The 2024 West Central West Regional League took place over one weekend at Orange PCYC with 8 teams, divided over 2 divisions and over 80 of the best netball athletes from around the West Central West region competing against each other.
The first day of the weekend of the Netball NSW Regional League competition consisted of each of 2 divisions; Division 1 – Bathurst, Orange 1, Orange 2 and Mudgee and Division 2 – Blayney, Cowra, Dubbo and Parkes go head-to-head against one another in their division playing a total of 6 rounds each.
On the Sunday, the 2 Divisions moved onto final rounds based on their performance and ladder rankings.
In Division 2, Dubbo held the top of the table undefeated followed then by Blayney, Cowra and Parkes.
The semi finals match was determined by the ladder and 1st vs 4th being Dubbo and Parkes who took it out to secure a spot in the Grand Final. Dubbo played strong as a team and ended up coming out in front of Parkes with a 62 – 30 point win.
In the other Division 2 semi-final, Blayney and Cowra had a tight battle in the first half of the game with it being anyone’s game to win with a draw. Blayney outshone their performance and taking the scoreboard out in front making them gain 42 goals to Cowra 36.
Our Division 2 grand final between Dubbo and Blayney was another game down to the wire with it being another draw between the teams at half time, Dubbo’s team performance lead them to hold onto the lead over Blayney by a 15 point win for the title. Whilst Cowra remained determined against Parkes and ended up in 3rd place with a score of 39 – 28.
Division 1 saw Orange 2 remain undefeated throughout the first days of minor rounds leaving them on top of the ladder. Bathurst and Mudgee followed close behind drawing on the ladder with only one game to go on Day 1. Orange 1 obtained their second win for the day in round 6 making themselves along with Bathurst and Mudgee in an equal second division on the ladder. Due to a count back going into the finals the ladder position went as follows, Orange 2, Orange 1, Mudgee then Bathurst heading into the final’s series.
The first semi-final match up was between Orange 2 and Bathurst. Although Bathurst put up a good fight, Orange 2 drew a little further away each quarter leading them to a win of 56 – 29 taking them to the Grand Final. The second semi-final match saw Orange 1 and Mudgee teams go head-to-head, fighting for their spot in the Grand Final. Only one team could come out victorious with Orange 1 taking the win 54 – 36.
In the 3rd place play-off for Division 1, there was a classic case of turning good defence into scoring opportunities for both teams. Bathurst and Mudgee almost saw the game come to extra time with the score being even after fulltime but Bathurst had a penalty goal which took them to win the game 44 – 43.
In the Division 1 Grand Final, Orange 2 proved why they were meant to be in the Grand Final with starting out strong over Orange 1 making the goal margin increase rapidly. Both teams proved their determination but Orange 2 continued to perform well as a team increasing their score to a 61 – 42 win becoming the West Central West Netball NSW Regional League Champions for 2024.
Netball NSW Regional League is also not possible without the team of dedicated umpires officiating matches over the weekend, thank you to all the team in white and a special thank you to the Umpire Allocators Shelly Hutchinson, Michelle Ensor and Shanae Terry who worked with the umpires throughout the competition.
West Central West Netball NSW Regional League Coaches also had the opportunity to access invaluable mentoring during the first week, thank you to Linda McLeod, who was on hand to offer assistance to Coaches.
Brooke Berg
Regional Manager - West Central West
