Comeback Jacks

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Jacks OPD are Nelson’s premier netball champions for the second year in a row, and although they were the side lifting the trophy at full-time, Thursday night’s final certainly didn’t go to script.
With only one loss in the previous two seasons, thrashing their finals opponents by 30 points in the previous fixture and boasting the tag of number one qualifiers, Jacks Office Products Depot were hot favourites going into the premier grade final against Robbie’s Bar and Bistro Richmond, and the scoreline of 50-47 was much tighter than the blow out predicted by some.
In fact, Richmond had the upper hand in the first two quarters, with ace shooter Nicki Rampton helping her side to a 27-24 lead at half-time.
But Jacks OPD, who confirmed their championship credentials right throughout the season, finally kicked into gear with some swift substitutions having a sharp impact, pushing the team ahead 41-37 going into the final 15 minutes.
While the score was even at 43-43 with just minutes to go on the clock, Richmond just couldn’t regain the dominance it had in the opening two spells, and some late turnovers proved costly with Jacks OPD edging ahead by three to seal the victory.
Jacks OPD coach Robyn Leonard, who was not afraid to drag under performing players on the night, says finals netball is a “different kettle of fish” and was not surprised to be pushed closely by Richmond.
“We knew it was going to be very tough against them. They’ve got a lot of good experience and a lot of very good athletes that have played some very high quality sports so we always knew come the big one that they’d be there looking for the win,” she says.
“Some people might have said Richmond were the underdogs but I’d certainly never call them that.”
Robyn knew her side had the ability to claw back into games, having come from behind to win a handful of fixtures earlier in the season. But she still admits to feeling nervous when Richmond shot out to an eight point lead in the first quarter. “I was thinking ‘come on ladies’. But we’ve done that time after time this season and we knew if they got the lead that the most important thing is not to panic because we can come back. It was a hard fought game right throughout.”
And, having won the title last year as well, 2013’s effort seems to trump it, according to Robyn. “This year the whole premier competition has been tighter.”