WANL 2023: Souwest Jets keen to find consistency following promising round seven performance

After falling short against the West Coast Warriors by seven goals last Friday, the Souwest Jets are continuing to find consistency in their gradual improvements.

The Jets are set to return to the Gold Netball Centre on Friday for round eight of the 2023 WA Netball League season, where they will face off against Southside Demons.

Despite having a favourable start to last Friday’s match against the Warriors in getting some goals on the board, the Jets soon found themselves playing catch up once again.

Coach Cherie Farnan said the squad had prioritised their starts after getting frustrated by playing catch up netball throughout the season so far.

“The promising signs keep happening and it would be great to have some great starts and then follow them with the consistency of those promising signs,” she said.

“We need to be more prepared to be happy to have the ball in hand and not hot potato it.”

While there were plenty of strong performances across the court, last Friday’s match also saw starting shooter Giselle Taylor subbed off for the returning Lisa Millman after Taylor struggled to get enough height on her shots during the opening quarter.

“It was just a matter of an off day for Giselle,” Farnan said.

“As you start spiralling, it can be very hard to get yourself out of it so she came to the bench and the moving circle with Lisa and Marene (Peyper) gave us great return so we persisted with it — in the end creating a pretty even scoreline for the last three quarters.”

While the Jets have been on their quest to obtain their first win of the 2023 season, the Southside Demons sit atop the ladder with a 6-1 record following their 64-48 win over Peel Lightning last Friday.

In the midst of the Demons’ near-perfect run during the 2023 season, strong performances by the likes of Montana Turnbull, Kelsey McPhee and Chanel Gomes have been boosted by appearances by West Coast Fever training partner Natalie Butler.

Farnan said while there would be discussion and action around the Jets’ preparation for facing Butler and the Demons, their greatest focus would be on their performance and processes.

The last time the Jets and the Demons met was in round two, when the Demons made the most of a strong start to leave Eaton Recreation Centre the 71-46 victors.