OUYEN United’s A Grade netball side must still be pinching themselves to see if the fairytale is in fact reality.
Coming from a fourth-place finish, the Kangas’ red hot form resulted in the Mallee side ending Wentworth’s massive run of 1287 days between defeats on the way to a 45-40 premiership victory.
Led by 15-year-old shooter Maggie Smith, who earned the Pat McDonald
Medal as best on court, United put together the perfect performance on the biggest stage in front a massive crowd at Mildura Sporting Precinct.
Making the victory even sweeter was the recovery from the grand final of two years ago, which Wentworth won by a single goal.
“We were so close in the 2022 grand
final, we really thought that was our game and we lost that in the end,” Kangas coach Kyra Nathan said after the game.
“When there was five minutes to go
today, we were in the same position as were in 2022 when we lost it, so we
certainly weren’t going to do that again this year.”
See inside for your 16-page Gameday liftout, including a full report on the A Grade grand final, and the Ouyen United premiership mega poster.