A Giant Diamond-esque performance from Amy Parmenter, the “scary signs” in a
rare bad game for Liz Watson, Gabi Simpson benched in her milestone match and a
few anxiety-inducing moments for Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich.
Here are the big talking points out of round five of Super Netball at the weekend.
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Thunderbirds soar to win over Vixens | 00:56
MORE COVERAGE
Wrap: Swifts import nails winner again; reigning premiers survive scare
Aussie netball great’s big fear for winless Firebirds in ‘unstoppable’ star’s absence
Time’s up! Why Fever’s rising stars are tipped to miss out on Diamonds duty
INJURY ANXIETY GETS REAL FOR MARINKOVICH
If Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich is an Apple Watch-wearer, her Sunday heart rate
data would be fascinating, given not one, but two of her probable World Cup starting seven
went down with what looked like serious injuries.
The first was defender Courtney Bruce, who tweaked an ankle in the opening quarter of
West Coast’s win over the Firebirds in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
After landing on her opponent Donnell Wallam’s foot, the Fever captain looked in
considerable pain and clutched her right ankle as she left the court. She returned and
finished the match after shrugging off the incident as minor at halftime.
And in the last few minutes of the final game of the round, between Sunshine Coast and
the Swifts at UniSC Arena, Lightning and Diamond shooter Steph Wood had tears in her
eyes after awkwardly falling to the ground while sandwiched between Swifts Maddy Turner
and Allie Smith.
The incident happened well back from the transverse line on a NSW centre pass and was
barely caught on the broadcast. A pained Wood collected herself during a subsequent
time-out and played the remaining minute or so of the game, won by the Swifts 64-63.
After the game Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds said Wood would be fine for the ANZAC
Day clash against Collingwood in Melbourne.
“Steph got a whack up the back, which I think took the wind out of her, but like a true
champion, she gets up there and finishes the game,” Reynolds said.
Former national coach Lisa Alexander is one of the few women who know what might have
been running through Marinkovich’s mind as she watched the injuries unfold.
“The gut reaction is a raising of anxiety and feeling of uncertainty … then you start to work
through logically all the options,” Alexander said.
“(But) you have a squad for a reason and injuries are going to throw you curveballs,” she
added.
Alexander was in Botswana in 2015 when she learned her lock for wing attack, Madi
Browne, had done her ACL and would miss the World Cup in Sydney later that year. “I
remember the feeling when I was told, and it was acute sadness.”
With about two weeks until she names her squad and just over three months until the first
centre pass of the World Cup, Australian fans will be hoping Marinkovich’s scares will be
just that … scares.
‘SILENT BUT DEADLY’ PARMENTER STAKES CLAIM
The incumbent Australian wing defence and the woman most likely to steal her bib faced
off at the weekend and it was Giant Amy Parmenter who emerged triumphant, staking her
claim for Ash Brazill’s spot with a career-best performance.
Parmenter – who has played six Tests for Australia and has her eyes set on the World Cup
in July – was fundamental to her side’s 59-55 win over Collingwood at Ken Rosewall Arena
on Saturday, shutting down Kelsey Browne. In contrast, Brazill was well below her best.
Despite sitting out most of the last quarter, 25-year-old Parmenter finished with four gains,
which included three intercepts, as well as six deflections and 10 centre pass receives.
She also collected a WD record haul of 76.5 Net Points.
In contrast, 33-year-old Brazill, who played in centre in the last quarter after marking
Maddie Hay for three, didn’t record a single gain. She had two deflections, 9 centre pass
receives and just 27 Net Points.
Siren Sport netball analyst Jess Currie said Parmenter got back to her “silent but deadly”
best against the Pies.
“In combination with Jamie-Lee Price – another front-runner for the Diamonds and a
combination selectors may be keeping an eye on – she kept Browne to under 20 centre
pass receives, starving the Magpies of their primary attacking route,” she said.
Based on Super Netball form alone, Currie said the Giant is “edging ahead” of Brazill, who
she said appears to be stuck in “analysis mode” domestically.
“But let’s not forget ‘Braz’ has the incumbent’s privilege of having proven her ability to
execute in the Diamonds’ structure.
“Sunday Aryang has already proved her ‘GD-to-WD swing’ chops courtesy of West Coast
Fever coach Dan Ryan’s intelligent defensive set-up too,” Currie said.
‘SCARY SIGNS’ FOR AUSSIE FANS IN WATSON’S GAME
In her team’s impressive 61-50 win over the Melbourne Vixens in Adelaide on Saturday
night, Thunderbird Latanya Wilson did something few in world netball will ever achieve.
She got the better of Liz Watson, one of the best players on the planet.
The 20-year-old Jamaican stood Watson for the first three quarters, managing three gains
and seven deflections while only putting in four contacts. She also caused five turnovers
from Watson, who went to centre in the last stanza.
Former Super Netball sideline reporter Fiona Crowe said the shutdown job on the
Australian captain was impressive.
“I don’t think I have ever seen Watson have less of an impact on a game than she did in
the second half, thanks to some incredible work from Wilson,” she said.
“Wilson covered first, second, even third leads and was a disruptive force around the edge
of the circle – scary signs for Aussie Diamonds fans.”
Crowe said where previous Adelaide wins were “built on spectacular intercepts from
Shamera Sterling”, Saturday night’s was the result of “some classic grunt work” from the
entire defensive unit.
“We didn’t see flying intercepts, but rather tips and chase downs and incredibly tight
defending from all players to build the pressure,” she said.
“When you have a young list, you will get ups and downs. It is impressive to see Tippah
Dwan, Georgie Horjus, Tayla Williams and Wilson, who are all aged 23 or under, all come
out this week and improve on the parts of their game which let them down against the
Giants last round.
“But if they really want to push teams at the pointy end of the season, they need to start
doing it every week,” Crowe said.
BULLEY DEFENDS MOVE TO BENCH MILESTONE STAR
Queensland Firebirds’ coach Bec Bulley has defended her decision to bench Gabi
Simpson in her 150th national league game.
The first-year coach – who is yet to secure a win – said it was “so hard, really hard” to send
the veteran wing defence to the pine at halftime of the match against the West Coast
Fever at Nissan Arena on Sunday.
Bulley’s side was 13 goals down when she chose to replace Simpson with Kim Ravaillion
at WD and put Macy Gardner on at centre. Playing on an in-form Alice Teague-Neeld in
the first half, Simpson was holding her own despite only recording one gain.
The purple birds won the third and fourth quarters by six and five goals respectively, but
changes to Fever’s line-up had as much influence on that as anything the Firebirds did.
Ravaillion recorded one gain, a pick-up, in her half at WD, but didn’t attract quite as much
whistle. Simpson had seven contacts to Ravaillion’s three.
“We could have left the team on (given) they did a lot better in that second quarter, but that
was a change that’s worked for us previously,” Bulley said after the 73-71 loss.
“I felt Macy would provide so much in the midcourt and ‘Rav’ is really good in her attack
from wing defence … (Rav and Gardner can) be really tight one-on-one out the front (too),”
she said.
“I had full intention of trying to get Gabi back on in that last quarter, but we were still in it … and it’s really hard to make changes when you got momentum,” Bulley said of the 20-goal
last quarter.
Despite sitting winless on the bottom of the ladder, Bulley remains positive.
“Considering the level of experience we have in this team compared to the teams that
we’re coming up against, we are doing a great job. They need to keep being positive, to
keep believing in themselves,” she said.
“They need to keep doing their best. That’s all we can ask for. They show that when they
are performing, they’re outscoring the opposition. We’ve just got to do it consistently.”
