Storm and Suns to face off in 2024 RMNA grand final
Coaches Shayelan Paech and Danielle Nickolls offer their insights ahead of the River Murray Netball Association's A grade decider.

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The Mallee Districts Storm and Southern Mallee Suns are set to face off in this weekend's A grade netball grand final, with Saturday's weather hopefully replicating the latter.
The starting whistle will sound at 3.20pm at the Tintinara netball courts.
The two teams first met at Pinnaroo during round three, where the Suns secured an eight-goal win.
Things were very different in round 12, when the Storm were able to take the win, this time leading 47-44.
Storm were able to jump straight into the grand final this season after defeating Imperials in the qualifying final by seven goals.
Storm A grade player-coach Shayelan Paech said it had been good to go straight through, but she didn't love having a week off.
"Because of that we went up to Adelaide on Thursday and had a trial match against the Garville boys' team," she said.
In the preliminary round against Imps, the Suns were able to run away with a solid 17-point win.
A grade coach Danielle Nickolls said she hadn't expected to beat Imperials by such a great margin in the preliminary round of the River Murray Netball Association.
"Things were just clicking right for us ... we were very lucky," she said.
Still, the Southern Mallee Suns have been able to build up momentum within the team coming up to the finals.
"Everyone's on the same page and working really hard towards common goals," Nickolls said.
"We've definitely got the opportunity to get (the win) if we want it, but it's just going to be one of those things with what people show up on the day and bring."
Consistency would be key, she said.
Both teams have strong defensive rebounders, such as Paech and Olivia Clark.
Paech said her team would look out for the Suns' tall defenders, who took up a lot of space in the ring.
"They're a very strong defensive team and can put on a lot of pressure, so if we can break that it will ... give us a better chance," she said.
Nickolls hoped goalies Emmeline Ogilvie and Hannah Sexton would be able to maintain their accuracy through the match.
Attackers Brie Abernethy and Abbie Keough would be helpful support, as they didn't force-feed the ball into the ring.
"(Storm have) got Tenille Gray, who has really quick and sharp movements; we will be working on having a few things in place when she starts doing her little fakies," Nickoll said.
"It's really going to be who can pull it out on the day, because I think we're quite evenly matched," Paech said.
The Storm wouldn't be looking at the game as a whole, she said, but rather breaking it down into the simple tasks each team member had to contribute.
Both coaches wished their opponents – along with their own teams – all the best for the game ahead.
"I think the mind is going to be the most powerful tool on the weekend," Nickolls said.
"We've got skills, we've got all the abilities ... it's now going to be in the mind, who's going to be strong and maintain focus and keep their cool.
"Hopefully it's just a really great game."
Mallee Storm lineup
- Abbi Paech (captain)
- Jacoba Clough
- Tenille Gray
- Jessica Kerr
- Kiarra Paech
- Chelsea Burns
- Georgia Ballard
- Shayelan Paech
- Madelaine Farley
Southern Mallee Suns lineup
- Abbie Keough (captain)
- Olivia Clark
- Tayla Guthrie
- Hannah Nitschke
- Brie Abernethy
- Emmeline Ogilvie
- Bec Oakley
- Hannah Sexton
- Natasha Venning