Tara Murray
The City West Falcons threw the bibs around as they sealed another win in the Victorian Netball League championship division.
With top spot already secured, the Falcons ran their full squad as they looked at different combinations and trying to get everyone qualified for finals.
Despite all the changes, with 12 players taking to the court, the Falcons came away with a 70-58 win.
Falcons coach Marg Lind said the amount of changes made it a challenging match.
“We ran with a lot of rolling subs,” she said. “We were trying to qualify Soli [Ropati], Kim [Borger] and Molly [Kennedy].
“It was a bit revolving, but we got there. When you’re sitting 10 points clear on the ladder, you can have a look at every combination.”
Lind said they played well for three of the four quarters, but admits to pulling too many changes in the third quarter.
She said all the changes weren’t necessarily comfortable for the players, as they couldn’t get settled in one spot.
Every player spent time on the bench, which is unusual for that side, showing how much they rotated.
Jane Cook shot 34 goals for the Falcons, while Uneeq Palavi shot 22 goals.
Lind said it would have been hard for the umpires to decide the best on court with so many changes.
She said there weren’t really any standouts for them.
“Montana [Holmes] had a good game in patches,” she said. “Kim had one of her best games for us and combined well with Maggie [Lind] on the line.
“Maddie [Gray] and Jane [Cook] were solid. It was hard to settle. We had another look at the Sophie Hanrahan and Zoe Davies, goal defence-wing defence combination as well
“Soli played all three positions in the mid court and she’s getting into form.
The match was enough for Ropati to qualify for finals, with Borger, Kennedy and Olivia Cameron, who has been playing division 1, needing to play in the final round to hopefully qualify.
Lind said for a while they didn’t think their plan would come off. The Falcons have four players who will be away at the World Cup.
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “Around the halfway mark of the season I had a light bulb moment about Olivia.
“We already had Kim lined up, but Olivia could cover both grades. Hopefully it all pays off.”
The Falcons other two sides both had wins.
They all finish the regular season against the Casey Demons.
