The Sunshine Kangaroos weren’t expecting much heading into the Western Netball League season.
Last season they had four teams make finals but all went out in the first week of finals.
Their division 1 side missed out on finals with only four wins for the year.
With a focus on development and building the program, coach Ramon Poliko and his team have turned things around.
Three sides including its division 1 side have qualified for grand finals and a fourth side is playing in a preliminary final on Friday night.
Poliko said it had been a really strong season for their top side.
“I didn’t have it on my bingo card,” he said. “We came into this division with no expectations.
“We said to the girls to take every game as it comes and use it as an experience.
“We’ve beaten teams in finals that we have not beaten before and have come up clutch.
“We bought in some more experience a couple of girls who played VNL and international netball for Pacific Island sides.
“They have got us over the line in clutch games.”
Poliko said they felt they had a real combination of experience and youth in their division 1 side which was something that they were keen on doing.
They wanted to make sure they weren’t just thinking about this year, but also the future.
“At the end of the day, the experienced stars will not go on forever,” he said. “We’ve had some experience and some young ones to blend in the talent coming through.
“We’ve had one or two younger ones in each third. It’s been about finding that balance.
“The club wanted to build up the netball program with development and progression.”
Poliko said they had added additional coaches this year to have more support tailoring to each team and it had been behind the success this season.
He said the playing group had really bought into what they were doing.
“We’ve had four out of our six teams in finals and they have got around it this year,” he said.
“There’s been an investment from the girls.
“We had four teams make finals last year but were out in the first round. They’ve come back with a vengeance this season.”
Speaking before the division 1 grand final, Poliko said they knew they were in for a challenge against a strong Glen Orden side but were keen to give it a red hot crack.
