Hepburn netball coach Gary Cooke after winning Central Highlands Netball League A grade preliminary final.

Transcript

00:00So Gary, congratulations on the win. How does it feel to be in next week's grand final?

00:04Yeah, really good. Really excited for the girls, really excited for the club.

00:07We set ourselves a really high expectation at the start of the year.

00:10Some maybe doubted that we could do it. I knew they could do it.

00:14It was a challenging year, but yeah, that's a great reward for them so far.

00:17Absolutely. So the Byrons certainly didn't make it easy for you, especially in that second quarter there.

00:21How did you go about recovering from that one there?

00:23Yeah, look, we knew they'd come back. I've been so impressed with both of them.

00:27We knew they could apply that defensive pressure all over court.

00:31And they kind of forced us to make silly turnovers. Our timing was out of whack.

00:35We were trying to force the ball long instead of go short, sharp.

00:38So we just addressed it at half-time. We just needed to treasure possession, play our game,

00:43and get the game back under control with the ball in our hands.

00:46And I felt in the second quarter we let them take control.

00:49And obviously they did, because they hit the lead.

00:51What do you think that was that got you across the line there at the end?

00:55I think the whole team. We can all address that.

00:58We know when we're making mistakes. We know when we're doing something wrong.

01:01So it's really little for me to tell them. They know what's going on.

01:04So it's about us just sort of reconnecting and just addressing,

01:07OK, what's the issue here? What's happening there?

01:09Is it just a little tweak in the midcourt? Is it something we're doing wrong in attack?

01:12But once we can get that together, I think we can go back to our game,

01:16which is a fast-paced, let the ball go. There's always two options down court.

01:20So yeah, we're just happy to let the ball go.

01:22Is there anything you think you could have done different there today?

01:24What were you going to be working on in preparation for next week?

01:27Probably do a lot of things differently. I mean, I'm really happy with the girls.

01:30So it would have been nice to have come away with a better win.

01:33But I love a close finals game. That's what it's all about.

01:36So there'll be things to improve.

01:37And I think through the week, I'll sort of reassess the game and what we did

01:40and go through my notes. There'll be things we can work on for the final.

01:44Plus, we don't know who we're playing yet.

01:45So each team, our strategy through the finals has been each team we play,

01:48we've had a different sort of game plan that we're going to do.

01:51So we'll see what happens tomorrow.

01:52But really, by the time we get to next Saturday,

01:54it'll be about us, our game plan, and what we need to do as a unit.

01:58Well, congratulations again. Thank you.