Orange City's Sarah Thorley was absolutely outstanding in Saturday's Orange Netball Association Toyota Cup grand final win, but the ace wing defender was nonetheless dumbstruck when she announced as player-of-the-final.
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In fact her disbelief was so real she needed a friendly nudge from her teammates to go and collect the medal, and declined to make a speech once she'd claimed it such was her shock at being named the decider's most valuable player.
"Absolutely not, no way," Thorley said, when asked if she'd been in any way expecting the accolade.
"I thought Katie Matthews was a certainty to win it, she was just amazing and had a blinder and so was Caitlyn Harvey. Everyone played so well actually, I think anyone could have won it."
Thorley's not wrong in suggesting Matthews and Harvey both would've been deserving recipients, and it was such a fierce contest you could've mounted reasonable arguments for a handful of others being potential candidates too.
Thorley, Matthews and Harvey formed Orange City's defensive end on Saturday and the trio played every minute of the decider, inspiring the Lions' 39-35 victory with a lockdown performance at the back. They allowed Life Studio just 49 shots to their side's 69, which ultimately told on the scoreboard.
Thorley was particularly impressive in the third quarter, which proved the defining one.
The two sides had been deadlocked at the first two breaks before pulling away in the penultimate term, and the handful of turnovers Thorley forced in that quarter had plenty to do with it.
Matthews was also instrumental in turning defensive pressure into attacking opportunities and she also forced a number of turnovers while playing quite high up the court from goal defence, while Harvey was staunch in the circle too.
The triumph was Orange City's 12th on the trot, with Thorley now having played in nine of those wins, second only to Tegan Dray's 10 premierships. Naturally Thorley made it quite clear the feeling never gets old.
It is such a massive honour ... it's very, very special to win this.
- Sarah Thorley after winning the Norma Corse Most Valuable Player of the Final medal
"You never get sick of winning, no," Thorley laughed.
"(Orange City coach) Cindy (Gilchrist) touched on it earlier in the week but I think it really is just the tight-knit bond we have that puts us in this position.
"Every side in the competition is very close, I'm sure, but we are really the best of friends and even with personnel changes that doesn't change year-to-year.
"We work for each other on and off the court and a big thing is how well the newbies always fit in too, they slot in seamlessly because we've never had the same team, there's always been changes."
While she was "so, so surprised" to have won player-of-the-game, Thorley also said she's incredibly proud to have won after the award was given special significance in 2019.
Orange Netball Association patron and co-founder Norma Corse (nee Rauchle) died in November last year and the award now bears her name as a mark of remembrance and celebration.
"It is such a massive honour. It's quite weird not having Norma on the sideline this year because she's made it to all of our grand finals before, but it's very, very special to win this," Thorley said.
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