What the coaches said: Nationals Semi-Finals

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

As the NSW teams advance to Wednesday’s Grand Finals at the National Netball Championships, netballnsw.com caught up with the coaches after their thrilling semi-final victories on Tuesday.

NSW 17/U Head Coach Lenore Blades on…

The semi-final win over South Australia:
“We always knew they would come out very hard, it took us a while to get into the groove of the game. Our defence was extraordinary; we forced a remarkable number of held balls on their centre passes. We made some errors so it took us awhile to get a good lead but by three-quarter time when we were nine goals up we felt pretty comfortable.”

The players reaction to the win:
“Absolutely ecstatic. The semi-final is the game where everybody has nerves because it does not matter how well you have done in Rounds 1-7, in that one semi-final game you can lose and be out of the title race. So there were a lot of girls who had not shown nerves previously who were very nervous but now everyone is really excited and looking to embrace the finals.”

Grand Final opponent Victoria:
“Victoria are extremely experienced and they are very clever. We match up very nicely to them, I think the game will be nice and clean and well contested. If we play well and limit our errors and I think we will do really well so we are looking forward to it.”

NSW searching for their first 17/U crown since 2007:
“I understand that records are talked about but every team is different so it is difficult to compare. We will just go about doing what we do well. I’m not concerned about the record, I would just like the girls to play well and they deserve a positive result.”

Follow the NSW 17/U Team’s campaign

NSW 19/U Head Coach Megan Simpson on…

The confidence-boosting semi-final win:
“Without a shadow of a doubt the team’s confidence is sky high right now which is a great position to be in at this point in the tournament. They are all really happy and proud of their performance and are all united as a team so you cannot ask for more than that.”

The pressure of the elimination semi-final:
“There are always nerves; if you did not have nerves you would not care so we have talked a lot about how to manage the nerves and anxiety and force them into a channel that is going to work for us. They did very well in controlling their emotions and just getting on with business.”

The vocal NSW supporters in the crowd:
“They were insane, they were so good. The whole of the 17/U team was there as well as all of the families and Netball NSW staff and they were very vocal so it was very inspiring to be around.”

Grand Final opponent Victoria:
“We will go back tonight and have a look at the video of when we played them last. Like any team you have got to try and slow down their pace. They are very strong at taking the ball out of defence and through their midcourt. For us things will not change that much, we will stick to what we do well and execute the game plan and hopefully it will fall in our favour.”

Follow the NSW 19/U Team’s campaign

Grand Final Schedule – Wednesday 3 April 2012:
12.45pm 17/U National Netball Championship Grand Final: NSW v VIC
2.15pm 19/U National Netball Championship Grand Final: NSW v VIC