THE Orange Netball Association will field three teams at the 2014 Netball NSW State Championships being contested at Campbelltown and Camden this long weekend.
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The all-conquering open outfit will take on the state’s best netball sides in the championship division and following on from last year’s Pat Weston OAM Country Champions Cup win, an honour bestowed upon the highest ranked country team, Orange is again hoping to excel.
“We hope to get [the Pat Weston Cup] again and finish in the top two ... that’s the goal,” Orange co-coach Petrina Allen said, hoping to at least emulate last year’s 16 wins and five losses campaign.
“It’s pretty much the same group as we had last year.
“We went extremely well last year and we’ll definitely be able to match that.”
Naming a strong outfit, Orange will take a squad of nine to Campbelltown for the championships.
Robin Hood guns Erin Johnstone, Narelle Taylor and Tegan Dray lead the squad, brimming with the best of Life Studio in the form of gun mid-courter Jacky Lyden and circle players Sophie Beer, Sheryll Selwood and Mardi Aplin.
Hawks stars Amanda Hurford and Danielle Turner round out this year’s state championship squad.
It’s a squad with a wealth of State League experience forged together as a group, and it’s that bond Allen believes will give her side the edge come the crunch end of this weekend’s championship.
“A lot of the Sydney teams have a lot of depth, and they’ve got players coming in and out all of the time. They don’t have the bond we do as a group,” she said.
“We have the experience.”
Orange’s first game of the championship is against Gosford at Campbelltown on Saturday morning.
ORANGE: Erin Johnstone, Narelle Taylor, Jacky Lyden, Sophie Beer, Tegan Dray, Sheryll Selwood, Amanda Hurford, Mardi Aplin, Danielle Turner.
