Sport
22 May, 2026
Bumper matchups await this weekend
There are a couple of potentially brilliant contests scheduled for round six of the Wimmera Football Netball League in A grade netball this Saturday, including a battle between fourth and second.
While Dimboola (third) are on the road to Davis Park to play Nhill (eighth), ninth-placed Minyip Murtoa will be hoping to get their first win for the season against Stawell (sixth).
There's a lot of interest in the game at City Oval, the game of the round is between Ararat and Southern Mallee at Beulah Memorial Park.
The fifth-placed Rats and the Thunder, seventh, are both coming off losses last week and will be keen to chalk up another win for the season.
Coach of the A grade Thunder team, Lachie Exell, said one of his side's biggest focuses had been building their way into the season, along with improving individually each game, while playing with basically a brand-new team with a lot of youngsters.
"We've obviously lost quite a few out of our A grade from last season so with having that happen, new connections won't always be seamless from the get-go, but I'm very lucky our team is prepared to put in the work to keep building on that together," Exell said.
"Ararat will be up there this year; they've maintained most players from last season and I expect them to be playing finals at the end of the season."
Exell said in focusing on building across the court in both attack and defence they would keep chipping at their goals each week.
"But specifically relating to Ararat, they use their angles and triangles really well with their shooters and their wing attack gets about every second pass so that might be something to have a look at negating," Exell said.
"It's obviously going to be a tough match for us but going out there and trying to execute what we're trying to do as part of our individual and team development is always the main focus, and if you can sneak a win that's a cherry on top.
"I look more for attitude, effort and mindset as a coach, and if you can come off knowing you tried to execute the direction and skills we've spoken about, I‘ll leave happy and proud regardless of the result."
Finally, the clash of second versus fourth will see Horsham host Warrack Eagles.
Eagles coach Sarah Spicer said her side was looking forward to the contest.
"For as long as I can remember, in every grade," Spicer said frankly.
"We're trying not to overthink what they can do and focus on our own game and back that into being good enough."
Spicer said the Eagles would need to make the most of their opportunities to goal when they turned the ball over but also focus on keeping posession of their ball and not give the opposition easy openings.
"Our defenders will need to stay in play and keep the pressure on their attack line," she said, the Demons' duo in goals of Georgie Carberry and Imogen Worthy having had a fantastic start to the year.
"It will take a consistent, four-quarter effort from us to get the win Saturday."