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After seven seasons, Collingwood played their final game against the West Coast Fever at their home away from home Launceston’s Silverdome.
I send best wishes to those most impacted by this predicament: the players, coaches and staff.
You may say who cares. I and many others bled black and white and loved the team. Here are some of my memories of Collingwood netball’s journey.
Plenty of stars played for Collingwood including Madi Robinson / Browne, Sharni Layton, Kim Ravaillion, Caitlin Thwaites, Ash Brazill, Geva Mentor, Kelsey Browne, Nat Medhurst, Sophie Garbin and Jodi-Ann Ward.
2017
Kristy Keppich-Birrell was Collingwood’s first coach.
Collingwood held an open training with my most vivid memory being how loud Sharni Layton was on court.
Collingwood’s first match was a three-goal loss to the Melbourne Vixens. Caitlin Thwaites scored Collingwood’s first goal.
Collingwood secured their first win against the Queensland Firebirds. On Labour Day weekend, I watched some water skiing before watching the Magpies’ first home win against the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Collingwood had their one and only victory against Giants netball, Giants netball won 15 matches against them, an extraordinary statistic.
At training, Cody Lange suffered an ACL injury, which provided an opportunity for the goal attack we didn’t know we needed – Shae Brown.
The team lost their semi-final to Giants Netball by one goal.
2018
The Magpies only had three wins during the season – beating the Thunderbirds twice and the Firebirds at the Silverdome.
Collingwood had a draw with the Swifts. Disappointingly the season ended with a 32-goal loss to the Firebirds.
After finishing 7th, Keppich-Birrell was replaced by Rob Wright.
2019
The Magpies won the Team Girls Cup.
Fans were looking forward to Browne Sisters Incorporated in the midcourt. Unfortunately, Madi injured her ACL and missed the season.
On the way to a Rebels game with friends, I detoured to watch one quarter of the Thunderbirds game. There was a big collision between Mentor and Maria Folau, both players were ok. Collingwood won every quarter.
The Pies hosted the Fever in Bendigo and recruited Kiwi Kimiora Poi as an injury replacement.
On Queen’s Birthday, Collingwood had their first victory against the Vixens.
Another loss to Giants Netball provided the infamous Rob Wright – Kelsey Browne time out.
Collingwood defeated the Vixens by 11 goals to qualify for the finals. In a derby semi-final at Parkville, the Vixens reversed that result, winning by 13 goals.
The Magpies won the Super Club netball tournament in NZ.
April Brandley, Kim Ravaillion and Nat Medhurst, celebrated pregnancies at the end of 2019 or the start of 2020.
2020
Ash Brazill injured her ACL playing AFLW for Collingwood.
COVID-19 delayed the season until August.
Collingwood scored their only win of the season against the Firebirds.
Madi Browne suffered further knee cartilage damage and retired.
Kelsey Browne strained her ACL and missed the rest of the season.
One highlight of the season was injury replacement Molly Jovic, who went on to play over 50 games for Collingwood.
After only one win, Rob Wright lost his job.
2021
Nicole Richardson was appointed coach.
The Pies had back-to-back victories against the Thunderbirds and Firebirds. They also had two Melbourne derby wins. Late in the season they had another sequence of back-to-back wins against the Swifts and Firebirds.
Collingwood’s season was a significant improvement on 2020 but was only good enough to finish sixth.
I attended a Members’ Zoom session with some players and coaches.
2022
I received a members’ telephone call from defender Jacqui Newton.
After three consecutive losses, Collingwood won three of their next four matches.
After a round 11 loss to the Thunderbirds it looked like Collingwood would miss finals. But then had wins against the Swifts and Lightning.
There was even a cameo in the black and white dress by Australian netball legend Renae Ingles.
Collingwood’s finals hopes came down to a Mwai Kumwenda Super Shot in the dying seconds of the match against the Vixens. Kumwenda missed and Collingwood qualified by 0.19% over the Swifts.
As they did in 2021 Collingwood had six wins.
Collingwood led the semi-final v Giants Netball at half time, but the Giants ran out seven-goal winners.
2023
Collingwood moved swiftly out of the gates in 2023, with an 8-goal win against the Swifts. The match featured a Harrison Hoist, where Geva Mentor lifted Jodi-Ann Ward and almost dropped her on her head. Thankfully, no Jamaican Sunshine Girl was injured as a result of this act.
Collingwood’s won the first three quarters against the Vixens. The last quarter was mired in controversy with the Vixens awarded two centre passes in a row. This time, Kumwenda made a Super shot on the siren to break Magpies hearts and give the Vixens a one goal win.
The double centre pass fiasco really impacted the spirit of the Magpies. It is inconceivable that a team within a bee’s diaphragm of a two win zero loss start to the season had a two win nine loss record after 11 rounds.
On Easter Sunday, I attended the Firebirds game. I enjoyed having a “Go Birdies” “Go Pies” chanting competition with a friend. The other highlight that day was a dominant third quarter by the Magpies, which they won by 15 goals, propelling them to victory.
Collingwood hosted the Lightning for their first Anzac Day match. The match created a sporting triple header with the AFL and NRL games.
After the announcement of the review and closure of the team, the Pies had a win over top of the ladder Thunderbirds with some incredible post-match speeches from Geva Mentor and Ash Brazill.
Highlights of their final Melbourne open training session were their upbeat attitude, Nicole Richardson explaining the reasoning for various drills and meeting players after training.
In seven seasons, Collingwood made the finals three times but did not win a final.
I hold fond memories of being lucky enough to meet several members of the Netball Chaos and Netty Twitter families at Collingwood games.
Other highlights are Collingwood’s white away dress (pre-2023) which was supreme, Nicole Richardson and coaching staff’s game day outfits, a members’ beanie and this season’s members’ scarf, which were both great. (It is quite interesting that I am commenting on fashion because I would be one of the least fashionable people in the world).
Thanks to Collingwood netball for seven seasons of memories, which I will cherish forever.
We ball.
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