AROUND THE GROUNDS - RD 15
Mackensey House has spoken of her pride at bringing up a century for Wodonga Raiders ahead of the run-in to one of the most anticipated finals series for years.
House, playing her 100th A-grade game in the preliminary final rematch against Yarrawonga at Birallee Park, has become one of the competition’s premier defenders and is relishing her role in a Raiders side chasing its maiden flag.
But while the ultimate goal still lies ahead, the significance of this milestone and the importance of pausing to celebrate it is not lost on the Raiders captain.
Photo Credit - Border Mail
“It’s very special,” House said.
“We have a pretty big family history with the Wodonga Raiders; Mum and Dad have both played 100 games for the club as well and they’ve both been best-and-fairest winners for Raiders so it’s pretty cool to follow in their footsteps and be able to play for such a fantastic club.
“It’s pretty much like a second home to me.
“We spend most nights of the week down at the Raiders and we can’t fault the footy and netball there.
“It’s such a big community and everyone gets along so well.
“It’s quite a young club so we all socialise together and that’s really exciting for us as we move into the future.”
Raiders, having reached their first A-grade grand final last year – before losing to Lavington – continue to break new ground after climbing to the top of the ladder for the first time this season.
It’s a far cry from the lean years House experienced earlier in her career.
“I came across when I was turning 17,” she recalled.
“I stepped into A-grade and was quite young and inexperienced at that time.
“We spent quite a number of years in the bottom half of the ladder, which I think was a really big learning thing for our team.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to pull it together a little bit, we’ve come together as a unit which is really nice and I think that makes a lot of difference with the success we’re having at the moment.”
Prior to saluting their centurion, the only side Raiders had lost to all season was, you’ve guessed it, the Pigeons in Round 6.
And the big games keep coming for House & Co, with Raiders tackling fellow heavyweights Corowa Rutherglen and Wangaratta in their last two games of the home-and-away season before turning their attention to finals.
“You definitely have a different perspective on being up at the top when you’ve been down the bottom end for a significant amount of time,” House reflected.
“That’s not something that’s just happened magically, it’s taken a lot of hard work.
“We’ve got some fantastic coaching teams at the club and that spans all grades, right from the 15s through to A-grade, and that’s reflected in what’s going on at the moment.”
House’s sisters Shaylah and Blaynee both reached 100 games for Raiders earlier this season.
