Sport
1 August, 2022
Madi Browne’s sideline advice helps Carisbrook record 37-goal A grade victory
It was the dream day out for the Carisbrook Football Netball Club on Saturday afternoon, with former Australian Diamonds captain Madi Browne in attendance to help support the fundraiser for Isla Hunter. The Redbacks chose to support the fundraiser...
It was the dream day out for the Carisbrook Football Netball Club on Saturday afternoon, with former Australian Diamonds captain Madi Browne in attendance to help support the fundraiser for Isla Hunter.
The Redbacks chose to support the fundraiser for Isla — who is currently fighting Classic Infantile Batten Disease — by holding a successful NetSetGo clinic hosted by Browne, while the A grade team scored a commanding 37-goal victory over Newstead.
Browne played a vocal part on the sideline throughout the A grade game, providing advice to Carisbrook players during breaks of play and guiding them through the game.
With Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League finals just three weeks away, the club viewed Browne’s appearance as a great way to get some much-needed advice ahead of what looks to be a tightly contested finals series, with the likes of Avoca, Natte Bealiba, Harcourt and Lexton emerging as premiership contenders alongside the Redbacks.
For Browne, however, on top of giving the A grade team advice, it was an opportunity to reconnect and give back to country netball given her roots as a junior netballer in Geelong.
“With the fact that I’m not playing anymore, I can come out and do these kinds of country things. I grew up playing country netball in Geelong, and I loved it, so anytime I get an offer, I jump at it. This is what I love about netball and why I fell in love with it, so I came out, did a junior clinic with the kids, sat in on the A grade and watched them win,” she said.
“They were down in A grade numbers, there were four people that came in and filled the gaps perfectly. They came out to perform and show me a really good time. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting there and supporting the Redbacks.”
Browne viewed the NetSetGo clinic that she ran prior to the A grade match as a success, hoping that coaches, parents and the junior players themselves were able to take new advice onboard for the future in what was a fast-paced clinic.
“I think everyone said they had heaps of fun, and the kids seemed to be enjoying it. One of the parents even said to her kids, you have some new drills and skills to learn. It’s all about having fun and keeping them in the game — at a club like this you start at juniors and work your way up to the seniors and that’s how you keep participating. I had fun, anyway,” Browne said.
The Redbacks had one of their best performances of the year in their victory against Newstead, taking control of the game from the outset to open up a 21-goal lead by half time to essentially have the game sewn up, before eventually running out winners by 37 goals in a performance that helped keep the Redbacks in third position on the MCDFNL ladder.
Browne said with so many players performing well and taking her advice onboard throughout the game, it was difficult to determine who she saw as the Redbacks’ best performer, noting the enthausiasm from the A grade cohort when advice was given.
“I had to ask for another coaches award, because I couldn’t just give it to one player. When I ever asked anything of a player, they were really receptive to it and were willing to give it a go. For me, sometimes, it’s the basic things, it’s not doing extravagant game strategies, it’s just doing the basic things really well, for example a little bit an angle here or a bit of a reposition — they were all amazing, and I was willing them to pick my brain,” she said.
With the plight of Netball Australia’s financial troubles laid bare over the last couple of months, Browne said that her trip to Carisbrook provided great importance for the sport at a community level, urging others to ensure the game was supported at a grassroots level to maintain the pathways from club level to Suncorp Super Netball and potential international participation.
“There’s so many people that play netball on a Saturday. You look at the elite level, and it’s not just at a metro level, a lot of the girls that play for the Diamonds and Suncorp Super Netball are country girls, because the leagues are so strong,” she said.
“Country clubs are the life of the town. Everyone who is local comes, it’s about fundraising, you get behind really good causes — it’s an honour to come here when they are raising money and doing these types of things.
“It’s great for me to come out, you never know, the next Sharelle McMahon or the next Madi Browne from the country might be playing out here. You have to come out and see these players — there is a lot of talent hidden around Victoria.”
“The hardest thing is, when Suncorp Super Netball is on, the netballers are playing. Saturdays are important for the locals, it’s hard for players to watch national netball, but helping out at local level is something that past players can get involved with, getting out and giving back to netball and the community.
“We all came from these types of clubs after all, so it’s nice to come back and share these types of experiences we had when years ago, I was one of these players playing for my A grade team as well.”
After their successful day out, Carisbrook’s A grade team will now switch their attention to this week’s matchup against sixth-placed Trentham as they look to keep a hold on third place on the ladder — and the double chance — with just three rounds to go.