West Coast Fever maintained their perfect start to the 2023 Super Netball season, with a 80-53 takedown of Collingwood. Falling just two goals short of the all time highest score in a match, Fever have rocketed straight to the top of the league table.
The thumping dished out by last year’s premiers has sent a ‘catch me if you can’ message to the rest of the competition. Banking their third win was also critical, as Fever face a horror stretch on the road, playing at home just once in the next five rounds.
In contrast, the Magpies struggled to get into top gear against Fever’s experienced campaigners, and a game plan that limited Shimona Nelson’s scoring ability.
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With Courtney Bruce and Sunday Aryang boxing in Nelson, opportunities were limited for the Jamaican star.
Sitting on an unusually low output, Nelson was benched for half the game, in the hope that a more mobile shooting circle might outfox the Fever.
However, scoring off just 50 per cent of their centre passes, the game started to slip past the Magpies during the second quarter. They shuffled their line, and started searching for supershot success, but a 72 per cent accuracy rate was costly.
At the opposite end of the court, the brilliant Jhaniele Fowler reigned in the air, setting a new league record for consecutive goals scored. Sent to the bench for a rest in the late stages of the game, she finished with 51 points, recording just her first miss of the season in the third quarter.
Netball Aus issues apology to Pies | 00:35
Two of the most entertaining coaches in the league, Dan Ryan and Nic Richardson, were out of their seats for much of the match, imploring their troops to push on. Richardson gave Ash Brazill a spell on the bench, who with ten penalties against her by half time, was frustrated by some of the umpiring calls.
With both teams experiencing final quarter fadeouts over the past two rounds, Ryan instructed Fever to have an ‘aggressive mindset’ as they looked to close the game out. And push on they did, despite resting a number of their stars ahead of a hectic travel schedule.
In the 27 point thumping, Fever’s wing defence Jess Anstiss kept the influential Kelsey Browne relatively quiet, and eventually sent her to the bench. Courtney Bruce was influential with 10 gains, while Verity Simmons was awarded MVP for her hard-running role in centre.
Speaking after the match, Richardson denied that last week’s umpiring issues had any impact on the Magpies’ performance today. She said of the match, “(We were) Outclassed, outplayed, back to the drawing board and hopefully we can put in a better performance against the Firebirds (next round).”
TRAVEL TRAVESTY
With just one home game in the next five rounds, Fever will traverse the length and breadth of the country. For a team that already logs more frequent flyer points than any other Super Netball team, it’s an area of the fixtures that needs addressing in future.
SIMPLY THE BEST
It took until the third quarter of Round 3 for Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler to record her first miss of the season. The league’s leading goal scorer has sunk 165 points at 99% per cent, having sunk 146 consecutive shots.
Vixens stun Magpies in WILD finish! | 01:11
VIXENS SHAKE OF UMPIRING CONTROVERSY AS GIANTS LOSE ANOTHER
The Melbourne Vixens have shaken off last week’s controversial outing to claim their first undisputable Super Netball victory of 2023. In a tight game, their five point win required focus to put the umpiring debacle behind them, and shut down their opponent’s supershot prowess.
In contrast, it was a disappointing result for Giants Netball who are now in unfamiliar territory with three straight losses to start off the season.
It was goal-for-goal early in the match with both teams looking to settle. Vixens eventually won that arm wrestle, forcing two held balls which gave them a slight lead.
Experienced duo Jo Weston and Emily Mannix caused all sorts of disruption in the Giants shooting circle in the second quarter. Both defenders got their hands to tips and precious rebounds which were converted at their shooting end.
With the Vixens lead out to seven entering the second supershot period, all the pressure was on the Giants shooters and their bag of tricks. As pundits predicted, the lead was decimated as Dwyer’s hot hand was shown, shooting 3 from 4 super shots.
Speaking to commentary about the Giants shooting display, Vixens coach Simone McKinnis was quick to point out where her side was letting themselves down.
“If we scored off our own ball then we wouldn’t be giving them a chance to shoot two pointers.”
As the penalties across the court began to creep up, the umpires let it be known that they wouldn’t tolerate any unsportsmanlike conduct. By mid-way through the third quarter they’d issued three cautions for intentional delays and continuous contacts. In particular the Vixens’ circle defenders were expensive, as they gave away 32 penalties.
With scores locked at the end of the third quarter, it set up a mouth watering final term.
With less than two minutes to go and up by two, the Vixens played keep away with the ball until they found last week’s heroine, Mwai Kumwenda under the post who extended their lead.
Speaking after the match, MVP and co-captain Liz Watson said that playing the ball around and maintaining their focus at the end of the match was something they had been working on.
SUPERSHOT SAVIOURS
Giants have in their arsenal the most prolific supershot shooters in the league. Over the opening rounds they have sunk 32 supershots, which is 15 more than the next closest team. While this ability to peg back deficits is certainly handy, it begs the question of how formidable they will be if they use it to extend a lead rather than chase it?
WORLD CUP HEAD-TO-HEAD
Australian selectors would’ve been keeping a close eye on the two centres going head-to-head in this match, as Jamie-Lee Price (Giants) and Kate Moloney (Vixens) offer vastly different options for the Australian side. Price’s defensive ability, versus Moloney’s clinical ball handling and combination with the Aussie captain, makes it anyone’s guess.
