Hampden netball wrap: North Warrnambool stuns Cobden, Hamilton finds its rhythm

North Warrnambool is proving itself a tricky opponent in 2022 with coach Skye Billings hopeful it's only going to get better.

The Eagles came from seven goals down to beat fellow Hampden league finals contender Cobden on Saturday.

It came a week after they fell just two goals short of undefeated South Warrnambool.

Billings said the Eagles' 40-34 win over the Bombers, who were restricted to just four goals in the final term, was uplifting.

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"We have our main seven (players) back so now we can start to work towards where we want to be at the end of the year," she said.

"It's just about fine-tuning the nitty-gritty because that's what is letting us down lately."

Billings made a coaching move entering the final term which flung the momentum the Eagles' way.

"Sophie and Alicia Blain were absolutely destroying us through the mid-court so I put Maddie (Vardy) back to wing defence to stop that drive," she said.

"That was probably the game-changer for us because it stopped their drive and kept them second-guessing because obviously she does have the netball smarts to be back there.

"Her presence was enough to shake a few of the girls up there which led us to capitalise on the turnovers."

North Warrnambool sits just inside the top five with four wins, three losses and a draw.

Billings is bullish about their prospects in a wide open season.

"It's anybody's game this year. I know South is undefeated but they could be defeated, the same with Koroit, the same with Cobden," she said.

"It's just about whether you can put four quarters together on the day."

One team hoping to capitalise on the evenness is Hamilton Kangaroos which scored its second win on Saturday.

The Nat O'Dea-coached Roos accounted for Camperdown 55-41.

O'Dea said the Kangaroos were still vying for finals but understood everything had to go their way.

"To keep our season alive we can really only afford to drop three games maximum out of the rest of the year," she said.

"We know that but we know we've got the team to do it. We have proved we could make it with South and Cobden. Confidence is great and once we get our personnel right and our nine firing we'll be absolutely fine I have no doubt about it."

The Roos were also forced to make changes to their usual set-up with O'Dea pleased with how the players adapted.

"Kellie Sommerville was out and she's our key centre player and so was Leesa Iredell," she said.

"We didn't have the options we usually do so we had a bit of a re-jig there. Eve Duckmanton, Kyra McKinnis and Clare Crawford played the centre court and it's never been a combination we've used.

"Eve is a known goal shooter via Glenthompson-Dunkeld so she's never played centre before in her life.

"Kyra is our centre and wing defence and Clare is normally goal shooter or goal attack but Hayley (Sherlock) and Kelsey (Lewis) are just combining so well at the moment that Clare has gone into wing attack and she's doing a great job."

O'Dea was full of praise for the Magpies.

"Camperdown is such a young side and they're talented - in a couple of years' time look out," she said.

"The first half was hotly-contested and there were a lot of unforced errors from both teams.

"We just got into our groove in the last half."

In other results, South Warrnambool defeated Terang Mortlake 49-31 in Annie O'Brien's 100^th senior game, Warrnambool edged out a plucky Port Fairy 56-42 and Koroit accounted for Portland 60-37.

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