A team of young, Glen Innes netballers made their return to the division one Northern Inland Regional League competition in emphatic style.
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The Glen Innes team is made up of 15 to 20 year old players and they took on the region’s top teams from Quirindi, Tamworth, Inverell, Group 14 and Armidale in the first round on Sunday.
Co-coach Julie Fuller predicted her side would be one of the teams to beat in the top tier and they certainly proved that.
Glen Innes finished the day undefeated and the young squad stuck it to reigning Northern Inland champions Quirindi.
“We beat them [Quirindi] at state champs in the opens as well, however they beat us on the ladder,” Fuller said.
“One of our girls got a bleeding nose so this week will be really, really physical, they will want to take us out a bit more.
“It will be us and them in the grand final I would imagine.
“I don't see the others coming close to us.
“The girls did really well, we just have to settle our turnovers down.”
Fuller said her team beat Quirindi by just three goals after getting behind on the scoreboard early in the game.
“We were 4-nil behind at the start of the game, before we got ourselves organised and then we got even,” she said.
“It was goal for goal, there was nothing in it at all.
“We had 11 turnovers in the first half, I didn't count the second.
“We need to convert those ones.”
There are still two rounds to go before the finals in Tamworth on August 20.
Fuller said the division one team has set the bar high and have their eyes on the prize.
“That's our goal, we are there for the bigger picture,” she said.
“Whoever wins regional league goes through and plays in the top 16 of the state and that's our aim.”
While the division one team finished the round unbeaten, the division two side wasn’t far off, only losing one game the whole day.
They fell in their opening game against Moree before regrouping to win their four remaining games.
“They got beaten by Moree but they got their act together after that, they are doing really well,” Fuller said.
The division three team managed one win for the day but it was a healthy effort with the squad made up of junior players.
“The babies did well in div three,” Fuller said.
“They're all 14 and 15 year-olds and they are up in the under 17s.
“Our girls started to panic a little bit and threw balls but they settled as the day went on and they improved.”
All three divisions head to Tamworth this Sunday for the second round and “the girls are pretty pumped” to once again prove their dominance in the sport.