Merrivale's Olivia Darcy has been the Tigers' most versatile player this season in her first year as captain.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
She played goal keeper, goal defence and centre on Saturday against Russells Creek.
Darcy has been invaluable as Tigers' coach Elisha Sobey has tried to cover for injured players.
"The centre is definitely new for me this year, I haven't played centre before, I've normally probably been a goalie or defender," Darcy said.
"To jump into the centre is a little bit different but I'm enjoying it, it's good for my fitness."
READ MORE:
Darcy, who has been at Tigerland for about five years, is also enjoying her first season as skipper.
"It's good, very unexpected but it's great, we're a mature group and everyone is easy to get along with so it's good," she said.
The Tigers' leader said she missed netball last year with it ruled out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Yeah I did, just being around the girls with me having four kids and we run a business so it's fairly busy at home so it's just nice to have that breakaway time to be near some friends and it's just easy," she said.
The Tigers, which are third with a 5-1 record, host Allansford on Saturday.
Darcy feels the side has made a strong start to 2021.
"It's been a really good season so far, obviously Carts (Elisha Sobey) is coaching, she's bringing a whole new level of confidence to our team," she said.
"We've also got Jess Haberfield and Jess McKenzie.
"It's a really nice group of girls, a lot of us are sort of older, over 35ish, so it's a really nice mix of girls to be honest."
Darcy played all her juniors at Terang Mortlake and then had a stint at Cobden.
It was the best, it really was awesome, that's what made me want to come back and play.
- Olivia Darcy
When she moved to Warrnambool a couple of Merrivale players got her to the club and she's been there since.
"I had a baby at the end of 2018 so I just sort of took my time getting back because it was my fourth baby," she said.
"I just wanted to take it easy.
"At the time Carly (Peake) was coaching the A res and I joined up halfway through the season and played through the A res."
The A reserve team was knocked out of the 2019 finals so she sat on the bench for A grade and got on for a run every now and then.
She got on court in the Tigers' A grade grand final triumph against Nirranda which was a highlight.
"It was the best, it really was awesome, that's what made me want to come back and play," she said of the premiership.
"Obviously last year we missed out on playing but just getting that little taste of a grand final - it was awesome and I wanted to see if we could get it again."
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.