Frenchville breaks premiership drought in Rockhampton Netball Senior A comp

Hours after winning one grand final three teammates celebrated a second milestone victory in dramatic circumstances. See all the Rockhampton Netball grand final results and major award winners here.

Pam McKay

3 min read

September 3, 2024 - 10:38AM

News Sport Network

The victorious Frenchville Mambas team members (back row, from left) Talia Batty, Morgan Festing, Tessa Manning, Summer Laurie, Madison Day and Charlise Seibold and (front, from left) Grace Gabriel, Abbie Buchholz, Olivia Busby, Tauri Chapman and Laura Horsman.

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Within hours of winning their junior grand final, a teenage netball trio helped their club break a decades-long senior premiership drought in an overtime thriller.

Summer Laurie, Tessa Manning and Tauri Chapman starred in the Frenchville Coyotes’ commanding win over Bluebirds Condors in the Rockhampton Netball Junior A1 decider on Saturday afternoon.

Two hours later, they were back on court with the Frenchville Mambas in the Senior A showdown against minor premiers Jetz.

With the teams closely matched during the regular season, the senior decider promised plenty and it didn’t disappoint.

Unwittingly, Mambas’ captain/coach Talia Batty foretold how it would play out in her stirring pre-final address to her players.

Frenchville Mambas won the Rockhampton Netball Senior A grand final 50-49 in an overtime thriller.

“In my pep talk before every game, I would say be ready to play a full 60 minutes, but before the final I said be ready to play overtime because I think that’s where this game is going.”

She was right.

It was an epic battle, with the Mambas showing their mettle to come back from a six-goal deficit at one stage.

They got their noses in front with full-time in sight before Jetz snatched a goal to level things at 44-all at the end of regulation time and take the game into extra time.

It was edge-of-the-seat stuff in the ensuing 12 minutes but Mambas landed the match-winner in the dying seconds to win 50-49.

Batty said it was incredible to get the win and have Frenchville’s name inscribed for the first time on the premiership trophy, which dates back to 1985.

The other members of the winning team were Grace Gabriel, Olivia Busby, Morgan Festing, Abbie Buchholz, Maddison Day, Laura Horsman and Charlise Seibold.

“The players were really excited that we’d pulled together and got the win,” Batty said.

“We did all of the little things right and we didn’t give up. We never put our heads down and we kept pushing, pushing, pushing until the final whistle.

“We’d focused on gelling as team, always putting in the effort and having a lot of positivity in the team.

“We knew that we could do it and it was a huge team effort.”

Batty said it was a “huge effort” from Laurie, Manning and Chapman who backed up so strongly after their earlier victory.

She also praised the team’s defensive unit of Day, Buchholz and Festing, which she rated as the most effective in the competition.

Batty said Mambas had the perfect blend of experience and emerging talent, and she was keen for them to stick together for a shot at back-to-back titles next season.