West Coast have finally surrendered a Super Netball point, suffering their first loss of the season, after Eleanor Cardwell’s super shot in the dying seconds.
The Queensland Firebirds secured their first win of the scenes in jubilant scenes at Nissan Arena, while the NSW Swifts fought back from injury and a deficit to jump the Melbourne Vixens into the top three.
Catch up with all the Super Netball action.
-Jenny Sinclair
A dying seconds super shot from import Eleanor Cardwell has ensured the Adelaide Thunderbirds recorded their first ever win at RAC Arena with a heart-stopping victory over the West Coast Fever 64-63.
In an epic encounter, the Fever and Thunderbirds delivered one of the games of the 2023 Super Netball season in front of 7615 fans.
Both sides battled for ascendancy, but it wasn’t until the final heart-stopping seconds that the Thunderbirds came from behind to steal a one-goal victory.
A defensive masterclass by the Thunderbirds proved to be the difference, stamping their claim as premiership contenders, and handing their opponents their first loss of the season.
In the titanic all-Jamaican battle, Thunderbirds’ defender Shamera Sterling took the first honours with an early intercept. While Sterling picked off four intercepts across the match, Jhaniele Fowler’s fingertip control was on display, as she went on a 51-goal scoring spree.
Fever roared out to a nine-goal lead during the first term, until three super shots from match MVP Cardwell put the Thunderbirds back into the game.
With the best backline in the league, time and again the Thunderbirds’ defenders sent their team into attack. Their midcourters were generally clean with the ball, giving up just 16 turnovers in the high-pressure match.
Latanya Wilson was a menace through the midcourt, causing struggle-street for Fever’s Alice Teague-Neeld. The wing attack coughed up eight uncharacteristic errors, as Wilson hauled in five intercepts.
With the scores level in the third quarter, Fever coach Dan Ryan implored his troops to shut down the opposition.
He said during a time-out, “This needs to be a shift in work rate from all of you, they are coming and we need to stop them.
“We are getting outworked.”
Fever looked tired in the final quarter, after two consecutive long haul trips over east. Leads to the ball dried up, and the Thunderbirds were still full of running. Fever were unable to keep the Thunderbirds out of two point scoring distance as Cardwell went on a rampage in the last few minutes. She put up four two pointers to seal the game on the buzzer.
It was a disappointing result for Fever stalwart Verity Simmons, who ran out her 150th national league game, and for Dan Ryan’s 50th match as coach.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING
In reaching his 50th national league game, coach Dan Ryan has recorded two very different experiences. At his former club, the Thunderbirds, Ryan limped to a one win, 27 loss record.
Conversely at the Fever, he has 17 wins for just 5 losses at a 77 per cent success rate.
WONDERFUL WILSON
Adelaide Thunderbird Latanya Wilson has been weaving her magic at wing defence this season. Having shut down the two best wing attacks in the league in recent weeks – Liz Watson and Alice Teague-Neeld, teams should be wary of her at the Netball World Cup.
-Alex Murdoch
The Firebirds have hit back at naysayers predicting a winless season by defeating GIANTS Netball 70-66 in Brisbane.
It was not the 100th game celebration the GIANTS had hoped for – coming off two straight victories against the Collingwood Magpies and Adelaide Thunderbirds after a slow three-loss start to leave them stranded sixth on the ladder, with the Magpies’ game still to come Tuesday.
After five consecutive losses, including a nailbiting two-point defeat to Super Netball table-toppers and reigning premiers West Coast Fever last week, the Firebirds opted for a mid-court starting switch.
Utilising the same line-up that triggered last week’s comeback, Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion took on the wing defence role (switching from centre), with Macy Gardner as centre (from wing attack), Laura Dunkley as wing attack and Emily Moore as goal attack (with the latter two off the bench).
For the Queenslanders it was an early match made in heaven, driving a dominate path straight to Wallam and up-and-comer Moore – drawing an early 14-7 lead to claim its first quarter win of the season 19-15.
It didn’t all go Queensland’s way, however, with the GIANTS hitting back in the second quarter, swinging momentum in a tightly contested physical stoush which had gains favouring the visitors and supershots wreaking havoc – ending with a 33-33 halftime score after Moore scored on the buzzer.
But the second quarter provided a tough moment for the GIANTS with captain and goal shooter Jo Harten limping off, to be replaced by Matisse Letherbarrow who finished out the match with 17/20 at a rate of 85%.
With momentum slowing in the third, the Firebirds switched back to its usual starting line-up, with Ravaillion as centre, Gardner in WA, Gabi Simpson in WD and Mia Stower in GA in the third quarter – taking the fight to the GIANTS with a quick five-goal lead.
Heading into the final quarter, it was still the Firebirds with the 53-50 lead, and the Queenslanders held their nerve in a thrilling final term to secure their first points of the season.
“It’s so amazing… and so nice to get a win,” Firebirds shooter and match MVP Donnell Wallam said, after scoring 55/57 shots at 96.4% including four two-point supershots to seal the deal.
– Kate Allman
The NSW Swifts have leapt into the top three after stealing a come-from-behind 67-66 win against the Melbourne Vixens in Sydney.
Scores were locked at 66 apiece with just over a minute to go on Saturday as the crowd rose to its feet in Ken Rosewall Arena.
Swifts shooter Romelda Aiken-George put the home side up by one, but the Vixens took possession and looked to seal the match with a supershot via the usually steady hand of Mwai Kumwenda with 40 seconds to go.
Remarkably, the ball bounced off the rim and NSW Swifts defender Allie Smith – fresh off the interchange bench and into the role as a blood replacement for Maddy Turner – broke the hearts of her former Vixens’ teammates by collecting the matchwinning rebound.
“To come up with a rebound like that when she probably hasn’t played much netball at goal defence, to come off the bench, recognise that crucial moment and go up with two hands, I thought it was beautiful,” said Swifts co-captain Paige Hadley after the match.
It was Melbourne who pulled the first surprise of the contest, starting young Olivia Lewis at goal keeper in place of Emily Mannix. And such was Lewis’ impressive day, she remained on court for the full 60 minutes – taking three intercepts with six deflections and only seven penalties conceded as her clean footwork rattled Aiken-George early.
The Vixens had been in total control of the match heading into the final term – up by a game-high nine goals with just 60 seconds to play in the third quarter.
But back-to-back Helen Housby supershots ensured that margin was just six at the final change, and from there the Swifts found their fight to steal the win.
Only a heavy collision between Turner and Vixens Kiera Austin and Kate Eddy soured the win for NSW, with Turner forced to leave the court with just minutes to play in the tight match.
Turner copped a stray elbow to the nose from Eddy when she got sandwiched between the two Vixens and was seen with blood on her face and hands.
But Smith was up to the task of replacing Turner – taking the only defensive rebound for the entire match in those thrilling final stages.
“We had too many mistakes and poor decision-making. The game was there to be won, and some of our own errors handed momentum back to the Swifts,” admitted Vixens coach Simone McKinnis after the siren.
SLOW STARTS TO SWIFT RETALIATION
The Swifts have been slow starters through the first five rounds of the season, and been left having to chase the game through second halves.
Saturday night’s match looked to be falling into a familiar pattern when the Vixens punished a Maddy Proud loose ball with two successive goals by Mwai Kumwenda to open the match. But a desperate time-out by Swifts coach Briony Akle in the first quarter stemmed the bloodletting.
“We are better than this,” said Akle as the scoreboard read 12-7.
From there, the Swifts clawed back and pulled out a new trick for the 2023 season – they won a second quarter.
ROMPING ROMELDA
In what initially appeared a strange decision, Vixens coach Simone McKinnis chose to start 23-year-old Olivia Lewis over veteran defender Emily Mannix.
It was a tough day to send in the bench-warmer against a firing Romelda Aiken-George, who shot 46 goals and was named player of the match. The 34-year-old new mum is finding an exciting second act in her career at Sydney, after being dumped last year by the team she played 14 seasons with, the Queensland Firebirds.
She wowed the crowd in the first half by regaining the ball after missing one shot and sending it back to the net while falling out of court.
But Lewis found a second gear too, staking her claim on a starting position for the future. Her crucial intercept in the Swifts’ shooting circle just moments before halftime sent the visitors to the break at 30-all.
“[The Swifts play] a style that suits Liv Lewis, there’s not a whole lot of movement there. So she does read it quite well and has that great elevation. It took her a while to get a feel for it and timing but she’s doing well,” McKinnis said.
