The club’s netball director Brendan Scott said all the teams showed plenty of positive signs for the future.

"I think it's been reasonably successful,” he said.

“Six out of our seven teams made finals including two that made the grand final.

“The focus was to ensure that we had good numbers across all grades.”

The Rats A Grade had some new faces in 2016.

Scott said the team performed well given what they lost over the offseason.

“They lost plenty of experience and gained a new coach,” he said.

“Jess Brady did a great job but it was always going to be a transition period for them this year I think.

"If we can get other young players into the team, then they should bounce back during the 2017 season.

“Jess Williamson was a standout in her first A Grade season with the Rats after she came across from Navarre.”

Ararat’s B Grade team had a fantastic season only losing one game for the year.

It was the biggest game of the year that they lost.

Scott said it should not ruin what was a great year for the team.

“Of course it was disappointing for them,” he said.

“But that is how things go sometimes. 

“They had a good mixture of experience and youth.”

Scott said it was also pleasing to see the C Grade team do so well.

"C Grade had a great year,” he said.

“They finished the home and away season in third and were able to make the grand final which was a fantastic effort.

"There was a lot of excitement around the team which performed fantastic throughout the year.”

Scott said part of the future success of the club was strong junior participation numbers.

"The junior teams all made finals,” he said.

“They were all competitive in their finals despite no grand final appearance.

“Five girls made the Wimmera Netball Association representative team and Monique Scott won the association’s best and fairest award along with the 2016 blue ribbon player of the year award.

"It's really important that we continue to develop our junior players and develop a good culture to inspire them to play better netball.

"Part of the focus to get juniors game time in senior and expose them to A Grade which we achieved.”