Its been 11 years, but the trophy is finally back in the cabinet. With a large sky blue army cheering them on, the NSW Mens Opens team didn’t disappoint beating Victoria by 2 goals in the Grand Final. NSW got off to a great start and led at every break. Josh Byron’s unrelenting pressure created a number of turnovers throughout the match, and capitalised on through some fantastic speed and movement from Eugene Lee which saw him named as player of the grand final.
MVP of the tournament, Adam Slattery had great drive through the mid-court, connecting brilliantly with Val Horne who delivered some amazing ball to Pat Piliae. Hayden Jensen’s and Liam Forcadilla’s one on one defense demonstrated a tenacity that Victoria struggled to penetrate and who were outstanding in bringing the ball through the mid-court.
It was great to see Roger Quayle’s entry into the game that did nothing to disrupt the flow of the NSW ball movement as he continued the strong drive through the mid-court.
Congratulations to the Teresa, Liann and her team on such a successful campaign.
The other great result was the book-end. The NSW Under 17’s team completed their successful week at Nationals with a win over Victoria in the Grand Final. With all players taking the court in the Grand Final, the team was virtually unstoppable showing great commitment and focus for the full 60 minutes . Victoria had no answer to the speed, strength and skill of the NSW team.
Congratulations to Josh, May and the team on remaining undefeated champions of 2017.
Also competing in yesterdays Grand Finals were the Open Mixed and Mixed Reserves team. Both teams played some unbelievable netball but were beaten by Victoria in both matches. Both teams fought hard right to the end, reducing the margins and making the games a great spectacle.
Congratulations to Drew, Julie, Glen, Kelli and their teams on their performance this week.
The Presentation Dinner saw a number of Awards go to NSW players. Congratulations to:
| Mens Open | |||||
| MVP Tournament | Adam Slattery | ||||
| MVP Grand Final | Eugene Lee | ||||
| Australian Team | Adam Slattery | ||||
| Open Mixed | |||||
| Australian Team | Danielle Di Bartolo | ||||
| Brad Halton | |||||
| Georgette Paatsch | |||||
| Mens Reserves (Touring) | |||||
| Australian Team | Brent Ferguson | ||||
| Mixed Reserve | |||||
| Australian Team | George Hirst | ||||
| Shane Clarke | |||||
| Kris Leonard | |||||
| Eloise carter | |||||
| Ashleigh Scott | |||||
| Teagan Burton | |||||
| 23’s | |||||
| Australian Team | Sean Gray | ||||
| 20’s (Touring) | |||||
| Australian Team | Jack Edwards | ||||
| 17’s (Touring) | |||||
| MVP Grand Final | Brad Cram | ||||
| Australian Team | Cole Brokmann | ||||
| Hayden Considine | |||||
| Cooper Ellis
Daimon Malone |
|||||
Results from Grand Final day were:
| 22/04/2017 | Mens Opens | |||
| Grand Finals | NSW | vs | VIC | 53-55 |
| Mixed Open | ||||
| NSW | vs | VIC | 39-51 | |
| Mixed Reserve | ||||
| NSW | vs | VIC | 41-43 | |
| Under 17’s | ||||
| NSW | vs | VIC | 52-27 | |
