'A tight race': Bloods not giving up on finals while 'slim chance' remains

Terang Mortlake coach Kym Grundy knows her side has some important games coming up. Picture by Justine McCullagh-Beasy

Refreshed after the league-wide bye, Terang Mortlake's open-grade netball side isn't ready to abandon its Hampden league finals ambitions just yet.

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The seventh-placed Bloods sit 12 points out of fifth spot ahead of round 12 and will need to win the majority of their remaining seven games to be any chance of featuring in the post-season action.

The club has a pivotal four weeks ahead with games against Portland, North Warrnambool Eagles, Port Fairy and Hamilton Kangaroos.

The Tigers, Seagulls and Kangaroos all sit below them on the ladder while the Eagles are fifth.

Bloods coach Kym Grundy knows there's a "slim chance" they will finish top-five but while their pre-season goal of breaking a finals drought is still a possibility, they won't be giving up.

"If we can win the winnable games or the teams that do are the ones that will end up in the five," she told The Standard.

"If we can get over the line in a few of these we could be half a chance but again, everyone else has improved and worked on what they need to work on to improve as well.

"It's going to be a tight race to the finish to see who can make the five. Everyone's going to give it their best.

"...If you can sneak in there, well finals are anyone's game. But we have to do the hard work to get there, we know that we're a slim chance."

Terang Mortlake's May Suhan looks for a teammate against Koroit in May. Picture by Justine McCullagh-Beasy

Grundy also knows that should the Bloods miss finals it's not the end of the world and she will adjust to the situation accordingly.

"We've shaken a few trees (surprised some teams) and we'll hopefully continue to do so," she said.

"Even if our finals chances do go by the wayside well then that's a good opportunity to blood some of our juniors and get them ready and come back stronger next year.

"So there's a plan either way, obviously I hope for the finals plan but if we're out of the race then that's my chance as a coach to get some of the juniors of our club ready for next year."

The Bloods showed positive signs against ladder-leader South Warrnambool in round 11, only going down by 13 goals against the competition's benchmark.

Grundy was pleased her side was able to string four good quarters together against the Roosters and hopes they can do so against the Tigers on July 13.

"They've improved a lot since we played them the first time so it'll be a tough game," she said.

"We've been working on a few things ourselves throughout the season. Some things we've improved really well on and some we haven't, so hopefully we can put four quarters together."