The Lions' future is 'promising' and teacher Tilyard can take them higher

Returning to the netball court this season after missing 2023 due to injury, she is part of Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong's new look A grade side.

Though the team has struggled to get wins on the board so far, she's got no concern for their future.

In fact, she's praising the efforts of new coach Georgia Tilyard in what's become a rebuilding season.

Tilyard is the new injection the club has been looking for.

"Coming back into it this year has been really good," Jolley said.

"It's good to have Georgia as a new coach coming into the club, we're very much a club that has struggled to try and pull in some fresh blood, so being able to pick up Georgia this year has been really good.

"She's brought great new tactics and game plays and just a different mindset as well, which has been really, really good, mixing that with a really new, very young side has been great."

A teacher by trade, Tilyard's experience in the classroom and within the Southern Sports Academy has not gone unnoticed by the side.

Working well with the new cohort of players, Jolley said the feeling amongst the playing group is positive despite the scoreboard.

"We're a really good fun, positive side, we're always developing and always improving which is really good," she said.

"We've just got to try and get a few more wins under our belts."

Returning to netball after a long-term recovery from a broken finger last season, Jolley feels good to be back on the court.

Playing football with the club through the summer was a good pre-season start for the wing, but it didn't quite get her to court-fit.

Long distance running across the oval, she said, didn't quite get her ready for the constant sprinting that comes with netball.

Preparing to take on Wagga Tigers this weekend, a shock draw with Narrandera will fuel her and her teammates.

Complacent in the first quarter, the Lions found themselves 11-down by the first break and fought back to get themselves into a winning position.

With less than a minute left on the clock they handed over their two-goal lead with the Eagles earning a 42-42 draw.

Disappointed they didn't hold on for a win, Jolley was pleased to see some grunt from the team/

"We just stepped it up another level and um we played unreal, we had that grunt and fight about us and that got us back into the game," she said.

"That was really good to see, last time we versed Narrandera we won by eight, so I think it was a bit of a shock to our system, they came out really hard and strong straight away and we just weren't expecting that, but to be able to pick ourselves back up and get back into the game was really, really good and really promising."

Hoping to put last weekend's game to use, Jolley said the team has learnt an important lesson now and won't waltz into the next round.

Taking on Wagga Tigers, Jolley said being loud and vocal on court will make a huge difference in their performance.

"I didn't play against Tigers the first round, so I'm keen to get in and keep this momentum that we've got from the end of that Narrandera game," she said.

"Our biggest thing is just getting around each other, if we're there supporting one another, we're getting vocal, we're encouraging and staying positive and not letting our heads drop, that's when we play really well."