A noisy crowd in excess of 250 people enjoyed the spectacle that was Teresa’s Titans (Coach Teresa Tairi) versus Megan’s Monsters (Coach Megan Anderson) on Sunday 2nd April at Genea Netball Centre, Homebush.
An exhibition match that showcased Mens Netball, with NSW’s best players on display. The contests were massive – the question was just who would last 60 minutes?
Guns blazing from the first whistle, Monsters turned a wayward ball and scored then quickly completed their own to stamp their authority. At WA, current NSW captain Horne was slick in his delivery, slicing through the Titans zone effortlessly.
In contrast, it was high intensity 1-on-1 defence from Monsters as the tactic of choice to shut-down skyscraper Piliae and sharp-shooter Lee. Monsters had the lead 14 to 13 at the first interval.
We don’t know exactly what Teresa said to her team at that quarter break, but whatever it was, her team was reinvented in the second term. Quayle was injected into GK and early-on went hunting far beyond the goal-circle. His team shot 4 unanswered goals, evenly shared between GA and GS which forced Monsters into an “tactical” timeout to gather themselves.
Rattled, even the vertigo-inducing jumps from GK Josh Byron were not enough to quell the Titans who had found their rhythm resulting in the Monsters having a 5-goal lead at half time.
The NSW Juniors provided half-time entertainment with, yep, you guessed it, more netball! A raft of future-opens players demonstrated flair and dynamism down the court. Age and size didn’t faze them.
In the third quarter, Titan’s ferociously taking the lead. The defensive work of Slattery and Talaoua made feeding the circle difficult and denied some scoring opportunities for the Monsters. Down the other end, Glassie collected two brilliant intercepts on the edge of the circle and it looked as if the Monsters would take the lead.
An injury under the post forced Glassie to leave the court forcing a shift in positions for all Monsters. It became a battle of giants in the fourth quarter with Vincent coming on at GK for Monsters, the only height-match for Piliae in NSW. Byron pushed into GD providing critical through-court drive and Horne dropped into C for additional pressure. The changes startled Titan’s frontline who took some time to adjust to new line-up. However, it was too little too late with Teresa’s Titan’s securing the win 58-47.
Beyond the exciting match-ups and intense rivalries, Men’s Netball NSW was proud to host our friends, family and fans in what was a fun night for the whole community. We know you will be cheering us on from home as we take on National Championships (starting Easter Sunday). Stay up-to-date with results by following our Website and Facebook Page.
We want to thank everyone that was involved with organising the Exhibition Match this year and look forward to seeing it on the calendar for 2018.
