Local respected netball umpire Sue Francisco was invited by The Cobar Weekly to choose a netball team as part of our ‘Cobar’s Greatest Sporting Teams’ series.
Sue joined in the local netball competition when she first came to Cobar in 1982.
“I hadn’t played netball for many years because my first love was hockey.
“However, netball was the winter sport in Cobar so netball I played,” Sue said.
“I have been involved in each season of netball since, either as a player, committee person or umpire.
“We originally played on the cement courts at the back of the catholic school, before moving to the dirt courts at Ward Oval.
“Everyone had their “netball socks” which had red rings around the top of the shoe, which you could not get out!
“The move to the bitumen courts was fantastic but the new surface now is an astronomical improvement from the original cement courts,” Sue said.
Sue said she has based her team selection “on memory alone”.
“I have no statistics with which to support my selections or lists of names of people who have played.
“Undoubtedly names will come up which I haven’t considered simply because they didn’t come to mind whilst thinking about the challenge of naming a team.
“But at least this will be a starting point of discussions
Sue’s starting seven would be:
Goal Shooter: Lane Poland. Her movement around the court was great to watch and her accuracy was impressive. She was also great at getting rebounds.
Goal Attack: Sharron (Sheddon) Bain. Sharron made the game of netball look easy. She never seemed to over-exert herself and often had the defensive players wondering how to stop the ball getting to her. Her ability to get rebounds close to the post was great to watch. She was also a great talker on the court, managing to organise the attacking players for great feeds into the circle.
Wing Attack: Nikki (Spinks) Davey. Great feeding skills into the circle and can play Centre if required.
Centre: Tanya (Huon) Gilbert. What a pocket rocket. Never tires, can play defensively, often taking intercepts, and is brilliant in attack. An asset in any team.
Wing Defence: Alex Hernando. Another pocket rocket who also can play Goal Keeper or Goal Defence.
Goal Defence: Amie (Jacklin) Hill. Strong work ethic with an excellent understanding of the game. Makes any shooter work hard to get into the right position to receive the ball. Great talker who can organise the team on the court.
Goal Keeper: Annette (Armstrong) Cownie. Annette’s ability to read the play often resulted in intercepts and she could hold a defensive position.
Bench: Renee (Morris) Matheson. Great shooter and attacking player; Karlee Anderson. Her ability to play both defence and attack (even shooting) makes her an invaluable player; and Jenna Fullager. A great centre court player.
“I have limited the team to 10 players as difficult as it was, because I could have named numerous players in each position but in my opinion this is a well balanced team and will be a great discussion starter,” Sue said.
