A MASSIVE Round 14 of Men’s Premier Division action closed out the 2019 home and away season, with three matches coming down to less than 10 goal margins while St Therese had a massive 56 goal win against Ariels (80-24) to finish the season on a high and jump into second on the ladder. Melbourne City Blackhawks solidified their finals berth with an eight goal win over DDNA (56-48) while Pasifika Sharks missed their opportunity to jump the Blackhawks with a seven goal loss to Southern Seahawks (40-47), with the two sides finishing just out of the four. With the top four convincing again this week, it just goes to show that the wins the sides have managed throughout the season have been consistent to ensure the four best sides made finals.

Geelong Cougars came away from Round 14  with a big confidence-boosting win over Sirens Netball, defeating Sirens by eight goals (57-49) and sending them into third on the ladder. Sirens have had a shaky end to the season, losing their last two matches of the season and lucky to get away with wins in the rounds prior. While Sirens could come into this match knowing they were safe in finals contention, a win to the Cougars would have maintained their composure as they head into the semi-finals, while Sirens will go in off the back of further inconsistency. The Cougars were ahead from the get-go, leading every change and giving Sirens little opportunity to close the margin. While Sirens kept their composure throughout and earned plenty  of ball back, Geelong were just too good stopping the ball from moving down the court and forcing turnovers all over. The Cougars combination of Cameron Allum and Brayden Pastore was dominant as ever to post, shooting 31 and 26 goals respectively and sharing the load well which is a real feature of Geelong’s game. To their credit, Sirens’ Josh Smith and Brodie Roberts were equally as impressive in the goal circle, sharing the bibs around and shooting 30 and 19 goals respectively. The midcourt battle hosted some big matchups, with Jed Christian, Jake Noonan, Luke Hunter and Tory Allen fighting it out for space through the centre third, feeding well around the circle and propelling the ball up the court from defence. Alastair Punshon and Joshua Burns were solid defensively for Geelong, creating turnovers aplenty and confusing space in the goal circle to deny easy entry for the Sirens. The likes of Andrew Burgess, Will Jamison and Andrew Lewis rotated through circle defence for the Sirens, using their combined timing and rebounding ability to create turnovers.