What a weekend – hours on a plane to travel to Cairns from Rockhampton, for some of us travelling first to Brisbane to then fly north, flying directly over Rockhampton to arrive safely in sunny Cairns. By Friday night everyone had arrived and settled into accommodation at Trinity Beach for a great weekend of netball and friendship.

Saturday morning saw all of the team ready for game 1 against Marlin Coast where unfortunately Amanda was unable to take the court. The girls had a good game on their hands, coming out as victors. The bye left a big gap in the day for the Claws squad, so back to the accommodation, lunch, an opportunity to view the game and then some free time for all. The afternoon saw everyone eager to head back to the courts and play game 2 against Wide Bay. This started as a tight match, but the fitness of the Claws girls saw them outrunning a tired Wide Bay team to come out again as victors. Travel back to the motel for a dip in the pool, dinner and an early night.

Sunday morning saw the players eager for an early breakfast and to get to the courts for game 3 against Magnetic North, our old nemesis. Another convincing win and the girls were 3 out of 3 with one game to go. Game 4 against Whitsunday was a close encounter for the first half while in the second half the girls pulled steadily away to take win 4 for the weekend, making them the Northern Cup winners. A proud moment for all with the players settling into a comfortable rhythm, the shooters accurately shooting, defence players doing their job and the centre court girls steadily and safely bringing the ball down the court. An improvement from Cluster 1 and set the goals for the final cluster weekend at end of June.

The weekend wasn’t yet over as we then had to wait at Cairns airport due to technical difficulties with the plane, an anxious time for those who were travelling on another flight from Townsville. I was lucky enough to stay a couple of extra days in Cairns and was waiting anxiously for news that the flight had touched down in Townsville and the girls managed to transfer onto their return flight to Rocky. Finally the news that all arrived home safely, and I could relax and unwind. A great couple of days with the gods smiling down on our squad.

Returning to Rocky to learn that we were placed 4th on the ladder after the weekend with only 7 games played to date was the icing on the cake with the teams rated above us in positions 1,2 and 3 having played at least one more game than the Claws, and look at the goals scored against us, the lowest number for all of the games played to date, what a thrill to be in such a good place with the 3rd and final cluster weekend coming up. All looks promising for a top six win, maybe we will be even higher up the ladder than this, but we will wait and see. Bring on Cluster 3 and here we come.

Author: Carol Marechal  Posted: January 3, 2010