Catch up with all the round 11 Super Netball action below.
-Kate Allman
Two Indigenous players have steered the Queensland Firebirds to their first away win of the Super Netball season, felling the Giants Netball 50-68 in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.
The Firebirds have been the cellar dwellers of the 2023 ladder but made it clear they won‘t go quietly into the night – absorbing a first half of Giants pressure and waiting for the right moment to break open the deadlock.
It was Firebirds’ shooter Donnell Wallam who, despite copping a jarred finger and spending almost an entire quarter on the bench, injected ferocity to her team and sailed past the milestone of her 1000th goal in Super Netball.
Meanwhile a new star rose in Wakka Wakka woman Leesa Mi Mi, donning the centre bib over a purple First Nations dress designed by artist Rachael Sarra in her first Super Netball start.
“It’s always good to get a win, especially in Indigenous round, and seeing Leesa start was pretty epic too. She’s been training so well, it was really special,” Wallam said.
For the home side, it was a disappointing way to spend crowd favourite April Brandley’s 150th game,
“We’re really disappointed, I thought we had prepared for this game – we were on a roll and we were improving every week, I’m just not sure what happened tonight. Our execution was extremely poor,” said Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald.
The upset loss means the Giants now need to win every match for the glimmer of a chance to play finals – a tall ask when they play second-on-the-ladder NSW Swifts next week.
Battle of the shooting circles
It was the Harten – Wallam show for the first half; with Harten returning to court after battling her ongoing knee injury on the sidelines for the past two rounds.
Harten went goal for goal with Australian Diamonds shooter Wallam and kept scores to 28-all at half time. While she was back to her usual vocal presence on court, the veteran English Rose was this week stifled by one of the game’s best defenders in Remi Kamo.
Kamo earned player of the match with an impressive 9 gains, 5 intercepts and 2 rebounds.
Oh Mi Mi
22-year-old Mi Mi has figuratively taken the reins from her older sister and former Firebird Jemma, who stepped away from the game to have twins at the end of 2022.
It was a tough day for the youngster to be matched up on in-form Jamie-Lee Price, who flashed in front of loose balls with crowd-pleasing leaps, ensuring most of the first half’s momentum swung in favour of the Giants.
But Mi Mi rose to the challenge, clocking 28 feeds and 18 goal assists.
“She’s got great speed, a very smart player, I just felt like she would match up really well against Jamie-Lee. She got turnovers in defence and worked the ball down the court, and fed into the circle beautifully as well,” said Firebirds’ coach Rebecca Bulley.
-Jenny Sinclair
The NSW Swifts fly home with the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup clutched in one hand, and redemption in the other. Finals bound after narrowly missing out last year, the Swifts healthy eight point victory over the Melbourne Vixens firms them into second on the Super Netball ladder.
Speaking after the match, Akle was delighted that the Swifts secured their finals berth.
“Yes, I was very nervous that they (Vixens) would come back. It was an 11 goal turn around in that last quarter.”
Season 2023 has been a slow build for the Swifts, having taken time to embed injury replacement Romelda Aiken-George into their shooting line up. Her combination with today’s MVP Helen Housby has finally come to fruition however, just as finals are beckoning.
Judicious use of Sophie Fawns during the super shot period also contributed, as she nailed seven from 10. She was one of the crucial differences between the sides, as both coaches swung 48 positional changes across the match in an attempt to gain the upper hand.
With 11 internationals spread across the court, Liz Watson started at centre rather than her usual position of wing attack. Her duel with Swifts’ opponent but Diamond’s teammate Paige Hadley, was a highlight of the first half. The pair ran shoulder to shoulder, giving national coach Stacey Marinkovich plenty of midcourt options come the World Cup.
Two intercepts by wing defence Tayla Fraser and three supershots by Sophie Fawns helped Swifts take an early lead, but two rookie errors by Vixen defender Jo Weston contributed.
However, with penalties and errors mounting for the Swifts, it wasn’t long before the margin was overhauled. In frustration, Akle gave her team a serve during a timeout.
“There is no reason to hurl that ball through…be better,” she said.
Her side responded immediately, forcing Vixens to give up seven consecutive goals. Despite putting a swathe of changes in place, they struggled to make inroads to the margin.
With the Vixens scoring just three supershots to the Swifts seven by half time, McKinnis called for more from her troops.
She said, “It’s about being brave ourselves. We are capable shooters.”
Kiera Austin and Mwai Kumwenda attacked the post in response, but it was too little, too late as the Swifts closed the game out.
Converting 79 per cent of their gains into goals during their seventh win on the trot, the Swifts delivered the Vixens’ first loss at home this season.
McKinnis rued what she described as a disappointing result.
“Swifts are a team that will make you pay every time.
“We just didn’t have that defensive pressure.”
POWER PLAY
With just percentage points separating the Swifts and the ladder leading Adelaide Thunderbirds, the race to hosting the major semi-final will be enthralling. Both clubs face teams that sit outside the top four in the next two rounds, but it’s their final clash in Round 14 that will most likely determine where they both sit at season’s end.
RAHNI’S NOT RIGHT
Vixens announced this week that long bomb specialist Rahni Samason won’t return for the rest of the 2023 season. It leaves Vixens seriously underdone in the shooting end, with only Kiera Austin and Mwai Kumwenda logging any significant court time. Injury replacement Kim Borger gained just four minutes today, for one goal.
WITHOUT WALLACE
Trinidad & Tobago international Sam Wallace had been a long term stalwart under the post for the Swifts until she sustained a severe ACL injury in Round 1, 2022. Just last week it was announced that due to post surgical complications, Wallace wouldn’t return to court at all this season. With all players off contract in September, and Romelda Aiken-George playing her role as the ultimate injury replacement, what does it mean for Wallace’s future?
– Katrina Nissen
The Collingwood Magpies banded together to deliver a near-victory against a resurgent Sunshine Coast Lightning with captain Geva Mentor, after the four-point loss, imploring for “commonsense to prevail” speaking of the implications for her teammates and other franchises of the club’s demise confirmed this week.
Speaking to media before the match Ash Brazill, who announced her retirement earlier this season, said she’s had trouble finding the words to comfort her teammates. Jamaican Shimona Nelson for example, could soon find herself with visa issues.
After the match, Geva Mentor added her reflections. “I want commonsense to prevail,” she said.
“I want everyone to get in a room and put egos aside and just nut this out. There are lives at stake now. It’s people who have to pay mortgages, who don’t know where their next income is coming from. We have a whole lot of people who will be unemployed.”
Of potential visa problems she said, “It is so hard for international players who have visa connected to where they are playing. So what are they to do now? They have got to uproot when they have just been able to settle here for the last three or four years. It is really tricky.”
The loss was a mere blip in the storyline of Collingwood’s tumultuous season.
In the opening match of First Nations’ Round, Magpies started energetically, leading by seven at half time. But their consistency crumbled as it has done for much of the season, with the lead evaporating in the third. Lightning exploited this while applying vice-like defence and tidier attack, taking a three-goal lead into the final break.
Collingwood found their fight and managed to bring the match back level with less than two-minutes remaining. However, match MVP, Steph Wood delivered a supershot giving the home side breathing room.
Diamond Sophie Garbin had the right of reply at the other end, but delivered an airball instead, as her teary coach Nicole Richardson watched on. Lightning were able to close out the match with a four goal victory: their second in nine rounds.
As dramatic as the seesawing nature of the game was, it was nothing compared to the off-court storyline that played out this week. Collingwood Magpies announced they would not be renewing their Super Netball license at season’s end.
To complicate matters, Super Netball’s broadcast contract is reliant on an eight-club competition. Meaning that until a new licensee is found, all eighty athletes, their coaches and support staff find themselves with career uncertainty.
With their careers hanging in the balance, many Magpies’ athletes put out performances worthy of the best Hollywood casting agent, all in the hopes of catching the eye of Super Netball’s newest coach, whoever that may be.
Some athletes, like Diamond Garbin, are all but certain to find new contracts. But others, like Molly Jovic, will be carrying doubt for the next few months. However, in her 50th national league match, Jovic more than proved her wares, conceding a tidy three turnovers and collecting one intercept.
If one positive comes out of this licensing saga, it’s the camaraderie between players. For the two hours of match play, Lightning and Magpies were competitors, but after the final whistle, they banded together to warm down, interact with fans and then share a meal.
That community-mindedness is something which Mentor highlighted as one of ‘great things’ to come out of all the mess. “As soon as the news broke, netball as a community put their arms around us. We really felt that love from all of the other franchises, CEOs, players and even from overseas as well. It is one thing that is beautiful about out sport.”
How long is a piece of string?
Time is not on Netball Australia’s side. There are strong cases for why they need to lock in a licensee sooner rather than later: the stalled CPA and TPA negotiations, the threat of losing talent to other competitions whose signing windows close soon and, of course, the Netball World Cup.
The latter is arguably the most pressing as it is a competition for which we don’t want athletes with split focuses. And while CEO Kelly Ryan has said they will be looking to sign the new club as soon as possible, one would argue that a July deadline should be enforced.
– Warren Partland
Adelaide Thunderbirds have pulled off another Houdini act against West Coast Fever, again retrieving a hefty deficit to triumph 54-53 in Adelaide.
The Thunderbirds trailed by a commanding eight goals at quarter time against a Fever on the rampage.
The stunning performance mirrored the round 6 clash in Perth when the Thunderbirds came from nine goals down to win by the barest margin.
After 10 years without finals action, the Thunderbirds took a massive step to clinching the minor premiership.
Will sun shine for Jamaica?
There are two crucial reasons Jamaica should claim World Cup glory in South Africa this year, and they were enemies in Adelaide on Saturday night.
West Coast Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler is the most potent shooter in the game and Adelaide Thunderbirds gun Shamera Sterling the world’s leading goal keeper.
They stood each other in the heavyweight Super Netball clash, with Fowler supreme in the first quarter. Sterling lifted after quarter-time to have a heavy influence.
The two powerful weapons will join forces for the Cup in July and August to give the Sunshine Girls an imposing look. But should and will are two different things, and they need to drag their midcourt along for the ride for Jamaica to reign supreme.
Fowler supreme
Fowler was unstoppable in the first quarter, nailing 19 goals. Her only miss was a rare super shot attempt.
Such was the impact of the Jamaican, former Thunderbirds’ goal attack Sasha Glasgow had just one attempt, a successful goal nine minutes into the contest.
The incredible form of Fowler enabled the Fever to score at least 20 for the fifth successive quarter, having achieved the feat for all four periods against Queensland Firebirds the previous round.
On the defence
The Thunderbirds’ defence found its destructive best in the second quarter, however, and restricted the visitors to 11. Sterling, overwhelmed in the first quarter, got into the game to disrupt the Fever attack.
Tippah Dwan, returning from injury, was thrown into the Thunderbirds’ goal circle for the second quarter, prompting Georgie Horjus to be moved to wing attack.
The line-up revamp had an effect and the Thunderbirds found more rhythm with their movement.
The Thunderbirds’ defensive work continued to make inroads and the Fever were kept to only 10 goals in the third, their worst quarter for the season.
Critical to the victory was the introduction of captain Hannah Petty, who missed last week’s belting from Melbourne Vixens due to a thigh problem, into the contest with only five minutes left.
Fever youngster Jordan Cransberg was promoted from the training partner squad for the clash after highly experienced Verity Simmons was forced out under Covid protocols.
And she impressed with her role in the centre, giving a polished performance before being replaced by Jess Antiss 10 minutes into the third quarter.
Cransberg came back into the fray at wing defence early in the fourth period.
‘Confusion unacceptable’
West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan has labelled the confusion after Adelaide Thunderbirds’ thrilling one-goal triumph in Mile End as unacceptable.
The venue scoreboard showed the result as 54-53, while the television broadcast on the big screen had the teams locked together at 53-all.
“We can’t have two different scores in the one venue for the one game in a professional netball competition,” Ryan said. “The confusion at the end of the game from broadcast to in-venue is unacceptable.”
The Thunderbirds retrieved an eight-goal deficit and celebrated when the umpires called an end to the game.
However, the mood quickly became subdued when the broadcast screen showed a drawand, and the players and staff surrounded the official scorers.
The Thunderbirds’ animated celebrations returned when the one-goal victory was confirmed.
Ryan said he would love to have another shot at every team which had beaten them by one goal this season.
Twice the Thunderbirds have overcome a hefty deficit to beat the Fever by a goal, while the NSW Swifts and Melbourne Vixens, both set to play finals, have also beaten the reigning champions by the narrowest of margins.
“We are learning the lessons the hard way and hopefully it is worth something in the long run,” Ryan said. “It is important these moments harden and galvanise us.”
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst is to continue to use captain Hannah Petty off the bench while she builds to full fitness following injury issues.
Petty played just the final five minutes and her influence was critical in providing leadership and composure.
After damaging her ankle in pre-season, Petty aggravated the injury in the second round. She missed last week’s loss to the Vixens because of a thigh issue.
“Hannah has been in chase mode since the injury in pre-season,” Obst said. “She is valuable to what we do and we will keep managing her.
“She has not had the court time this year and it would be unfair to throw her into that environment. We need to work with what is best for her.
“And Tayla (Williams) is doing a good job and needs to be rewarded.”
