I went – not a lot to report really – Cardwell, Glasgow & Moore didn’t play (although they were there).
A couple of the TPs played for the Vic Men (Brooke Allen st C, I think and a GK)
Uneeq only played 1Q, then the Mavs borrowed one of the men ( Hardwick) to play GA – it looked like she was icing a quad.
The umps were Tim Marshall & Carly Hewitt (a WNNA local and VNL ump), reserve was another WNNA local& VNL ump Adam
They started with:
GK – Lewis
GD – Jenner
WD – Parmenter
C – Jovic
WA – Fraser
GA – Sinclair
GS – Nelson
Connections looked pretty good, Sinclair put up quite a few shots which dropped, Nelson was excellent & on the move far more than for the Pies. Lewis & Jenner combined well against a 7ft giant, getting a few tips and a couple of rebounds. mid court transition was Ok with room to improve.
Scores were goal for goal – pretty much level at Q time.
2nd Q Palavi replaced Nelson, Nankivell replaced Parmenter, Jovic & Fraser swapped.
This line up struggled – they found it hard to transition through the middle and extremely hard to find the shooters. Palavi struggled for accuracy & rebounds given the elevation of the men.
Defence got a few tips, but generally thrown away in transition
Brodie Robert’s playing GA for the men was on fire (not surprisingly) intercepting,feeding and goaling pretty much at will.
The men were 5 or so up at half time
3rd Q – Nelson back on at GS, Hardwick (from the men] GA, Parmenter WD, Nankivell C, Fraser WA, Grenvold GD, Lewis GK
Pretty much like the 2nd with the men in. Control – it took a while for Hardwick to find connections with the rest of them although he did provide some drive through the mid court. Feeding without Jovic on the court was an issue.
Men well on top, stretching their lead in the super shot period.
4th Q – Grenvold to GK, Jenner to GD, Jovic to WD, Parmenter to C, Nankivell to WA, Goalers unchanged
Grenvold impressed at the back, brave enough to come out for some interecept attempts, great blocking and rebounding. Parmenter at C was OK, feeding not too bad. Nelson continued to look the strongest shooting option, often driving out and making multiple offers whilst still maintaining her accuracy.
The pressure of being down meant the super shot period was predictably messy, with the men winning by around 10-15.
There was a decent crowd – the single stand that was pulled out was pretty full so around 1000 – the canteen was doing a roaring trade in icy poles as there was a burst water main in the main road and the water had been cut off! The court fans were (as usual) ineffectual and for some unknown reason Shae insisted on using a tiny inaudible microphone instead of the PA system to tell us players names and plug the sponsors! Hopefully they manage something a bit more effective for announcements next week (The PA system was fine for music etc, just not being used for on court announcements)
