Wodonga Raiders coach Jodie House and captain Mackensey House speak to the media ahead of the Ovens and Murray grand final
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 30 years you've been in the comp, easily the biggest star you've made in history isn't it?
00:04 Oh by far, and something that's just unbelievable and still quite surreal I think to not only myself as a coach but also the players
00:14 and that was the discussion that we had last night, everyone rolled into training and it's like wow, we still can't believe it, so it's fantastic.
00:21 So how do you keep a level head on Jodie for the team or do you just fully let the girls go and embrace it? How do you handle the sweet bit and the excitement?
00:31 Yeah you know we haven't really changed much now as to what we started doing at the start of the year.
00:37 We've embraced all of our small victories as the season has gone on and certainly people would say you know like where do you draw the line at your celebration
00:48 but we've got a really young playing group and I guess I believe in celebrating the little wins that you get
00:55 and I think that emotion that they feel after each win is important and for us that's something that we've embraced
01:00 so that each week when they step off the court and particularly through the finals that that euphoria that they felt after a win is something that I want them to hang on to
01:08 so that when they take the court the following week they've got that same feeling that they're fighting for.
01:13 Mackenzie, unusual situation for your family, you live and breathe this away from the court obviously for the past six years and sisters.
01:20 For you as a player how are you feeling going into it? Can you sort of describe it from your point of view because it's a lot of hard work over a lot of years.
01:28 Yeah absolutely, it's credit to Mum bringing our juniors up. I think pretty much every player amongst all of our senior grades has come through our junior program
01:37 and you look at the likes of Eliza and Mia Lavis and the fact that the 17s can step into an A grade court and certainly hold their own
01:45 is something that the club needs to be extremely proud of and something that we hold really in high stead as a group.
01:51 But yeah we're just living every moment at the moment, it is super exciting for all of us.
01:57 Like Mum said before it's super surreal, something that obviously you look forward to, doesn't come by very often
02:03 so we're just taking every moment as it comes and we're super excited for the weekend.
02:07 Jodie they say that to be the best you've got to beat the best, the way that the girls dug in against Yarrawonga, the way that they won that game on Sunday.
02:14 What did that tell you about their spirit, their resilience?
02:17 Oh they were amazing weren't they? We've had a couple of games through this finals campaign where they've come off the court and said
02:24 "Oh we didn't think we were going to lose it" and I'm like "You could have informed me of that" because I was on the sideline feeling sick
02:30 and I think that realisation in that sort of dying stage is when we got a couple of goals up
02:36 and I turned to Shayla who's on our bench and also helped coach and I'm like "Oh my gosh we're actually going to do this, can you believe it?"
02:44 and I just think it shows the quality of this young group.
02:48 I had one of the footballers talking to me the other day saying "Wow we reckon we could come up and learn something from you
02:53 because we've watched your finals campaign and those girls just never give up"
02:57 and that's something that they've had to learn to do over the years.
03:00 If I reflect on this team probably a couple of years ago, if we hadn't got six goals down,
03:05 particularly against the quality of the Yarrawonga side, their heads would have beaten them.
03:09 But now they just say "Don't die", they believe that they can come back
03:13 and I think even in our very first final against Mertlesford in that first quarter,
03:17 they proved that they are just fighters and they'll keep going until the final whistle.
03:21 Mackenzie, not just playing in the grand final but captaining the side, what does that mean?
03:26 Oh, very big deal. No, I'm lucky I've got the other girls alongside me in that captaincy role
03:33 but our team, they're just such a tight-knit group. We all play for each other
03:38 and I think that's the difference between the success we've had now and in the past
03:43 is that we are just that tight-knit group and we put full trust in each other
03:47 and everyone plays for each other regardless of the individual accolades we play as a team
03:52 and I think that is why we've been so successful. So, as a captain I feel lucky to be at the top of that
03:57 and can motivate the girls to push that little bit harder but it definitely comes from everyone as one big group.
04:02 And the only club in the league not to have won a premiership, what does that mean, a chance to make BIV history?
04:07 Well, we've got four chances on the weekend so that'll be nice but yeah, we haven't really thought too much about that.
04:15 We're not putting ourselves under that sort of pressure, just taking it as it comes,
04:19 thinking about the process and being focused on what we can do and what we can control.
04:23 Grand finals are nervous enough for all players but particularly when you come up against your opposition or your former side.
04:29 How's Em's build-up in the grand final week been knowing she's taking on her former side in the grand final?
04:34 Yeah, Em's really level-headed. I think Mackenzie hit the nail on the head when she spoke about that friendship that the girls have across the court.
04:41 So, they'll get around Em and certainly have a driving force behind wanting to win this game on the weekend
04:48 not only for Wodonga Raiders but also in support of Em.
04:51 But she's really slotted into the club really nicely.
04:54 She had some friendship groups within our team before coming across and playing and she's just slipped in seamlessly.
05:00 She's not really focused on who the opposition is but more about what her job will be
05:05 and what we have to do as a team to get across the line.
05:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]