Live stream: Kingston hoping to put an end to Cripps’ hot run in TNL elimination final

In a major surprise, Kingston Blues are into the Tasmanian Netball League qualifying final after comfortably seeing off Cripps Waratah. Catch up on the Opens and 19/U REPLAYS.

Kingston Blues has produced a major upset by knocking Cripps Waratah out of the Tasmanian Netball League title race.

They took the elimination final 51-41, leading at every change, and now face Cavaliers in the qualifying final next weeklend for the right to face Northern Hawks in the grand final.

Earlier, Cripps tasted victory in the 19/U elimination final, beating Karana 62-42.

Cripps v Karana (19U)—Tasmanian Netball League Elimination Finals

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While both teams are no stranger to the dangers of a cutthroat elimination final, Kingston Blues captain Nicole Hunt is confident her side can draw on a must-win last round victory when they face Cripps Waratah on Saturday.

The Blues will head into the TNL elimination final as slight underdogs given they haven’t been able to knock off their southern rivals in either of their two encounters this season.

The elimination final will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV and the Mercury as part of a double header which tips off with the Under-19 elimination final between Cripps and Karana.

Hunt said despite their underdog status in the do-or-die clash, a last round win which secured the side’s finals berth could proved to be a good omen for her side.

“That was a tough game. Devon are a competitive side and we came into that game knowing that,” Hunt said.

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“The outcome determined us achieving one of our goals coming into the season (of making finals). So, we were really pleased with the outcome, we worked hard for it and hopefully we can do the same coming into this week.

Nicole Hunt puts up a goal during the final round win over Devon. Picture: Linda Higginson

“Cripps have taken away wins on both of our games this season but we’re confident that hopefully we can change the outcome and as we know, anything can happen in finals.”

Two teams that have continued to challenge northern dominators Hawks and Cavaliers, 2024 will be the third straight year the two sides have played off in an elimination final.

Cripps secured victories in both the 2022 and ’23 match-ups and while they haven’t reflected on the pain of those defeats in the lead-up to their third straight finals meeting, Hunt knows they’ll need to be and their best to not let history repeat itself.

“There’s no question that Cripps have one of the strongest defensive teams within the competition so that’s important for us (to nullify),” she said.

“We’ve got to make sure we execute on all of our centre passes and also any turnovers that we can achieve throughout the court as well ensuring that we have a really strong transition.”

After finishing the season so strongly that they were a chance to knock the Cavaliers out of second position heading into the final round, Cripps defender Jess Owen believes a number of tight wins as a part of that run will hold them in good stead against the Blues.

“We just need to make sure we don’t get too stressed out in the last quarter because sometimes the pressure can get to teams,” Owen said.

Karana’s Rohini Sharma and Cripps’ Abbey Geappen will do battle in the under 19 elimination final. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We had some close games (to end the season) but knowing that we pushed through and we were obviously in our best form to beat those teams is good going into finals.”

The under 19s elimination final will also take place on Saturday with Cripps set to face Karana with both Abbey Geappen (Cripps) and Rohini Sharma (Karana) set to play key roles in the contest.