The Swifts have taken the minor premiership, while the Fever have flexed their muscles ahead of the finals.
Catch up with all the round 13 Super Netball action.
Vixens spoil Collingwood’s farewell in final derby
-Georgia Doyle
The Vixens reigned supreme in their final derby against the Collingwood Magpies, taking a nine goal win over their cross town rivals. After trailing for much of the match, Vixens managed a massive 18 goal turnaround to show why they deserve their finals berth.
The victory highlighted the true dominance of the Vixens in Melbourne, taking a 10 to five winning record against Collingwood over their seven years in Super Netball.
Speaking after the game, the importance of the match wasn’t lost on Vixens head coach Simone McKinnis.
“It’s a significant game, our last one against Magpies, and as we know that’s a big rivalry. We knew they were going to come out strong. We weathered the storm in the first half, and then stepped it up a level in the second” she said.
The game was scrappy from the get go, with bodies flying all over the court.
Jodi-Ann Ward and Geva Mentor were a menacing presence for Collingwood. Ward in particular wasn’t afraid to leave her opponent unattended and hunt for ball, reeling in four gains, alongside Mentor’s seven as Collingwood jumped out to a nine goal lead.
Vixens were in chase mode for much of the match, forcing them to contest hard in an effort to get themselves back in the game. This resulted in an unusually high penalty count of 41 in the first half, compared to their season average of 58 for an entire game.
Head coach Simone McKinnis recognised the game was creeping out of reach. With the score blowing out in the second quarter, she shuffled her mid court and gave stern instructions about body control.
“Let’s stay in play, there’s too many of those little penalties” she said.
The switch up reinvigorated the side, with Hannah Mundy’s strong drives and four super shots drawing the deficit back to six at halftime.
MVP Kiera Austin was forced from the court following a heavy clash with Ward, moments after she’d levelled the game with one of her four super shots in the third quarter.
After 16 turnovers in the first half, Vixens cleaned up their act with just eight in the second half, to fight their way back into the game and seal the win.
The comeback from Vixens, currently sitting fourth on the ladder, will be a big boost as they approach finals. Regardless, the grand final will be played at John Cain Arena, where they have only lost one match this year, a confidence boost should they progress all the way to the grand final.
While McKinnis was impressed with the overall result, she is aware that improvements will need to be made come finals.
“We want to put out four quarters, a stronger start than we had today. But our composure today was important, and we want to carry that through [to finals]” she said post match.
Sophie Garbin’s season is one she’d like to forget, but she put out a solid performance when it counted with 10 goals and only three turnovers. She is fighting not only for Diamonds selection, but also for a contract in 2024.
CONTRACT CONUNDRUM
All 80 athletes are off contract at season end, but the uncertainty regarding their future would be tenfold for Collingwood’s players. Shimona Nelson, Jodi-Ann Ward and Kelsey Browne are likely to find new homes, but fringe players will be worried. Garbin’s drop in form could make teams unwilling to sign her as a goal attack, and it seems unlikely a goal shooter spot will open up.
KATE’S FATE
With the Diamonds’ World Cup team announced on Thursday, Moloney has history on her side, winning gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games. However, Jamie-Lee Price is hot on her heels. Price leads most statistics between the pair but Moloney’s safety with ball in hand, giving away 29 less turnovers than Price, will likely be a key deciding factor.
-Alex Murdoch
Revenge was sweet for ex-Firebird Romelda Aiken-George as the Swifts smashed Queensland 78-65 to claim the Suncorp Super Netball minor premiership in front of a sold-out Nissan Stadium crowd on Sunday.
It was the Jamaican Sunshine Girls squad member’s first match in Brisbane since the shock news her contract would not be renewed while she was on maternity leave last year, in a move she described as a “Mike Tyson punch”.
Aiken-George, who admitted to being nervous before the game, scored 43 goals and 11 rebounds, pairing perfectly with goal attack Helen Housby to maximise Swifts’ super shots, with the latter shooting 25 goals, including a crucial eight two-pointers.
The win was the Swifts’ ninth straight victory, cementing their position on top of the ladder with one game to go.
Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich was one of the 4544 spectators as Australian squad members Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau and Maddy Proud (Swifts) and Donnell Wallam and Ruby Bakewell-Doran (Firebirds) did battle ahead of final World Cup selection.
Swifts’ early defensive strategy to double team Wallam with goalkeeper Klau and goal defence Proud paid immediate dividends by slowing her scoring potential.
After a time out, Queensland coach Bec Bulley tweaked the game plan and the Firebirds came back to level at 17-all at quarter-time.
At halftime, however, NSW had the edge with a 38-33 lead with the Swifts going out of their way to get the ball to Housby in the last five minutes of each quarter for her specialty two-point super shots and Aiken-George taking the rebounds when she missed.
At three-quarter time the lead had extended to 62-49.
While Bakewell-Doran and goalkeeper Remi Kamo played aggressively and contested every ball, they were often shut-out of the game with penalties.
This left the way open for fellow Diamonds squad member Klau to have a cracker. She was named Player Of The Match with three intercepts, 10 deflections and three rebounds.
Klau managed to keep Wallam off-balance, slowing the shooting juggernaut and affecting her accuracy (40/50 at 80% including six super shots).
That forced Firebirds GA Emily Moore to step up and take a more hands-on shooting role (9/12 including a two-point super shot), before passing the baton on to Mia Stower (6/9 at 66.7% including three super shots) at halftime.
-Jenny Sinclair
West Coast Fever brought some sloppy passing under control to record an 11 goal win over the Giants. Halving their error count in the second half, and a dominant defensive display, scored them the victory and second place on the Super Netball ladder, following Thunderbirds shock loss yesterday.
Played in front of a record home and away crowd of 11 013, Fever have now set themselves up nicely for a double crack at the finals.
The early stages of the match were a seesawing affair. Fever created plenty of defensive stops, but on many occasions wayward passing turned the ball into Giants hands.
Jhaniele Fowler’s 14 centimetre height advantage over Lauren Moore made the shooter an easy target, but far too often Fever hoicked the pass rather than working it into her. However, when Fowler did get her hands on the ball she was deadly, dominating the circle with 61 goals from 64 attempts.
Fever clung to their lead in the first half, but whenever they looked to extend it, errors allowed the Giants to claw it back. Fever coach Dan Ryan was clearly unhappy, issuing stern instructions about moving the ball to the edge of the circle.
“It’s not okay, be willing to work and work and work!” he ordered during a time out.
With a history of spicy encounters between the teams, physicality slipped out of control at times. Some heavy challenges from April Brandley sent Sasha Glasgow crashing to the floor, while the match up between the two captains, Courtney Bruce and Jo Harten, got mouthy.
Harten has been managing a knee injury, and despite using her wiles to good effect, Bruce got her hands to plenty of ball. Harten finished with 22 from 29, but Bruce earned MVP honours with ten gains.
Sunday Aryang had her best game of the season with a controlled display that included four gains and five deflections.
Jamie-Lee Price was the Giants’ best by some margin, as she dominated the midcourt. Chasing World Cup selection after missing out on last year’s Commonwealth Games, Price was in imperious form. Playing in her 150th national league match, she finished with 39 feeds and an intercept.
Despite taking a seat on the bench in the final quarter, Amy Parmenter did her national selection chances little harm, finishing with three gains and five deflections.
Giants also dominated the supershot count, with 11 compared to Fever’s four.
PRICE PONDERY
After missing out on the Commonwealth Games, Jamie-Lee Price has upped her tempo in a bid to make this year’s Netball World Cup team. The Giant has been locked in a fierce selection battle with several other midcourters, pulling in a number of intercepts and feeding the circle beautifully. However, she can also be expensive with the ball in hand, coughing up 50 turnovers compared to just 21 by Kate Moloney, her main rival for the centre bib.
HEALTHY HOUSE
Fever fans have turned out in droves this year, including the two biggest netball crowds this season. Almost 11 000 watched their favourites last week, while today‘s attendance hit 11 013 – a league record for minor round games this season. Fever have also passed the 5000 member mark.
– Warren Partland
Adelaide Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst admitted to frustration after dropping a second successive game with their first finals appearance in 10 years just two weeks away.
The Thunderbirds, beaten by two goals to Sunshine Coast Lightning at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday night, powered home with a 20-10 final quarter on the back of six two-point super shots.
The loss followed a defeat to bottom-placed Collingwood in Melbourne last week and threatens to derail the Thunderbirds’ bid for the crucial double chance in the finals.
“This is a young team and we have given ourselves an opportunity to play finals with what we have done earlier in the year,” Obst said.
“I don’t know that I’m worried, probably a little frustrated that we can do that in one quarter, and we know we have it in us to do that for more than one quarter.
“We just have to be a little more consistent and put some processes in place at training so we can win more than one quarter.”
Obst said the Magpies and Lightning had been able to play with nothing-to-lose freedom, having already been ruled out of finals contention.
She had hoped for more energy in the group, but lamented it being up and down.
“We have had a conversation with the team and there are a few interesting things that come out of it, which has been great learning,” she said.
“We will review the game and get ready for the (NSW) Swifts next week.”
Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds described the win as the team’s best performance for the season.
She claimed her players had been really clinical, especially in attack, and had adopted a key asset, good ball speed.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries this season and we are just starting to consolidate some of our line-ups,” she said. “I do wish there were more games ahead of us this season.
“That was our most consistent performance and the girls really stuck to the game plan. I was very nervous in the final five minutes, we played too safe too early.”