Portland evens win-loss ledger in Hampden league netball

Portland coach Michelle Finck - a non-playing mentor - believes talk and direction from the Tigers' experienced players is helping their quest to play Hampden league netball finals in 2022.

The Tigers, now with a 3-3 win-loss record after accounting for Port Fairy 69-34 on Saturday, are leaning on each other.

"I think it was a really good team game from my perspective," Finck said.

"I think Jacci Piegrosse in defence really led them well and was our most experienced player on court."

Portland is also aware of the balance between being serious and enjoying a laugh as it strives to become a force in the competition.

"Happy players are good players," Finck said.

"It is always a big key to getting them to play well - if they enjoy it, they play well.

"We try and keep things as light and fun as possible. We all like a bit of a joke, especially at the breaks."

Portland held a slender three-goal lead against Port Fairy, which remains winless after six rounds, at Gardens Oval before extending the buffer to 14 at the main break.

"We came off the back of our Camperdown game (in round four) really disappointed because we thought it was a game we should've won, so I think since then we've taken that and worked on a few things and it seems to be paying off at the moment," Finck said.

"It was probably our focus at the start of the season, to be a really strong, consistent defensive team and we're starting to become that.

"We talked about in the first quarter starting to build a little bit of what we were trying to achieve throughout the game.

"I think we did that well and then the message to the girls at quarter-time was 'righto, we've built some momentum, let's take that into the second and run with it'.

"Our goalers really converted - Jess Cook and Heidi Jones. If you are converting well, that's a huge benefit."

Finck, who reported no injuries from the game, knows there are sterner challenges ahead.

"We have Terang (Mortlake) coming up this weekend and it's game we're looking to challenge ourselves," she said.

"We have a few tests coming up because we still have Koroit and South Warrnambool who sit one and two on top of the ladder," she said.

"Those games for us will be a really big indication of where we're at I think.

"We have a few big weeks ahead of ourselves so we hope we can challenge ourselves and at the end of the day you hope the scores are our way."

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