Sophie Hanrahan leads Corowa-Rutherglen back into Ovens and Murray A-grade netball

After a season with Myrtleford, while the Roos were in recess, Hanrahan has been appointed coach at John Foord Oval and will also lead the club's 17-and-under side.

Hanrahan, whose performances for the Saints earned her a third Toni Wilson Medal this season, sharing the honour with Lavington's Maddi Lloyd, is under no illusions about the size of the task in front of her.

"It's pretty big," Hanrahan said.

"I don't know if I'm just extremely optimistic but I'm having some conversations with girls and it's been really positive, which is making me feel very good about it.

"Netball is so hard to recruit for in October because most girls I'm touching base with are like 'I just want to enjoy my off-season and I'll touch base with you more towards the end of the year' which is so fair.

"We're not like football, we don't have these contracts that people need to sign so it's just about keeping in touch.

"It sounds promising and we're getting a lot of interest from returning players as well.

"There's definitely some familiar faces I'm chatting to but there's nothing set in stone.

"I'd love to say I could bring Liv (La Spina, coach of Myrtleford) back over but I don't think that's happening any time soon!

"I'd love to fly Grace Senior down from the Northern Territory but I don't know if that's in our budget!

"But in all seriousness, I'm so lucky to have played with such amazing players and very lucky that we've still got some around the area so it's just about keeping in good contact with them and letting them know the door's always open and we'd love to have them back."

So after wearing the red and black of Myrtleford for a season, what has it been like for Hanrahan to put her Corowa hat back on?

"I feel like I never took it off," she laughed.

"But it's been great to get back involved fully now and be able to give my full attention to Corowa.

"There's people like Rowena Black who have been working so hard for more than 12 months behind the scenes so it's great to now partner with her and try to get things going.

"Steve Owen's great to work alongside and the same with Ben Talarico; he's been so motivated and I can't speak highly enough of how he's approaching it all.

"It's very exciting."

With her Ovens and Murray reputation well and truly secure and a burgeoning VNL career going from strength to strength - Hanrahan won the Championship grand final with City West Falcons this year - no-one would have begrudged her giving Melbourne netball her full focus, but the 25-year-old was never going to turn her back on the Roos.

"I know the people that have poured their blood, sweat and tears into it and if I can help in any way, shape or form, I want to be able to do that," Hanrahan said.

"In saying that, I have put in pretty clear guidelines so netball next season will be very different to what other clubs may offer.

"We've got to remember people have lives outside of netball, which is something I've really learnt to appreciate in the past 12 months, so I want to live by that myself.

"Further to that, there are things in my personal life, with work finishing up, so it's freed up up a bit more time for me to focus on my Melbourne netball next year and also focus on Corowa.

"I'm living only 10 minutes away, compared to previous years when I was living in Albury, so all the pieces have aligned."

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