Terang Mortlake open netball coach Sharni Moloney explains decision to void team tryouts

Moloney said the decision not to name graded squads for at least the first half of the 2023 Hampden league season was rooted in keeping players open-minded to the possibility of moving between teams and playing positions before qualification for finals came into play later in the second half of the season.

Moloney, a primary school teacher, credited several reasons for implementing the change, including motivating players to strive for higher grades.

The move will also allow Terang Mortlake to train as one squad and coaching panel and put everyone "on the same page" throughout pre-season.

"For the first half of the season at least, the teams will be quite fluid and transition through and give people a run to figure out what team and positions and combinations work best," Moloney said. "Instead of playing groups we'll be one squad and choose our playing teams each week based on Saturday's performance really.

"We're hoping by the first half of the season, squads will naturally form."

Moloney, who is moving back to the area this week after eight-and-a-half years in Melbourne and nine months travelling around Australia, said she was initially nervous to return to the club where her mother Symone, who passed away from breast cancer in 2019, was heavily involved.

"Everyone's been really supportive of me coming back... and open to new ideas," she said. "I know her (Symone's) fire will be inside of me as well. It felt right to go for the coaching opportunity this year."

The Bloods will be buoyed by the re-commitment of their 2022 open squad, along with the return of three former junior players, including Grace Wareham, Alice Suhan and Alice Kain.

Wareham will commute from university after finishing year 12 studies this year, while Suhan and Kain, who are 17 and under players, will commute from Ballarat where they attend boarding school.

"It's exciting to get people back," Moloney said. "That was kind of our plan... our past players, they were our main priority of contacting to try and get people back and some stronger numbers. That's been quite successful, even in our lower grades.

"From a whole club perspective, that has been the outlook for the recruiting this year. It's been very successful on the football front and quite successful in the netball front as well."

The Bloods will kick off their post-Christmas pre-season on January 17.

MORE SPORT:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: