It was three years in the making but West Leagues Balance have continued their domination of Newcastle netball by beating University of Newcastle 51-38 in the championship grand final held in wind-swept conditions at National Park on Saturday.
West have now won four grand finals in a row and have not been beaten for championship glory since entering Newcastle's premier competition in 2017.
They won three straight between 2017 and 2019 but had to wait until Saturday to play in another with finals abandoned for the past two years due to COVID.
Coach Tracey Baggs described the road to this year's grand final as the toughest yet and a club effort for West, who have several players also juggling NSW Premier League commitments.
"It actually feels different to the others because for the last couple of years since 2019 we've developed the club more, so we now have that 23s and opens as well as the championship team and the strength of our club is what got us here today," Baggs said on Saturday.
"Without those 23s and those opens, we would not have been playing the grand final. That's the difference between the first time that we've won to what it is today."
West finished the season fourth with 35 points after nine wins and five losses.
They had to beat third-placed Nova (37) then minor premiers Souths (43) to set up the grand final showdown with second-placed University (41).
West jumped out to a flying start to lead 11-4 at the first break on Saturday.
It was level-pegging in the second quarter and University trailed 24-17 at half-time. But West outscored their opponents by eight goals in the third quarter to hold a 42-27 advantage going into the final period.
West's shooting was superior in the difficult weather conditions but their defensive pressure also proved key with an outstanding performance by 19-year-old goal keeper Sammie Chicken leading the way.
Chicken was named Most Valuable Player of the grand final for her efforts.
"I think the difference today was we went out there with a plan to shut down their attack end," Baggs said.
"The girls did that for that first quarter and that's where we not won it but it set them up.
"I think it was that plan and the defensive effort across the court. It wasn't just the goal keeper and goal defence. It was the whole team, and just the strength of the bench as well."
It was the first grand final appearance for University, who replaced Forsythes in the competition in 2020.
They beat Lions by four goals in the major semi-final to book direct passage to the championship decider.
The match did not get off to the best start for University when they lost wing attack Mackenzie Stuart to an ankle injury in the second minute, but coach Traci Baber conceded they were "beaten by a better team on the day".
"They definitely shot better than us in the conditions and just probably all over the court," Baber said.
"They really didn't throw ball away. We tried hard and when we did pick up ball we just didn't make the most of it. So, not the day today, but they never, ever give up trying and that's all you can ask of a team.
"It was a shame the score blew out because they're better than that. We won two quarters - the second and the last. But the two that we lost killed us.
"But I said to the girls, please don't make one game the season because some people never get here. This is our practice for next year. We're normally third. Now we're second, so we only have one place to go, and that's first."
Souths beat Nova 53-33 in the opens grand final and West edged Souths 19-18 in 23s.
