MANGOPLAH-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes has issued a major statement they're the team to beat for the AFL Riverina Championship netball title after dominating Wagga Tigers in the top-of-the-table clash at Mangoplah on Saturday.
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Last year's Riverina League champions built a 23-14 half-time lead in the battle of the unbeaten teams, and went on with the job after the break to win the round four clash 41-25.
It means the Goannas are almost certain to finish minor premiers, with the Tigers likely to meet them again in the major semi.
MCUE has pulled a selection change the past fortnight by shifting regular defender Ashley Reynoldson into the goal shooting role alongside Sophie Fawns.
"It always makes sense to have a third shooter, we played her there against Turvey Park the previous week and I thought she went quite well," MCUE coach Marie Campbell said.
"It's about mixing up the match-ups and the dynamics in the team. It's good to have those different match-ups to work with and you don't want to test a third shooter in a grand final."
The result only reaffirms the pre-season predictions MCUE would again be the team to beat, but Campbell insists her squad won't become complacent.
"The score wasn't indicative of a high level game, and we are under no illusions the season is a foregone conclusion at all," she said.
Tigers coach Olivia Tilyard said they failed to handle MCUE's relentless full-court defence, but is confident they can make adjustments before finals.
"It definitely gave us a realisation we need to step our game up a bit and it's not going to be handed to us," she said.
"Mango has the expectation on them now we've been beaten by that much. Not that they will relax, but hopefully we can come out a bit stronger next time."
In other matches Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong took a big step toward a top four berth by moving to a 2-2 record with a 33-24 win over Leeton-Whitton, while Osborne moved alongside them on the table with a 66-36 victory over winless Turvey Park.
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