Sharks hungry for crown

SHARKS continue to look the team to beat in this season's Cairns Netball Association A grade competition after outclassing Leprechauns 1 39-26 at Martyn Street Reserve in round eight.

In a physical clash that had more than one netballer having a close encounter with the court surface on Wednesday night, Sharks used quick hands to nullify Leprechauns 1’s height advantage and remain unbeaten in 2008.

Inspired by another outstanding display from veteran defender Lauren Hellmuth, Sharks led 18-11 at halftime before stretching their advantage to 13 goals in the final two quarters.

Sharks player coach Cherie Horan said Wednesday night’s win came from the pressure they exerted without the ball. "We are a lot tighter in defence than we were at the start of the season," she said.

"We’ve really worked on our one-on-one defence and not giving our opponents room.

"The other thing we make a point of doing is that when we do lose possession we don’t drop our heads but put the pressure on and try and get it back."

That type of work ethic appears to be agreeing with the Sharks who are clear premiership favourites on the back of their performances the past two months.

Sometimes having such a strong start to a season can breed complacency but Horan is confident that will not be the case with her playing group.

"We like to focus on something different each week in training and then execute it on game night," she said.

"If we can do that then you can see the players improve all the time."

In other games Wednesday night, Radars impressed coach Heather McLaren with their 66-38 win over Aces while a strong opening quarter set up Wildcatz’ 45-31 victory against Cougars.

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