OMG – I have never been involved in such an intense game of Netball in my life. Wow, I cannot believe we are heading off to Brissy again this weekend, but this time we are going to play in the GRAND FINALS!

We started a little slow allowing the Lynx to score three goals before we got our first on the board, but that was the biggest lead they ever had then for the remainder of the game. Both teams went goal for goal. The Lynx had the advantage with the centre pass so they always seemed to be one goal up or even, but it would then be their centre pass. I think we were deadlocked at 2 of the breaks and it seemed as though one team would get a little bit of a run on, but then the other team would fight back and it would be goal for goal again!

It really wasn’t until the last quarter that we got the advantage. We dug deep and fought for everything, giving it everything we had and knowing that we could really do this if we just believed in ourselves and played the quality and inspiring Netty we have been playing this season. We wanted it and we were prepared to give it our all and to leave absolutely nothing in our tanks. We didn’t want to walk off that court knowing that we could have won but didn’t execute.

With only 1 minute left, the scores were even and we had the advantage. We lost possession but fought for it and forced a turnover and got possession back . We got it to our shooters who then converted so we were now up by one goal with approx 40 seconds to go. It was Lynx centre pass and we knew that if they scored this goal, it would go into extra time and we didn’t want that to happen. They got it down to their shooter and our defence worked their butts off to create as much pressure and keep the ball out of the circle for as long as they could in hope that the time would run out. The Lynx shooter got the pass and took the shot…. and missed! We then made sure of every pass bringing it down to our end as we were not going to let them have the ball and score. This was our prelim final that we had battled for and we were not going to give up our grand final debut that we deserved. We got the ball down to our shooter and as Jack was taking the shot, the full time siren went and time was called. It finish the dream off, Jack’s long range shot went straight through the ring, nothing but net and we ended up winning by 2.

I honestly have never been involved in such an amazing team, or group of girls. We won that game, not because we were the better team (even though we believe we were), but because we wanted so badly to do it for each other, our supporters and the CQ community that has gotten right behind us. We were prepared to fight until that last second and we did and that’s why the CQ Claws are now heading into the GRAND FINAL! It’s so great to be a CLAW!

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OMG – I have never been involved in such an intense game of Netball in my life. Wow, I cannot believe we are heading off to Brissy again this weekend, but this time we are going to play in the GRAND FINALS! We started a little slow allowing the Lynx to score three goals before [...]

I don’t think there is anything else to say apart from the fact that we made it, we did it we have achieved what a lot of people thought that we couldn’t and we are there.

This is what we all chase as kids to play in a Grand final and to have made it with such a great squad and to represent our Region with pride and respect it’s such a sweet feeling this is huge.

It hasn’t really sunk in yet it’s such an amazing feeling of happiness and we were all so overwhelmed with emotion after our game that we didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, there was a lot of tears of happiness.

A huge Big Thankyou from me and from all of us to Barry & Gail Saunders in providing us with funds for not only the season but for next weekend to allow the whole squad to travel together to the Grand Final. Your generosity and support not only to the Claws but to your daughter is amazing and no amount of hugs or tears can thank you both enough.

To our supporters who were also there on the weekend you guys are awesome. You have taken time off work/school and your life’s to join us in our ride to success. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

So if you are not on this one way train to success already you need to get on as there will be no stopping at stations. This is a one way trip !!!!!!

Thankyou to everyone who supports us we could not make this journey without you.

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO………………………………….

GRAND FINAL HERE WE COME…….

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I don’t think there is anything else to say apart from the fact that we made it, we did it we have achieved what a lot of people thought that we couldn’t and we are there. This is what we all chase as kids to play in a Grand final and to have made it [...]

Grand Finals Here We Come!!!!!!

What an effort; what a game. This has to be the most physical and fastest game to date. Loved it!

Words cannot describe the intensity and speed of our match. We are finally maturing as a team. Holding it together for the full 60 minutes. That is why we came out on top. With improving still to do, look out next week. The whole 10 players had impact on our game, the girls from the bench were so motivating. Our defending Duo Dynamites were superb (Danni and Hoppy). They really held their head and stuck to the game plan. Our tremendous trio of shooters did well and beyond with their goaling averages. Claudia Jones superstar in the making, not only shooting at a high percent, held her nerve and came out firing, go Claudia!!! Mo and J.J. I still cannot believe you guys got shots in under so much pressure, they had a classy outfit (defenders) but I am proud to say you “OUTCLASSED” them. Lizzy and Bec our centre-court girls were amazing. Really owned the centre-court both in attack and defence, so great to a part of.

We cannot stop here, DETERMINATION will get us over the line next week. BELIEF is the key.

Once again congrats have to go to our coaching staff, Barb who analysed our previous encounter with them, watching the match over and over and over again, to work out their strengths and weaknesses is totally amazing. Anna’s KIND words were once again there to lift and push us to the next step. AND WE DID IT!!!!!

Our supporters who once again were there in numbers were loud. Thank you and we are going to try our best, leave nothing in the tank and do it again next week.

We could not of done this and made history if it wasn’t for our sponsors. A Big Thankyou to all of our sponsors you all played a role and getting us there. One sponsor that I totally want to thank is Barry & Gail from QGESS!!!!! Your generosity has not only got us there, but through your kind donations you have made our preparation so much easier, finance is tough, going back and forth to Brissy is costly and through your sponsorship we can just focus on our game. THANKYOU!!!!!!!!

GO THE CLAWS!!!!!!!!!

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Grand Finals Here We Come!!!!!! What an effort; what a game. This has to be the most physical and fastest game to date. Loved it! Words cannot describe the intensity and speed of our match. We are finally maturing as a team. Holding it together for the full 60 minutes. That is why we came [...]

Two from two. We all knew we could get there it was just a matter of having a bit more patience and cutting down in our mistakes. First game on Saturday was against the Wildcats. We have already beaten them but we knew they would come out firing. We stuck to our game plan, and we really pumped them. Having a look at the score at the end of the game was a great feeling!!!! There is a belief in the Claws and we know that we can go further in this series.

The game on Sunday was tough. Both physically and mentally it was tough. Our girls showed tremendous courage and determination as the Tigers threw everything at us, but we just stuck to our game plan, kept cool, once again showed patience and we snuck home with a terrific win. I think we nearly sent out coaching staff into a frenzy about 7 minutes out in the 4th quarter, we were up by around 10 goals, whether we were tired, or thought we had it in the bag, we made basic errors and they crept back to only be 3 behind, but we regathered and came home. What a win, cannot express our feelings especially when we looked up at the stands and saw our families and supporters cheering after the game. They were definitely loud and could be heard throughout the stadium.

Would like to thank our supporters as we could not have done what we have accomplished in the last month without all of your support.

Bring on next week-end!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO THE CLAWS!!!!!!!!!!!

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Two from two. We all knew we could get there it was just a matter of having a bit more patience and cutting down in our mistakes. First game on Saturday was against the Wildcats. We have already beaten them but we knew they would come out firing. We stuck to our game plan, and [...]

Wow, what an amazing effort by the girls! There is just so much excitement and belief in the team at the moment that I think everyone is still on a massive high from the weekend.

The day started well with all of the girls enjoying a nice sleep in knowing that the preparations for our game against the Wild Cats would not start until around 9.00am. The girls were cool, calm and collected.

We knew that we could beat Wildcats but also knew that to do that we needed to play controlled Netball and eliminate our errors, not allowing the Wildcats into the game.

We also knew that our preparation was good and that we had some great stats going for us, like our ‘against record’ being one of the best in the entire competition so it was just a matter of putting it together on the court and that’s exactly what we did!

We headed into the next game of the elimination finals against the Tigers. We had previously lost to the Tigers, but again, knew that if we played our game, that we could knock them out and so we did just that!!!!!

We will train again this weekend as a full squad which will be really great for continued development and further tough match play and will prepare for another tough game mentally as well. We will also be reviewing the game we played Lynx who are our next opponents and will be trying to identify their strengths and weaknesses so that we can be as fully prepared as possible.

We know we can do this, we have the ability and passion and the squad have never wanted it more, for themselves and for each other. It is just a case now of preparing as best we can and delivering on the day.

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Wow, what an amazing effort by the girls! There is just so much excitement and belief in the team at the moment that I think everyone is still on a massive high from the weekend. The day started well with all of the girls enjoying a nice sleep in knowing that the preparations for our [...]

WOW, WOW,WOW what an awesome, awesome weekend.

This is what all of our hard work is for. The Saturday trainings every Saturday for 2-3 hours since March, it is all finally starting to pay off.

I am still on a high and we have achieved what a lot of people including those Brisbane sides thought we could not. It makes it so much sweeter when you have Brisbane officials and opposition supporters congratulate us on a great game of netball. Who would have thought that this Country side could knock off a Brisbane side, not 1 but 2 sides. It doesn’t pay to be cocky!!!!!!!

Thank you once again to our supporters who lifted the roof off the stadium with their cheering it makes such a huge difference when you are on the court knowing you have so much support. You guys were awesome a huge big thank you.

Lastly to our whole squad on the court, off the court and those not there, you have done not only the supporters and yourself proud but the “Capricorn Claws” proud.

BRING IT ON there is only one more game to go before the grand final.

We need to stay focused and keep working hard it’s not over yet girls.

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WOW, WOW,WOW what an awesome, awesome weekend. This is what all of our hard work is for. The Saturday trainings every Saturday for 2-3 hours since March, it is all finally starting to pay off. I am still on a high and we have achieved what a lot of people including those Brisbane sides thought [...]

Oh my goodness…what an incredible weekend of netball!!! I am so proud to be a Claw right now – and I have not wiped the smile off my face since taking the victory against the Tigers that secured our spot into the Prelim final in two weeks time!

I knew it was going to be a great weekend, but I didn’t hold any expectations – you can’t ever go into games as tough as these with an arrogant attitude. That will only take you down – not build you up. We on the other hand, went in confident, strong and united! We were one team, supported by the entire squad – all 15 team members on Saturday, and 14 of the 15 on Sunday – what a fantastic effort to have everyone there – something made possible by our fabulous sponsors – THANK YOU! Also made possible by the sponsors is the ability to have Garry and Kat travel with us – and we are not the Claws without them. They do so much for us, and we are forever in their debt. And I can’t leave out Barb & Carol. I could say them individually – but they really are a team effort. They work so well together – and I know that we did give them a scare (especially in the second game), sorry about that! But they are the driver behind our success. Barb, with our team pact – that really was the key to our success this weekend. And Carol, well she is just so much more than a manager and we would not be where we are without her, or Barb – the best team ever!

Anyway, back to the games…Wildcats on Saturday was a great game, and we just took it from the first whistle. We were up by 2 at half time, then we won the 2^nd quarter by 6, the 3^rd quarter by 5 and the 4^th quarter by 5 also. So it was a consistent effort by the whole team! Lizzy was the standout for me – she just had a brilliant game giving option after option for the attacking end and feeding some brilliant balls into the shooters. But the whole team were on fire – not one single player could be disappointed with her game! Mo, Jacinta, Liz, Tracy, myself, Bec, Hoppy & Danni all took to the courts while Carmz & Claudia cheered loudly from the bench. It really was a team effort and we played so well to take the win! Well done girls!

Then we had a nice rest, something unprecedented for the Claws – we’re used to backing up for 4 games in a weekend and no less than 2 in a single day. But, we enjoyed the rest and took to the pool for recovery – ready for the game against the Tigers in the semi final.

It was an AWESOME game – and man am I proud to be a Claw! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done to all of the girls – the girls on the court, the girls on the bench and the girls in the squad cheering from the sideline. It was amazing. And I am so glad I was a part of.

it. We stayed on top of our game, played with intensity, fire and commitment – to each other and to the ball. We backed each other up and we drove hard and strong for the ball. Everyone all throughout the court took intercepts, but Danni & Hop were particularly outstanding. And personally – this was my most pleasing performance of the season. Tracy was insane in centre – she wiped the Tigers centre off the court with her skill and her legs! Lizzy was a pocket rocket and no one could keep up with her speed. Jacinta moved so swiftly, so smoothly! And Mo – well, we didn’t expect anything less than a powerhouse performance – and that’s exactly what we got! She was sensational, along with the whole team – we played like there was no tomorrow!

GO THE CLAWS! It’s not over yet – Prelim finals in 2 weeks against the Lynx. It will be a tough match, but we’re used to tough matches now! We just need to build on what we’ve learned so far, and strengthen the unit that we’ve already got! We are a team that should not be underestimated…I’ve been saying that all along – but I’m not sure if any of the Brisbane teams have been paying attention. Maybe they will now…

THE CLAWS ARE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!

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Oh my goodness…what an incredible weekend of netball!!! I am so proud to be a Claw right now – and I have not wiped the smile off my face since taking the victory against the Tigers that secured our spot into the Prelim final in two weeks time! I knew it was going to be [...]

I can’t explain how exciting it was watching the girls play in this game. We really wanted to win this game and we did it! Shanita, Carmen and I were on the edge of our seats the whole game cheering and encouraging everyone. It was a really good game between the two teams and it was a well deserved win. After that game we really wanted to show everyone that we could do it again but unfortunately we were unable to. We came back with a win against Panthers which was also a very fast and good game.

Now that we are in the finals in will be exciting to see how we go against the Wildcats again. With all the training and effort put it by the girls I know we will be able to do it!

Here come the Claws all fired up and ready to go!

GO CLAWS!

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I can’t explain how exciting it was watching the girls play in this game. We really wanted to win this game and we did it! Shanita, Carmen and I were on the edge of our seats the whole game cheering and encouraging everyone. It was a really good game between the two teams and it [...]

What a week-end!!!!! Finishing 5th is awseome for Central Queensland. We definately can improve on this. 2 from 4 is still great, we all realise that the games we went down in, were our mistakes. We definately are the better team. We just have to realise it. We will take away from this alot of experience and will have a chance to regroup and meet these teams again in the finals!!!!!

Go the Claws!!!!!

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What a week-end!!!!! Finishing 5th is awseome for Central Queensland. We definately can improve on this. 2 from 4 is still great, we all realise that the games we went down in, were our mistakes. We definately are the better team. We just have to realise it. We will take away from this alot of [...]

The Claws have made the 2010 finals series! At the beginning of the season we had one goal & that was making finals. It’s now time for new, higher goals to be set.

The girls put in so much effort towards success for this weekend. Lizzy was a standout for me (& I don’t like saying that because she plays my position!). She is playing smart netball. She is consistent, has spectacular ball placement and just goes, goes, goes. Mo is also another who is playing brilliantly. She is so reliable and oozes passion for game.

The team, as a whole, worked hard in all four games. It was a shame to only come back with 2 wins, but we must take the positives and improve on the minor things that let us down. We believe our losses were a result of our own errors and decision making. This is something we can control and will improve before our next games.

Now for finals (notice the plural, there will be more than one appearance).

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The Claws have made the 2010 finals series! At the beginning of the season we had one goal & that was making finals. It’s now time for new, higher goals to be set. The girls put in so much effort towards success for this weekend. Lizzy was a standout for me (& I don’t like [...]