Jets’ late surge for netball glory

The Souwest Jets under-18 side will play one of the biggest games in the club’s history on Sunday when they take to the court in the WA Netball League grand final.

After defeating Rangers in the weekend’s preliminary final, the Jets earnt the right to face the West Coast Warriors in the decider at Curtin Stadium.

The Jets finished the home-and-away season third on the ladder, but won both the semi-final and qualifying finals to make it into the grand final.

The last time the two sides met in July, it was the Jets who came away with a shock 55-42 victory.

Coach Dale Nielsen said her side was confident they could win this year’s premiership.

“Last year we peaked a bit early, but this year we have started slowly and built up our form,” she said.

Nielsen coached the Jets under-21 side to a premiership in 1991, while the club’s last grand final victory was in 2009 when the under-18 side was crowned champions.

Of the Jets top eight players, seven have represented WA and two have represented Australia.

Nielsen said her team’s ability to defend well would be critical to winning.

“We have to stop the ball getting down to their goal shooter (Lily Pepper) because she is pretty accurate,” she said.

“But Riley Culnane is exceptional at intercepting the ball in our defence.

“We apply full-court defensive pressure which the girls work really hard at.”

Nielsen said if her side’s ball movement into their forwards was good enough, her shooters would do the job.

“Our shooting percentage has been above 80 per cent on a consistent basis,” she said.

“Once we get it into our attack we should be fine.

“We will just stick to our game plan.”