Netball
12 June, 2025
Youngster leads league goal scoring
Shooting at just over 81 per cent, Jorja Clode is the leading goal scorer for A grade netball in the Wimmera Football Netball League as of round seven.
The Horsham Saints goal shooter is averaging more than 44 goals a match, with her highest score in a game this season being 65.
That achievement was against Minyip Murtoa and was recorded last Saturday.
She's converted 309 goals from 379 attempts this season.
For the previous three years, Clode, 17, played 17s and under as well as A grade, but this season she is just playing at the highest level in the league.
But despite the physicality and pressure she faces week in, week out, not only in the WFNL but also in the Victorian Netball League (VNL), Clode is determined to continue having fun.
Clode was elevated from a partner in training for the VNL's Bendigo Strikers to a member of their under-23 team last year and has continued to play with the side this season.
She is relishing only playing one game of netball on a Saturday but said it had taken some adjusting to.
"It's been good being able to play a fresh game every Saturday," she added.
"Although it is a bit of a change to my routine."
Clode said playing A grade was more physical than under 17s, with bigger bodies to contend with, but she enjoyed the challenge.
"You have to do things like box out properly a bit more," she added.
Competing with bigger bodies and more physicality can mean it gets hectic in the goal ring sometimes, but Clode said she still didn't give too much thought to any shot she put up.
"I try not to think about it too much, because if I overthink it I will probably miss it," she admitted, laughing.
And while the saying is "practice makes perfect", it's not something she does a lot of individually at this point in her netball, adding she got plenty of practice playing and training with her team.
"I definitely put in a lot of practice when I was younger," Clode said.
"I think I was 12 when I started putting in 100 shots a day but it dropped off as I started doing more netball, but I do attempt to put up a shot every now and then, including after drills, so I am shooting under fatigue."
Clode said her introduction and competitiveness to play netball came from her big sister, Jaclyn.
"When I was younger I was on the bench one time and I watched one game," Clode reflected.
"She was a defender, so a bit different, but she had a good, cracker of a game and everyone was like 'She's good' and I decided I wanted to be better than her.
"When I was younger she had a lot of trophies so I set a goal for myself that I needed to have more than her."
And for those wondering, Clode confirmed she did indeed now have more trophies than her big sister.
Asked where she hoped her journey with netball would take her, Clode wasn't putting too much pressure on herself.
"I just want to play because I enjoy it,' she said.
"I used to be a swimmer at a pretty high level but the fun got taken out of it and I hated it.
"I really want to make sure I am enjoying my netball, and if I go higher that's good, but I want to make sure I am having fun while I am doing it."
As a team, though, Clode said the Horsham Saints definitely had what it took to claim the premiership this year.
"We've got a new coach, new team, a good mindset coming into it," she said.
"We know what we need to do to get the cup; we just need to put it into the game."
