Opens 'over the moon' with third place finish in return to State Titles

The Association returned to the open competition for the first time in ten years this weekend and had no expectations heading into the competition.

Head coach Tanya Bertoldi said she couldn't be prouder of the team's efforts.

Winning 13 games and drawing another two, they finished behind Cessnock and Temora on the final ladder.

"We are absolutely over the moon," Bertoldi said.

"The expectations that we had was that we were all going to go, going to play hard and we'll go to fight for whatever position we could achieve.

"We were always going to fight hard and work hard, but we really didn't know how we were going to stack up because this is the first opens women's team that we've had from Wagga in 10 years."

For many of the 11-players in the squad, this was their first representative netball experience.

Bertoldi said their attitudes throughout the entire process, from trials to their final game on Monday, made it so much more enjoyable.

This year the competition allowed the use of rolling substitutes, and with 11 players to move through, they were a welcomed edition.

"They were all playing for each other," she said.

"I think the best quote of the weekend for me, was one of the players was overheard saying 'there's actually really no 11th player in this team'.

"As a coach, that's exactly how it was, we were able to do rolling subs and it was seamless, it didn't matter who we rolled on and off, it was just seamless and the momentum of the game didn't change.

"It was just a pleasure to watch, honestly they all stood out, it'd be hard to pull just a couple of names."

Gratitude was the word that kept coming to mind for Bertoldi.

The team had worked tirelessly to get to the competition, and were continually thanking the coaching staff across the three days.

She was honoured to work with not only the team but her fellow coaching staff.

"They had some amazing support from Rosemary Clarke and Kerry Thomas as assistant coach, the three of us have worked together as a bit of coaching team," she said.

"I think this weekend the girls have actually realised what it's all been about, being here and, and they've just been so grateful.

"At the very end of the day a lot of them said 'thank you for a beautiful experience', it's just been wonderful."

For most of the players, attending a State Titles was not on their radar 12 months ago, and the development of the team since trials in November has been astronomical.

Attending the event is no cheap expedition, and the work put on behind the scenes to get the team there was also appreciated.

Now well and truly back in the opens action, Bertoldi hopes this year's campaign has set the association up for success in the future.

"Not only have we just opened up that pathway again, but we've made a mark," she said.

"I'm certainly hoping that those players coming through after they've finish their 17s, their 23s pathway, that they're looking and saying wow not only do we have an opens opportunity, but that we're paving the way for it.

"We've got a really good benchmark to start on, so we're definitely hoping this really opens up that opportunity for people and that they grab it with both hands."