Mangoplah return to the winners circle, Griffith have win on the road

Downing Narrandera 97-26 at home on Saturday, the Goannas had something to prove after their narrow loss to Griffith the week before.

With intent to recover from their first loss in over a year well, the playing group organised additional training sessions through the week before their round three game.

Co-coach Marie Hope said her side recovered well from the loss and expects to have more challenging games this season.

"The scoreline showed they were putting the hard work in for the whole game, which is definitely something we wanted to focus on," Hope said.

"The loss had the desired effect really, and in some ways I am glad that we did lose.

"I think if we had won and not given our best performance, I don't think it would have had the same profound effect on them."

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Hope said she was impressed with the team's decision to increase training through the week to focus on areas of their game that needed work.

"It's pretty clear that this year is going to be a really competitive and we definitely feel the need to lift in order to stay competitive," she said.

Hope believes that despite recent success the side hasn't performed at its top capacity over the past seasons.

"In order to get that next step out of them as individuals and as a collective, they need that push and people to spur them on to do that," she said.

Pleased with the grit her side showed on Saturday, Hope said her side knew what they needed to improve on from previous weeks.

Mikaela Cole was the standout player for Hope, who said she's continued to up her game despite now living in Canberra.

Travelling from the capital to play with MCUE each weekend, Hope said she bleeds blue and gold.

"I could tell that she had a real point to prove out there and she did that very nicely" she said.

"She was very strong in her drives and attacking moves, as well as voice and on court leadership.

"She's not able to train with us unfortunately but she really proved she still wants to be a strong part of this team and she certainly contributed to that really well."

With only seven players available this week Goannas didn't use their rolling substitutes, though Hope said they've enjoyed experimenting with them over recent weeks.

"It was nice to just let them get comfortable with their position and cement their game in those positions but the previous week we actually used them quite a bit, probably more than we expected.

"It's another element of the game for us to review and hopefully make sure that we're using them wisely."

After opening their new courts on Thursday Collingullie-Glenfield Park stepped up to defeat Turvey Park.

Coach Olivia Jolliffe said at the court opening the side was hoping to welcome the courts to the club with a win against the always competitive Turvey Park.

Around the league Coolamon had a 32-goal win over Leeton-Whitton to start their 2023 campaign.

Griffith remain in the winners circle, this time on the road, defeating Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, and Wagga Tigers held the bye.

Coolamon 76 d Leeton-Whitton 34 at Kindra Park.

Mangoplah-Cookaridinia United-Eastlakes 97 d Narrandera 26 at Mangoplah Sports Ground.

Griffith 53 d Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong 46 at Ganmain Sports Ground.

Collingullie-Glenfield Park 52 d Turvey Park 24 at Crossroads Oval.

Bye: Wagga Tigers

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