LIAM PHILLIPS
GAWLER Central came out of the
bye week unscathed with a 63-46
home win against Willaston in Saturday’s
Barossa, Light & Gawler Netball
Association Senior 1 meeting.
It wasn’t a poor result for Willaston,
nearly halving the margin from its
23-55 round one loss, showing real
improvement with Danica Earle and
Emma Hartnett impressing at the Country
Championships last week.
Gawler Central coach Reece Turtur
said there was no doubt his players had
some rust to shake off, but the result
was never truly in danger.
“Compared to our round one game,
this was different because of a combination
of things,” he said.
“Sometimes it takes a bit of time to
get back in the groove of things after a
week off, and going into the second half
of the season we don’t want to be predictable
by running out with the same
game plan every Saturday.
“This week was about sticking to
some of the new strategies we’ve been
working on in training, and really having
a commitment to making those
things happen. The girls did that really
well, but it will still obviously take
some time to build confidence in new
tactics.”
Leading by 13 goals at half-time, Turtur
said the shooting of Dayna Schmid
made it a tall task to chase the Tigers
down late.
“Dayna had a fantastic game in goals
– she shot 48 from 54, which is about 88
per cent – when you can get that from
your shooters, you’re going to be in a
great spot,” he said.
“Casey Black in centre was also outstanding
for us – she was in control of
the mid-court, setting the tempo and utilizing
the space really well to provide
options in both defence and attack.”
While his side is sitting pretty at 8-1
this season, trailing only Barossa District,
Turtur said he knew some bad habits
needed to get worked out of its game
before finals.
“The biggest thing for us is maintaining
our intensity level,” he said.
“We haven’t put out a 60-minute performance
yet, and that’s not surprising
because it usually takes well into the
second half of the season before that
comes.
“We just need to make sure we’re
getting better each week, and when the
time comes for us to play the big games,
we’re ready.”