The Giants won a scrappy encounter over the Magpies, while the Thunderbirds had an ‘all time’ win over the Vixens at home.
On Sunday, the Swifts fought their way into the top four with a thrilling victory over the Lightning, while the Firebirds almost pulled off the upset of the season against the Fever
Catch up with all the round five Super Netball action.
NSW Swifts clawed their way back into the top four with a nailbiting one-goal win over Sunshine Coast Lightning in Super Netball.
The victory caused a big shake up in the ladder, with Swifts forcing their way into the top four for the first time this season while simultaneously pushing Lightning out of it.
In the final two minutes of the game Steph Wood went down with an apparent knee injury, sending shockwaves through the stadium. She battled on, against the ever-present physical pressure of Maddy Turner but it wasn’t enough.
A Helen Housby super shot with less than one minute remaining nudged them into the lead. A rare Karla Pretorius fumble gave the ball back to the Swifts who capitalised by playing their famous possession game.
Speaking after the match, Housby said, “It feels like there isn’t any air left in the stadium for us. We knew Lightning were going to stick with us for the full 60 minutes. We just had to have the belief to win the game and we did.”
Romelda Aiken-George is still searching for form in her new colours, but had a dominant game against compatriot Kadie-Ann Dehaney, scoring 43 from 49 including an impressive lay-up.
Down by three at halftime, the biggest margin of the game, Swifts’ head coach Briony Akle was frank about her side’s performance.
“We’ve been good in patches, but we need a lot more consistency and sticking to the game plan,” she said.
Lightning’s Laura Scherian was forced off court in the third with blood streaming from her face, but Swifts were unable to take advantage of the disruption. They instead opted to get themselves back in the game courtesy of a Helen Housby super shot.
Throughout the match Swifts struggled to win back ball in defence, and found it harder to score off it. With only four gains for the match and scoring off just 50 per cent of them, it was in stark contrast to Lightning who capitalised on 83 per cent of their defensive wins.
DIAMONDS DAZZLING DUO
Cara Koenen and Steph Wood have been one of the most tantalising shooting combinations on show in 2023. With Australian Diamonds squad selection just two weeks away, expect to see them at the top of Stacey Marinkovich’s list not just for the squad but for the World Cup Team headed to Cape Town.
DIAMONDS DEADLINE
With seven past and present Diamonds players on show, and squad announcement looming all eyes were on last year’s squad members Maddy Proud and Maddy Turner who are yet to make themselves permanent fixtures in the side. Both players put out strong performances, especially Proud who was finding her shooters with ease. However, she was costly with ball in hand giving away four turnovers, something that may be of concern for Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich.
-Alex Murdoch
Reigning premiers West Coast Fever narrowly defeated the Queensland Firebirds in a nail-bitingly physical 73-71 stoush in Brisbane on Sunday, continuing its Super Netball domination with a fifth-straight win.
The Fever remain the only team yet to drop a match, leaving the Firebirds in the position no team wanted – five matches down with no wins on the board and desperately showing the lack of their superstar goal attack Greta Bueta.
The Queenslanders didn’t go down without a fight, with a huge seven-goal clawback -which included three super shots from goal shooter Donnell Wallam in row – almost causing a last-minute upset.
While it wasn’t enough to turn the green tide, it showed the Firebirds couldn’t be counted out from the competition just yet.
The news came as netball great Catherine Cox foreshadowed a winless season for the three-time premiers, who won the 2011, 15 and 16 seasons and were now classed as in a rebuilding phase.
“They could go through this season without a win – they could be the first side to do that since 2018,’’ Cox said on Fox Sports’ Centre Circle.
“They’re not easybeats but it could happen.”
Ultimately, it was player of the match Jamaican champion Jhaniele Fowler’s unbelievable accuracy which made the difference for the Fever, scoring an astounding 60 shots from 61 attempts at 98% – bringing her to a league-topping 280 goals from 284 attempts from the first five rounds.
Meanwhile, Bueta, who was a last-minute pregnancy withdrawal from the roster, had been replaced by Mia Stower (3/4) and Emily Moore (4/5) who both showed promise but had yet to hit their straps.
Instead, it was Wallam who kept the Firebirds in the hunt, scoring 48/53 and then 7/10 super shots to finish with 62 points to her name.
The first quarter started off even, with both sides goal for goal, before the Fever began showing their class as the lead blew out 10-5.
Not even the first quarter loss of Fever captain and goalkeeper Courtney Bruce, who limped off after rolling her ankle on opponent Wallam’s foot, was enough to stop the visitors’ momentum.
By the end of the first quarter Fever held a 10-goal lead 25-15 despite two super shots by Wallam, compared to one by Fever goal attack Sasha Glasgow.
Wing defence Gabi Simpson, who was celebrating her 150th game – a feat only matched in the side by former players Laura Geitz (169) and Romelda Aiken-George (197), twice put her body on the line to stop a Fever score in the second term.
With Bruce back on with her ankle restrapped, and then pushed out to goal defence with Rudi Ellis in goal keeper for the final five minutes, the Fever had stretched their domination to 13 goals (43-30).
A third quarter shake-up, which saw Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion switched from centre to wing defence and Macy Gardner taking over in the centre, saw the Firebirds speed up through the middle and trigger the last-minute fightback and ending the third quarter 58-51.
And despite Wallam’s final minutes heroics, it wasn’t enough as the Fever held on to a to-goal victory.
