SITTING pretty atop of the Victorian Netball League (VNL) ladder, Melbourne University Lightning were enjoying a hot start to the season prior to the pause in play due to the state wide COVID-19 lockdown. A key reason for their success  this season has been the development of Melbourne Vixens training partner Gabby Coffey who credits the teams cohesion this year as a reason for their dominance.

“We have won every game so far, which is incredible,” Coffey said. “This year we have such a mixture in our team we have, young girls, we have older girls that have played Suncorp. “We have girls like me and Jordan (Cransberg) who are coming into the Suncorp League you know as training partners. “It’s really exciting and it is such a different variety this year and I think that is what is helping us, having sort of like the older girls on court to help us.”

It has been a highly interrupted couple of years of netball in Victoria with the state plunged into lockdown last year meaning no VNL was played. But that year off has not stopped the Lightning from coming out with a point to prove this season, currently sitting undefeated with their silky ball movement and clinical court play giving them the ascendancy.

“I think it’s just relentless and dogged mainly, just absolutely not giving up on anything,” Coffey said. “I think, our really massive game is our defensive game so it’s definitely dogged. “We just love that want for the ball and, you know, never giving up, for the like one percenters and that type of thing.”

With VNL on a hiatus at the moment, Coffey has been trying to find ways not only to keep busy now that university is done for the semester but so too finding ways to maintain her fitness to ensure she is raring to go when Round 7 comes around.

“We have been given programmes obviously to do in the past, two, three weeks and basically been running almost every day and doing footwork stuff, trying to get people to come and do my ball work. I’ve had a house mate try throw some balls at me which has been pretty funny but it should be nice just to get that sort of touch, just so we can get back into it,” she said.

Playing alongside a couple of household names in former Collingwood Magpies and West Coast Fever livewire, Shae Brown and former Scottish Thistles representative Fiona Themann the Lightning have no shortage of stars. But the combination between Themann and Coffey in particular has starred all season with the duo quickly becoming a ball-winning partnership.

“I’ve learnt so much from her (Themann). She’s such a presence out on court, and you know even watching her playing goal keeper, I learn a lot and then I can go on and sort of hopefully fill that spot. But even me being goal defence I find it’s very easy to play with her.  Just her experience with netball has made our combination really good. She tells me what to do and I go do it so that works out well,” Coffey joked.

The goal defence has long been touted as an excitement machine and this season she has well and truly proven the hype, with her defensive nous and long arms over the shot. In fact she paid homage to her time with the Vixens as a key reason for her improvement this season.

“It’s sort of another door that’s been open which is incredible and training with the Vixens has really you know improved different aspects of my game. And it’s exciting, you know, even though I’m not getting on the SSN court, I’m performing in VNL which makes me so excited, for the future. So I’m really enjoying my time with the Vixens, and how much my netball has improved.

It is fair to say that there is a slight difference in training regiments between the Vixens and Melbourne University Lightning given the differing level of leagues and quality of opposition the respective sides are up against according to Coffey.

“Trainings are quite hard, but you know it’s all the little things like you know how hard the girls pass or, you know, how much they push themselves,” Coffey said. “As a person coming into it and watching them push themselves is inspiring because then it’s like, alright, you know, this is what I should begin to do or it changes your mindset a bit. It’s really exciting.”

It has been a relatively straight forward path for Coffey since making her way down from the Northern Territory back in 2017, moving up through ranks in Victoria to play at VNL level and Australian Netball League (ANL) level prior to the competition’s re-shape this season.

“I moved to Victoria from the Northern Territory, and I pretty much joined Melbourne University Lightning in the under 19 team that year,” she said. “Just basically been slowly working my way up I did under 19s in 2017, Div 1 in 2018 and then 2019 was in champ. And from there also I trialled for the Vic 19 State team in 2018 and 19, I was in both those teams have also played in the 2019 ANL side for Vic Fury.”

Coffey has been a long standing member of the Lightning family, crediting the environment and people as one of the many reason she loves the club and has continued to ply her trade with them week in, week out.

“It is such a supportive club, about so many different things.” Coffey said. “I obviously came in and was at boarding school and that type of thing so I had a lot of Melbourne mums come from Melbourne Uni Lightning. “So I think just that side they’re really supportive, they’re some of my best mates and it’s always been a really positive time being at Melbourne Uni so I’ve loved it.”

Expect when Round 7 rolls around whether it be next week, or the week after for the Lightning to continue on their upwards trajectory spearheaded in defence by Coffey as they look to make finals whenever that be.

Photo credit: Grant Treeby