Sport
17 September, 2024
BEST ON COURT: Avoca's Caitlin Drummond
The Drummond name is one of many at Avoca that has been celebrated on the netball court for many a year — on Saturday afternoon, it was Caitlin who got to add her name into Avoca folklore with a memorable best-on-court performance.
It took all of 16 seconds for Drummond to make a statement — her first intercept, and one of many for the afternoon, coming from Natte’s first forward thrust, which led to a Gina Beavis goal at the other end, which helped the Bulldogs control the game from start to finish.
Her intercept game helped the Bulldogs also hold Natte to their lowest score of the season, with their 38 goals the only time the Swans failed to pass 40 or more goals in a game.
It was the combination of Drummond and her partner in crime, Keisha Tonzing, that came to the fore for the Bulldogs throughout the finals series, conceding 38 goals against Carisbrook in their qualifying final win, 36 against Talbot in a dominant preliminary final win, and the aforementioned 38 on Saturday.
So for Drummond and Tonzing, what’s their secret?
According to Drummond, it’s simply a matter of getting along with your fellow defender, and the rest takes care of itself.
“The key to a good defence is you have to like one another, be able to talk to one another, communicate, support and with positivity. We steal each other’s rebounds and intercepts, but the key is to always like one another, and I love her,” she said.
“It helps when you have Keisha, who you know you can back, anytime I get a turnover, she has my back.
“You can’t afford to turn your back on one another.”
Tonzing, for her part, says the communication between the two is quite simple on the court.
“We just get together and say we’ll be fine. That’s basically our pep talk,” she said.
For coach Maddy Egan’s part, she believes it was the best game the duo have played together since they were thrust into the spotlight.
“To reward themselves bringing the ball down court, we don’t have to work too hard. That’s the best game I’ve seen the two of them play in the two or three years they have been together. It’s absolutely unreal,” she said.
The chemistry between all at Avoca, then, is clear to see, and it’s clear that there is a healthy respect which helps these Bulldogs continue to push to great heights.
“Maddy is brutal at training, but you have to be. You have to respect your coach, but still have fun with them, and that’s what she’s good at,” Drummond said.
“The motivation (on Saturday) was that we had a really good season and we wanted to finish off in style.”
Drummond felt she had a lot of confidence being able to read the play in what were extremely windy conditions at Princes Park, knowing it would be harder for the goal third to judge the ball.
“It was hard. When you pass long, the wind takes it a little bit, but I always found it was worse for the shooters at either end, so I didn’t worry about it too much,” she said.
As part of such a storied family at the club, especially given mother Colleen’s achievements, it has no doubt thrilled the family to no end that Caitlin has now been able to write her own chapter in the Bulldogs’ grand netball history.
“I think it helps when you have a supportive family — Mum is very, very supportive. Dad’s certainly a proud father too,” she said.