City West Falcons coach Marg Lind was buoyed by the first-up showing of her new-look team in the Victorian Netball League championship division.
The Falcons went in as the “unknown quantity” of the competition and made a positive start with a win and a draw in a double-header round of games.
The Falcons, last year’s runners-up, were forced to compete with an inexperienced line-up, with Melbourne Vixens-aligned stars Chloe Watson and Emily Mannix unavailable due to Summer Shootout pre-season commitments.
Picture gallery: City West Falcons v Melbourne University Lightning
The young Falcons did not look out of place.
“When you see where other teams are at, I thought we physically looked really good,” Lind said. “When we don’t have Chloe or Emily, we’re real light on, but we looked quite prepared compared to some other clubs and that was the pleasing thing.”
The Falcons opened their account with a 48-48 draw with Melbourne University Lightning at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Saturday night.
The outcome could have been a whole lot better had they not blown a 13-goal half-time lead.
“We gave a couple of young kids a go at half-time … you really don’t know how it’s going to go,” Lind said.
“I think our girls relaxed a bit and allowed them to get some momentum and get back into the game.
“We only had three players from last year’s line-up on the court.”
The Falcons had a quick turnaround to their next game, which started at 11.40am on Sunday, a mere 16 hours after they stepped off the court for their season opener. It was probably a good thing, too.
Smarting from their blown lead the night before, they came out firing to beat Monash University Storm 50-39 in a result rated highly by Lind.
“They’re a good team Monash and they’re not to be underestimated,” she said. “They had a couple of ex-National League players with them.
“It made us more determined to go out and get a tough win because of the night before – we didn’t want to go a loss and a draw, that’s for sure.”
In an indicator of what a close competition may lie ahead, none of the 10 sides managed to claim two wins from the double-header round.
So the Falcons are perched in the top two, where they spent all of last season before losing in the grand final.
Stephanie Tyrell made an impressive debut for the Falcons at goal attack and is expected to form a strong attacking circle combination with sharpshooter Kath Knott.
“She’s quick and she’s good at finding small spaces,” Lind said of Tyrell. “It’s a combination that’s going to grow.
“They’ve got different personalities … so they’ve got a bit of yin and yang in the circle.”
Demi Woodlock, who missed a year with illness, shone on return, while Maggie Lind carried over her strong form from last season.
Lind was excited to see the division 1 and 19-and-under teams go undefeated across the weekend.
The Falcons are in a transition period after losing so many players to the national league.
Their young players will be fast-tracked to compete for championship positions in the near future.
