A vintage performance from a Rose, ‘Eddy Everywhere’ makes her mark, 15 minutes for the Firebirds to forget and a claim that the West Coast Fever is indeed, beatable.
Here are the big talking points out of the round.
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‘Classic, feisty’ Harten the difference for Giants
With three gains in the first quarter alone, Giants’ wing defence Amy Parmenter was a rightful MVP in her side’s shock 59-54 win over the Thunderbirds on Sunday, but it was another player in orange, with less impressive stats, who was pivotal.
Captain Jo Harten didn’t exactly shoot the lights out – she finished with 25/30 at 83 per cent accuracy – and had an equal game-high seven turnovers, but she simply refused to let her team lose at Netball SA Stadium.
The English star didn’t miss a super shot when it mattered in the last quarter and used her voice to lift her side.
Siren Sport netball analyst Jess Currie said Harten led with passion and purpose, pulling her side along with her.
“And she did it without over-dominating, which she can be prone to doing,” she said.
Currie detected a slight shift in focus for 34-year-old Harten.
“Rather than relying on her ball-handling strength – as the receiver of the ball under the post, where she has fumbled a few recently – she made an effort to possess the ball and use her skill as the passer, rather than being the ‘get out of jail’ receiver. It helped her control the tempo,” Currie said.
“In doing that she also drew many penalties, which released the pressure and created a two-on-one for the Giants to exploit.”
UK-based freelance netball writer Denise Evans said despite her low Net Points score, Harten was the difference for the Giants. Her performance also had a personal edge, Evans said.
“Harten must have heard the whispers during the week … ‘Surely Eleanor Cardwell is favourite to start for England at shooter at the World Cup’ and ‘Jo is passed it now’,” she said.
“Maybe it ignited a fire in her, that, frankly we haven’t seen in a while. But blimey, did that fire burn bright and strong against the Thunderbirds, practically leaving Cardwell, in the opposite goal circle, up in smoke!” Evans, speaking on behalf of many English fans, said.
“It was classic, feisty Harten, who was shooting at will and you could probably hear her on- court calls from outside the arena. Was it a one-off? We hope not because we’ve missed this goal-hungry Harten.”
Akle says Fever beatable, sides ‘getting there’
NSW Swifts coach Briony Akle says the undefeated West Coast Fever are “beatable” despite her side losing to the 2022 premiers by 11 goals on Monday.
Post-game, Akle described the unbeaten Fever as “absolutely the team to beat” in 2023, but not invincible.
“They’re reigning premiers and have the confidence to go with it. We can get there, I think they are beatable … they’ve proven that … they haven’t had massive wins, so teams are slowly getting there,” she said.
Akle’s side looked like it might be the first to topple the women in green, leading by as many as five goals in the second quarter, but Dan Ryan’s team was too strong, winning the second half 43-32 to run away 78-67 winners.
Akle said a lack of discipline in the second half cost the Swifts.
“I was really proud in that first half. I thought we had them rattled (but) small little things (in the second half) … we throw a bad pass and it’s near two-point time, and the Fever punish you, and you cannot do that in this league,” she said.
“It’s inside us to play some really good netball, but you just can’t be undisciplined and that’s what we were,” Akle said.
As a two-time premiership coach who knows what defending a title is like, Akle said she relishes being the underdog.
“(It’s) definitely something that I thrive on. I’m like ‘Let’s go show them!’ And we certainly did that for probably half a game. It’s a hard position, to (try to) go back-to-back, and Fever at the moment are doing a good job. But we’re coming … we’re coming for them.”
‘Eddy Everywhere’ huge for Vixens: Norder
Melbourne Vixen Kate Eddy may have only been on the court for 30 minutes of her side’s 60-56 win over the Sunshine Coast Lightning on Saturday, but the wing defence proved a game-changer.
Eddy sat on the bench in the first half after coach Simone McKinnis started with a new-look midcourt line-up of Liz Watson at centre, Hannah Mundy at wing attack and Kate Moloney at WD.
But down by two at the main break, McKinnis replaced Moloney with Eddy and put Watson back to her traditional WA, benching Mundy.
It took a while, but the changes had the desired effect with the Vixens wresting back control in the last four minutes of the third, thanks in no small part to ‘Eddy Everywhere’ who won the ball twice in as many minutes. Both times, the Vixens side scored, then converted a centre pass.
The 182cm defender covered lead after lead from Annie Miller and offered back-up on the transverse line and centre pass.
After hitting the lead for the first time all match late in the third, the Vixens went into the break 47-45 up.
Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds benched Miller for the last, replacing her with Laura Scherian, but the Vixens went on to finish the job, scoring seven of the last 10 to lock away the premiership points.
Former Australian Diamond Sharni Norder, the Vixens’ specialist defensive coach, said Victorian-born and bred Eddy somehow remains underrated.
“She’s a star! And she was just huge when Simone injected her into the game. She was in everything,” she said.
Norder said Eddy’s “arms over pressure” – a skill that’s not quantifiable or recorded on a stat sheet – was one of her biggest strengths, as it forces opponents into mistakes that lead to turnovers.
Eddy, who won a premiership with the Swifts in 2019 before joining the Vixens, is also comfortable with “playing a role” within a defensive unit, Norder said.
Pies crush ‘rattled’ Firebirds in Q3 rout
Down by five goals at halftime to the winless Queensland Firebirds on Sunday, Collingwood coach Nicole Richardson made no secret of the fact she’d drag players if things didn’t change in the second half.
Her “little threat” worked, sparking a dominant 23-goal quarter in the third, her side’s best 15 minutes of the season, to set up an eventual 69-61 win at John Cain Arena.
“I didn’t think our first half was anywhere near the brand of netball we want to put out,” Richardson said post-game.
“We needed to make an assertive effort to make sure we came out in the first five minutes (of the third).
“It was basically ‘You need to get it together or we are looking to make changes’. So maybe that little threat of coming off the court, because players don’t like coming off the court (was behind the shift),” she said.
Vixens lock in third straight victory | 00:51
Shooter Shimona Nelson had her best quarter of the season, shooting 20/21 and dominating Ruby Bakewell-Doran, who replaced Remi Kamo at keeper for the third in what was a perplexing move from first-year Firebirds coach Bec Bulley.
Midcourters Kelsey Browne and Molly Jovic found the Jamaican with ease, while her fellow countrywoman, MVP winner Jodi-Ann Ward starred at goal defence, claiming three intercepts and was penalised just once, for contact.
“The response out of the blocks in the third quarter was absolutely amazing. It was a 15-minute dominant display of netball,” Richardson said.
In something of an understatement, Bulley described the third quarter as “really disappointing”.
“We just absolutely got rattled. They obviously changed up their defensive structure a bit, but we just went away from what was working (and) didn’t really adjust,” she said.
The rookie coach was more pleased with the last stanza, in which the side won by two and showed “good fight”.
“(There’s) some positives to take out, but at the end of the day we just need to be better than that.”
