The season so far...

We're just over half way through the state league season and as usual there are some Renegades teams dominating their division... and a couple of other's who are looking forward to next season.

Continuing their trend of dominance over the last three seasons which has seen them net two seconds and one premiership, the division 1 girls have once again snagged top position and look set to keep getting better as they build up for the finals. This weekend is going to see a battle to keep top spot as they take on the percentage challenged Monash University at 3:40. Monash vs Melbourne fighting for position number 1 on the ladder, does it get any bigger?  Well, yes I suppose it does, but it's still pretty good.

Two more finals contenders are our division two mens teams, who having fought out several inter-club grudge matches with dirty intimidation tactics being employed all around have found some time to focus on opposition teams and are sitting in 3rd and 4th positions on the ladder.  So long as Gus' juniors don't break their (only slightly) more veteran setter it looks like the "Reds" will go from strength to strength in the second half of the year.  But I also don't expect the "blues" to lie down any time soon either as they're strengthened by players pushing hard for division 1 positions.

Our division 2 women also find themselves in the hunt for finals contention again as they currently sit in 5th position on the ladder.  They've unfortunately been burned by a lack of numbers throughout the women's program, currently only being kept out of the 4 after a match point penalty for insufficient players.  However the personnel they have on board are eager and working hard to impress the coach, though that could just be because he has a charming french accent.

Honours women have had their moments this year, but at the moment it looks like they're just out of the hunt for the finals.  However they are currently playing with 5 division 1 players from last years premiership team who are improving with every outing in the honours division this season, so I don't expect them to remain a middle of the table team for long.  In fact, next season is looking very promising for the top end of the womens squad.

In contrast to their female counterparts the division 1 men have been sporadic so far this season.  They continuously match it with the best in their division, and then lose to bottom of the division teams.  At this point they're 2 games out of the 4 with 5 losses on the trot, so they've got a lot of hard work to do to get back into finals contention.  However with plenty of eager div 2 players getting a run through the team and a new punishing regime of boxing before trainings, I'm expecting definite improvements in on court performances soon and can't rule them out this year, yet. 

Finally, we have our honours men.  Ummm, next year...

It's looking like a promising second half of the season is ahead of the club, and hopefully we'll have a fruitful finals period. With teams pushing hard to make finals, remember to practice your supporting technique by taking the time to watch your fellow club members do their thing on Saturdays out at Springers. After travelling that far it's nice to have some support from club mates (awww).

GO REDS!