ROUND 9 of Men’s Premier Division saw plenty of separation on the ladder, with Geelong Cougars and Sirens Netball surging full steam ahead while only two of the mid-ladder sides can realistically make finals given the respective form of the bottom three.

The closest margin this round saw St Therese only just prevail over Melbourne City Blackhawks, with the Blackhawks well and truly one-upping their Round 2 performance with the seven goal loss (65-58). Ariels put in a strong effort against Pasifika Sharks, holding their own despite going down by 12 goals (59-71) while Geelong Cougars well and truly dominated DDNA with a 20-goal victory (67-47).

The final match saw Sirens Netball well and truly put last week’s disappointing loss to Sharks to bed, bouncing back well to defeat Southern Seahawks by 22 goals (55-33). It was a tough slog for the Seahawks, not letting the Sirens go without a fight in a bid to reverse their Round 2 match, but it was to no avail with the match coming down to a larger final deficit than their first time around – proving that the Sirens are a real contender in second. While the first half was relatively even, it was the second half that saw Sirens dominate shooting 30 goals to 13, with Brodie Roberts and Josh Smith shooting with ease thanks to their respective speed, footwork and accuracy to post. Rotation was key for the Sirens, who had three of their nine players, play half games through the midcourt to ensure they matched up to the Seahawks and were able to take control on a number of opportunities doing so. While the attacking work from the Seahawks was fantastic, it was the defensive effort of Will Jamison, Andrew Burgess and Andrew Lewis that got the job done, applying astounding pressure and forcing Seahawks key shooter Bala Lange to move around for the ball more than usual. While Lange found plenty of ball early he was well and truly shut down in the second half, despite having skilled players in Jayden Cowling assisting at the post and James Robertson putting in the hard yards feeding into the circle. Sam Mackerras and Timothy Malmo applied solid pressure defensively, however it was not enough to nullify the shared effort of Sirens’ Smith and Roberts.