Live stream: Victoria out to make some noise at inaugural Netball Australia First Nations tournament

Fresh off a silver medal at the Marie Little Shield, Victoria are eyeing off more success this weekend in what is shaping as a huge moment for Indigenous talent. LIVE action starts at 5pm tonight.

The Victorian leadership team for this weekend's First Nations tournament

Victoria’s First Nations coach Noel Halton is a strong advocate for underrepresented talent.

It’s why he sees this weekend’s inaugural First Nations tournament as an important step in the ‘bigger picture’ of opening up pathways for Indigenous talent.

Catch every match of the tournament, which will feature the best Under-23 Indigenous athletes from across the country, LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from Friday night.

CATCH ALL THE ACTION FROM THE TOURNAMENT RIGHT HERE

Check the full LIVE STREAM schedule below.

Fresh off helping Victoria’s All Abilities team to a silver medal at the Marie Little Shield and involved in Netball Victoria’s talent academy pathways, Halton said the game of netball should be the great equaliser.

“I strongly believe there are some great netballers out there and, for whatever reason, we don’t see them come through the pathways as much as what I believe we should,” Halton said.

“I think this tournament is going to open up those sorts of avenues.

“And it’s not just for these athletes these weekend… it’s more the younger ones, I hope they will see these girls and say ‘hey, I can see a pathway there, that’s an avenue for me’ and they’ll embrace it for years to come.”

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Victoria opens the three-day tournament on their home soil at Melbourne’s State Netball Centre on Friday night, going head-to-head against South Australia in the first of their three pool games.

But when it comes to competition, Halton said it was hard to predict how it would play out considering it was a first-of-its-kind tournament, before highlighting NSW and Queensland as two states who could go far - though Victoria won’t see them unless they meet in finals.

The Victorian leadership team for this weekend's First Nationas tournament

“It’s a bit of an unknown quantity this weekend, to be honest with you, being the inaugural,” Halton said.

“We don’t know what sort of talent is coming from interstate but I’m sure everyone will be putting on a good display.

“We’ll just take it the old cliche, one game at a time.

“Friday night against SA should be a good challenge.

“We’ll get some outcomes out of Friday night’s game, we’ll sort of assess and watch some other games and have a look at what we’re up against. Then we’ll plan and strategise a bit.”

As for his own squad, Halton put an emphasis on building connections in their limited lead-in time, with several players’ bringing VNL experience, including captain Anna Soloman and co-vice-captain Holly Stephens, who joins Ashlee Hyde in that role.

Meanwhile, their midcourt is strengthened by the inclusion of the explosive Elisa Butterworth-Gonebale, a City West Falcon and 19-and-under state talent.

Halton described his line-up as more mobile compared to tall, though Hyde adds some height in defence while Stephens does the same in goals.

“Great elevation but probably not overall height,” he said.

“But what they make up for that, is with speed and agility.”

Originally published as Live stream: Victoria out to make some noise at inaugural Netball Australia First Nations tournament