Dubbo sides impress in opening rounds of Regional League - West Central West

But that was the case after the opening matches in the West Central West division, as Robinson's players showed a kind of determination which left coach and supporters proud.

After victories over Lithgow and Dubbo 2 to start proceedings, Dubbo 1 suffered a 21-20 defeat at the hands of Bathurst 2.

The scoreline appears a heartbreaking result but Robinson said it was anything but.

"In the first half they really took it to us and really rattled us," Robinson said of Bathurst 2.

"But the girls came together and spoke about what was working and what didn't, and they came back.

"We came back to be down by only one and, yes, it was unfortunate that we lost but the grit and determination from the girls to get out there and turn things around was really inspiring.

"The didn't drop their heads and they weren't negative in any way. They got around each other and got the score back to even so it was a really good game."

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Wins over Mudgee and Forbes followed to ensure Dubbo 1 finished the opening weekend second on the ladder behind the all-conquering Orange 1.

Dubbo 1 will face Orange 1 first-up when the final two rounds of the regular season are played at Orange on Sunday, March 6.

"Orange is obviously an extremely strong team," Robinson said.

"They've taken it out for a number of years and they're the standard that we all measure ourselves against and with the team we have this year, we go in with a good chance to hopefully win the game.

"If not, we want to grow a little more as a team and hopefully they can get something out of it."

The Dubbo 2 side won two of its five matches on Sunday at Bathurst to sit fifth in the nine-team competition.

All sides have been placed in the same competition this year given there wasn't enough teams to have multiple divisions.

Robinson is overseeing both Dubbo sides this season with the assistance of Karen Weekes and they, along with hard-working team managers Karen Granger and Deanne Davis, were delighted by the performances across the board after a disrupted build-up.

With work commitments and COVID issues, all players were able to regularly attend the four weeks of pre-season training and the weekend was the first time most players had played a competitive match this year.

"There is a bit of an age difference between our youngest and oldest but it's been awhile since we've had this much skill and talent in the teams, so it's really exciting to see," Robinson said.

"It (Dubbo 1) is a relatively new team and we haven't played together before but they did really well.

"They played some really good netball. They were strong across the whole court and really came together to get through some of those games.

"For them to come together in that short amount of time and get the results we did was really pleasing."

Robinson added she was extremely thankful for the supporting work Weekes, Granger and Davis did on Sunday.

"They do a phenomenal job," she said.

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