, was locked at 5-all at full-time and then 7-all after two overtimes, which meant the game was rescheduled according to guidelines regarding how long the players are able to compete in one day.

It was played on Thursday evening and it was Sapphires that got the job done with a 16-11 victory.

That saw them challenge Rubies in Saturday’s preliminary final, and the minor premiership-winning Rubies edged out Sapphires 12-11 in a nail-biting contest to join Diamonds in the grand final.

Diamonds finished second on the ladder before knocking over Rubies 2-1 in the major semi-final. That was the two sides’ fifth meeting of the year and was the fourth that was separated by just one point as Diamonds won 3-2 in rounds two and five before the Rubies won 5-4 in round eight and 8-3 in round 11.

Their grand final game this Saturday is expected to be another close and competitive contest.