Fox Sports Australia netball columnist Erin Delahunty gives the latest news updates and analysis from on and off the court in her new column, The Down Low!
In an “unbelievably special” Super Netball first, Collingwood will host the Sunshine Coast Lightning in an Anzac Day clash on Tuesday afternoon.
The history-making match, to begin at 1pm at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, will finish in time for spectators to potentially walk to the nearby MCG for the traditional blockbuster AFL Anzac match between Collingwood and Essendon.
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To pay tribute to the sacrifice of Australian servicemen and women and celebrate the Anzac spirit, the Pies’ dress will feature the official Anzac Day logo, Lightning will wear special bibs and warm-up tops, and members of the Victorian Defence Netball Association will be involved in the coin toss and presentation of the match-day ball.
Sunshine Coast Lightning shooter Charlie Bell told The Down Low she is honoured “beyond words” to be a part of the momentous game.
Bell’s father, grandfather and uncle and grandfather on her mother’s side all served Australia in various conflicts, “so it’s unbelievably special to know I am part of this game, which will recognise their service.”
“It is super special to me because I have grown up attending the Dawn Service and very much understanding what it all means,” the 21-year-old said.
Bell’s grandfather David Bell was a Royal Air Force pilot in World War 2 and passed away when she was just four. Her father, David Snr, served for more than a decade, as did her uncle. Her maternal grandfather Rod Hawkins served in the Vietnam War.
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“To think I am going to stand there, arm-in-arm with my teammates, as presumably, the Last Post plays … achieving my dreams, that I know my grandfather would have been so, so proud of, even though he never got to see it … it is amazing,” she said, choking back tears.
Collingwood midcourter Ash Brazill is also looking forward to the clash. “Being able to play on Anzac Day for the first time is gonna be really special,” she said after her side’s four-goal loss to the Giants in Sydney at the weekend.
“And to link it with the men’s (Aussie rules) game as well is even more special. It’s just a game of netball or footy in the end … so the fact we are able to do what we love, because (of) the people that sacrifice their lives; I’m excited for it,” Brazill said.
Collingwood and Lightning each have just two wins, but fifth-placed Sunny Coast sits two spots above the Pies on the ladder with a superior percentage, making Tuesday’s game an important one as the halfway point of the season approaches.
Thunderbirds soar to win over Vixens | 00:56
PLAYER FRUSTRATION ON SHOW: PHIPPARD
One of the most respected names in world umpiring says player frustration about how Super Netball is being umpired is sparking ugly “expressions of exasperation” on the court.
Michelle Phippard – a former Super Netball and international umpire and current member of World Netball’s rules advisory panel – told The Down Low a “clear level of frustration” is on display “because players perceive there’s inconsistency in how the game is being umpired.”
Phippard said a number of recent games reflected the trend towards “a lot more verbal” and strong reactions from players about decisions.
“In the last two seasons certainly, there’s a lot more ‘verbal’ than there used to be, a lot more. It’s become a more entrenched part of the game, even from players who previously you might not have expected it from,” she said. A lot of the frustration and questioning is coming from defenders in particular, Phippard said.
“When you sit back and look at how players are reacting, you can see there is a disconnect between what’s being penalised week-to-week and what the players think they should be allowed to do,” the experienced official said.
It’s something that needs to be addressed by the league, which should be more open about the officiating, she added.
Phippard said while “dropped shoulders and eye-rolls” are mostly harmless, “quite pointed in-your-face reactions” can and should be interpreted as attempting to undermine the umpire’s authority and penalised.
“Sport at an elite level needs to set an example around the way umpires are treated because we know the flow-down effect it has at the community level. We don’t want being abused to be seen as part of the job, because it’s not.
“We want Super Netball players to be able to express themselves of course and often frustration isn’t actually directed at the umpire,” Phippard said, but where the intention is to intimidate, umpires need to step in.
“When it’s not addressed, the tone between the players and umpires can deteriorate, the game can start to become ugly, and the control starts to go, which no one wants.”
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STERLING’S STAGGERING STATISTICAL SEASON
Shamera Sterling collected her second MVP of the 2023 season at the weekend for a superlative-defying performance against the Melbourne Vixens that included eight deflections, four rebounds and several blocked shots.
It was the latest in a series of blistering games for the Jamaican Thunderbird, who is in career-best form just months out from the World Cup.
A quick rundown of the stats leaderboard reveals the 27-year-old is leading several key metrics. She is number one for defensive rebounds (16), deflections (40) and total Net Points (539). She’s also sitting fourth for the most intercepts, behind fellow Sunny Girls Jodi-Ann Ward at first and Kadie-Ann Dehaney at second.
All these numbers are made the more extraordinary given Sterling has played 30 minutes less than most players in the league, after the Thunderbirds’ round two game against the Swifts was abandoned.
Dr Aaron Fox – a lecturer in Applied Sport Science and Research Methods at Deakin University and co-host of the Real v Feel: Netball Numbers That Matter podcast – said Sterling is also leading the league for blocked shots, averaging one a game, and also for the average number of gains per game at 7.4.
“Looking at blocks, she leads the league by a long way. It’s hard to believe but across the whole 2020 season, Sterling actually averaged slightly more than her current one block a game.
“She averages 107.8 Net Points a game this year, which is 23 points higher per game than any of her other season averages,” he said. In 2023, Sterling is also recording fewer penalties and turnovers than she ever has.
Dr Fox said Sterling’s current “PG rating”, a measure he developed in 2022 to compare the number of penalties a player gives away per gain they take, is “beyond elite.”
“With the PG rating, anything around a two – that is two penalties per gain is great, elite – and right now, on a whole-of-season average, Sterling is sitting at 0.95. Think about that. That’s fewer penalties than gains in total in 2023, which is just staggering,” Dr Fox said.
“This is obviously the best she’s achieved in her Super Netball career to date and well out in front of anyone else in recent years, probably the best ever. We rarely see a player score under one, let alone less than that as an average five rounds into a season.
“If you put everything together … it’s clearly Sterling’s best season so far, but it’s everywhere, not just in one area, that she excels. She’s coming for that season MVP from Jhaniele Fowler,” Dr Fox said.
