BATHURST has long been the underdog in netball at the Astley Cup, but that could all be set to change.
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Orange has long dominated the netball at the Astley Cup, but both schools played a thrilling 41-all draw in last year's fixture.
It was Bathurst's best result in the netball against Orange in years, so was it a changing of the guard?
Well Bathurst will be hoping that's definitely the case, ahead of Friday's match at Orange PCYC.
This year's Bathurst netball team will be guided by co-captains Mimi Taylor and Claire Hawley and the pair believe their team has what it takes to impress in this year's Astley Cup.
"We've been training hard for it. We're hoping for a good game," Taylor said.
"Orange is really talented and some of them are friends, so we're just excited to play them."
Friday's netball game will get underway from 11am.
Going out winners
The two co-captains are in their final year at Bathurst High and would, understandably, love to go out winners in not just the netball but the Astley Cup as a whole.
Hawley said it would be quite an accomplishment to achieve that.
"But I feel like it'd be quite an accomplishment [to beat them]," Hawley said.
"It's been a bit of drought, especially in the netball.
"We really want to finish our schooling off with a bang, finish off strong. I bleed blue and yellow."
The schedule
This week's Bathurst-Orange tie gets underway with the official welcome at 9am at the Orange Hockey Complex, before the hockey gets underway at 9.15am.
During the hockey, the Mulvey Cup will get underway at Orange High School at 9.30am.
The boys soccer will be played at Sir Jack Brabham Park, kicking-off at 10.30am, followed by the girls soccer from 12pm.
At the same venue, the athletics will commence at 1.35pm with the track events, before the field events at 2.30pm wrap up the day.
Come Friday, the basketball will be held at PCYC Orange from 9.30am, before the netball at 11am.
Rugby league will kick-off at 12.45pm from Wade Park, followed by the tennis at 2pm.
New points system
For the next two years the Astley Cup will trial a new points system, where two points is awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss.
That's a change from the system that's been in place since the beginning, where points are calculated at a percentage of 100, based on the score in a sport.
Bathurst High Campus principal Ken Barwick said he pushed for the new points system.
"Everyone's sport has its own unique scoring system, but if you do it in a ratio of 100 points, it can't be fair.
"A 3-1 win in soccer is completely different and has a huge gap [75-25], compared to a 51-50 win in basketball [50-50], where winning the sport meant nothing."
