SWNFL 2022: A club-by-club analysis of the competition after the opening three rounds

With the South West Netball Football League going into a bye week for the Easter long weekend, journalist Carly Laden takes a look at how each club has been faring after three rounds across the five competition grades. Augusta-Margaret River Returning to the reserves and the 16-and-under competitions for 2022, Augusta-Margaret River have been quick to establish dominance with early victories. After three rounds in the reserves competition, the Hawks have secured third place on the ladder with three wins in a row, only bdehind South Bunbury and Donnybrook by percentage. The Hawks began their season with two victories on home turf at Margaret River Recreation Centre, defeating Busselton 41-32 and Carey Park 57-31, eventually backing themselves in at Leschenault Leisure Centre with a 45-23 win over HBL. Meanwhile in the 16-and-under competition, the Hawks have proved a force to be reckoned with despite having two early byes and only having a 58-14 thumping of Carey Park on their record so far. Blackwood Despite withdrawing from the league grade after the 2021 season, Blackwood has returned to the 18-and-under and 16-and-under competitions proving that they have some of the strongest young netballers in the competition. The Ravens have secured top spot on the 18-and-under ladder after three rounds, with a 3-0 record that included two victories within the same round. If you were to describe the Ravens’ 18-and-under campaign so far, it would have to be “dominant” after recording a 76-17 win over HBL in round two, a 53-48 win over MLC and a 67-38 victory over Eaton during a round three double-header. However, Blackwood have been falling short in the 16-and-under competition after recording losses to Eaton and MLC in their first two games of the season during round three, placing them in seventh on the ladder. Bunbury As a club with teams across all five of the SWNFL’s grades, Bunbury have found themselves in the middle of the pack across the board early on. In the league competition, Bunbury sits in third place with a 1-1 record, including a 31-30 win over Carey and a 45-43 loss to Busselton. The Bulldogs have emerged as one of the top teams in the reserves competition, sitting in fourth place with three straight wins including a 54-42 win over Carey Park, a 41-28 victory over MLC and a 44-24 win over Busselton. In the masters competition, Bunbury sits in fourth place with a 1-1 record, consisting of a 57-33 loss to Carey Park and a 41-33 win over South Bunbury. In the 18-and-under competition, the Bulldogs have secured third place with a 1-1 record, after a 64-15 win over Carey Park and a 47-41 loss to MLC. In the 16-and-under competition, Bunbury sits in fifth place with a 1-2 record including a 54-19 win over Carey Park in round one, a 44-21 loss to MLC and a 61-29 loss to Busselton. Busselton From early domination to tough losses, the Busselton Magpies have managed a mixed bag of results across the four grades they compete in. The Magpies currently sit on top of the league ladder with three straight wins, including a close 43-41 win over Eaton, a 61-53 victory over South Bunbury and a 45-43 win over Bunbury. On the other hand, the Magpies have found themselves at the other end of the reserves ladder with a 0-3 record after recording losses to AMR (41-32), South Bunbury (59-26) and Bunbury (44-24). In the 18-and-under competition, the Magpies sit in fourth place with a 44-35 win over South Bunbury to their name along with having two bye weeks. In the 16-and-under competition, Busselton sit in second place with a 2-0 record, including a 51-14 win over South Bunbury and a 61-29 victory over Bunbury. Carey Park Reigning Masters premiers Carey Park have continued to dominate the competition, the Panthers have been on the receiving end of tough losses throughout the other grades. The Panthers find themselves in fifth place on the league ladder after three rounds with a 0-2 record, consisting of a tough 31-30 loss to Bunbury and a 55-42 loss to HBL. Carey Park’s Reserves team sit in sixth place, also with a 0-2 record including a 54-42 loss to Bunbury and a 57-31 loss to AMR. The masters have been establishing dominance early, sitting in second place on the ladder with two straight wins including a 57-33 win over Bunbury and a 69-25 thumping of HBL. In the 18-and-under competition, Carey Park sit in eighth place with just a 64-15 loss to Bunbury to their name so far. In the 16-and-under competition, the Panthers sit in eighth place with two straight losses including a 54-19 loss to Bunbury and a 58-14 loss to AMR. Donnybrook After taking some time off from competition, Donnybrook have returned to the reserves competition ready to dominate, building up a winning streak in the process. Following the first three rounds, the Dons have secured second place on the ladder with a 3-0 record, only behind table-toppers South Bunbury by percentage. Donnybrook were quick to make their presence known during round one with a 50-20 victory over MLC on their home court at Roche Park Recreation Centre and have backed themselves up with a 43-20 win over HBL during round two and a 38-24 victory over Eaton during round three. Eaton Another club with teams across all five grades, Eaton have produced a mixed bag of results across the board. The reigning league premiers have shockingly found themselves at the bottom of the ladder with a 0-2 record, including a 43-41 loss to Busselton and a 60-40 to HBL. In the reserves competiton, the Boomers are in fifth place with a 1-1 record, consisting of a 48-36 win over HBL and a 38-24 loss to Donnybrook. The Boomers have dominated in the masters competition, sitting in first place on the ladder with three straight wins including a forfeit win over Harvey, a 47-32 victory over HBL and a 65-31 win over Harvey. In the 18-and-under competition, Eaton sit in fifth place on the ladder with 1-1 record including a 54-13 thumping over HBL and a 67-38 loss to Blackwood. In the 16-and-under competition, the Boomers sit in fourth place with just a 55-17 win over Blackwood to their name so far. Harvey After three rounds of the masters competition, Harvey faced a rough start, finding themselves at the bottom of the ladder with a 0-3 record. The Bulls’ season did not start in an ideal way after forfeiting to Eaton during the opening round. Things did not improve for the Bulls during the second and third rounds, falling short against South Bunbury 47-38 and losing to Eaton 65-31. Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault While Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault have been quick to establish themselves as top contenders in the league competition, their teams across other grades have had a less-than-ideal start to their respective campaigns. The Lions currently sit in second place on the league ladder with a 2-0 record, which includes a 60-40 win over reigning premiers Eaton and a 55-42 win over Carey Park. In the reserves competition, the Lions sit in eighth place with a 0-4 record that includes losses to South Bunbury (62-32), Eaton (48-36), Donnybrook (42-20) and AMR (45-23). The Lions sit in fifth place within the masters competition after recording losses to South Bunbury (44-33), Eaton (47-32) and Carey Park (69-25) during the opening rounds. In the 18-and-under competition, the Lions sit in seventh place with a 0-3 record including a 54-15 loss to South Bunbury, a 54-13 loss to Eaton and being on the receiving end of a 76-17 loss to Blackwood. Mercy-Leschenault-Collie After three rounds, Mercy-Leschenault-Collie have a mixed record across the reserves, 18-and-under and 16-and-under competitions. In the reserves competition, MLC have had a rough start by recording three consecutive losses to Donnybrook (50-20), Bunbury (41-28) and South Bunbury (49-24), placing them in ninth position on the ladder. In the 18-and-under competition, MLC sit in sixth place with a 1-2 record after starting their season edging out Bunbury 47-41 during round two but then falling short to Blackwood (53-48) and South Bunbury (43-36) during their round three double-header. However, in the 16-and-under competition, MLC have established themselves as early top contenders, taking first place on the ladder with three wins in a row including a 44-21 victory over Bunbury, a 59-23 thumping of Blackwood and defeating South Bunbury 42-26. South Bunbury The South Bunbury Tigers also have a mixed record across each of the SWNFL’s five grades after the first three rounds. In the league competition, the Tigers sit in fourth place with just a 61-53 loss to Busselton to their name so far. South Bunbury have emerged as one of four top contenders in the reserves competition, sitting on top of the ladder with three straight wins including a 62-32 win over HBL, a 59-26 victory over Busselton and a 49-24 win over MLC. In the masters competition, South Bunbury sit in third place with a 2-1 record including a 44-33 win over HBL, a 47-38 victory over Harvey and a 41-33 loss to Bunbury. The Tigers sit in second place in the 18-and-under competition with a 2-1 record, consisting of a 54-15 win over HBL, a 44-35 loss to Busselton and a 43-36 win over MLC. In the 16-and-under competition, South Bunbury sit in sixth place with a 0-2 record so far, including a 51-14 loss to Busselton and a 42-26 loss to MLC.