RC Pythons strike back

Some of you may know that I coach a netball team in Richmond. Some of you may also know that I hate when I chirp shit and get let down by a weak performance. That’s what happened the other week, penned a blog, talked my team up as the favourites, and boom, the Pythons go out and proceed to get absolutely pumped by the Vipers, the team we beat in the Grand Final only weeks earlier.

Sitting here on a Friday night and it’s been a big week – I’m pretty tired but I’m also pretty happy, because last night the girls went out and dominated the hapless Razorbacks. What a performance!

It was by far and away one of the all-time great Pythons’ performances – those guys aren’t that bad, in fact, I think they have been in the finals in previous seasons and we just pumped them 37-5. With a record-breaking audience of 3, you girls turned it on. Right across the field, we were often flawless, I was sitting with Maria tonight watching New Zealand play Barbados in the opening prelims of the netball World Cup, and I say to her “You reckon the Pythons could beat Barbados?” To my surprise, Maria didn’t tell me to shut up; instead, she gave me a wry smile and said maybe. If you played like you did last night, I reckon the first quarter might be close!

Firstly: Maria, exceptional game, I think this was one of the most dominant games I have seen her play, pinpoint passing, movement, turnovers. Wow. Jess was awesome again in defence, and I thought she was a stand out last week as well in the draw against the Serpents. Elle pulled off some sweet passes, Alanna was Alanna, Jen got over a few early game nerves to put on a good performance in front of her man, despite him jeering and suggesting she kicks some sausage rolls. Credit to Wrighty for being the second bloke ever kicked out of Ryans Reserve International Netball Stadium for evading the drinking ban (the first being Jess’s housemates back in 2013).

From my standing, (and from my unofficial assistant coach, James) the standout of the night was Langerak. I’m not sure if you all heard me say on the night, but she shot 24 goals, missed just 2. For those of you that like your stats, that’s 92% shooting percentage, and for those of you that follow any kind of competitive netball, you’ll appreciate that’s pretty up there with the top team’s shooters. Even after me giving her a gee-up at half time in an attempt to throw her off, she preceded to go out and not miss a single goal in the second half. From where I stood, this was one of the all-time great RC Pythons individual performances. Kudos to you and well done. It’s actually tough on Parks who was also had a great game, and also had her best shooting performance of the season so far, shooting 13/3 (82%).

What we learnt:

• Langerak doesn’t feel pressure, she’s the ice queen.
• Alanna doesn’t get 3 votes every week!
• The unbreakable nail… has broken.
• Pythons are wet weather snakes.
• Having shooters with the same name adds to their competitive spirit.
• You don’t want to play the Pythons after a loss and a draw.
• Jen plays better having “not had a drink all week OMG”
• Playing 5 games of netball a week actually does make you a shitload better player
• The 6 championship Chicago Bulls dynasty is back on the radar.

5 players are within a couple of votes in the Best and Fairest voting.

Its all coming together!!