Super Netball: Melbourne Vixens extend winning streak over cross-town rivals, Swifts remain undefeated
The NSW Swifts have survived an early scare from the Queensland Firebirds to remain undefeated. Plus the Vixens outclass their cross-town rivals. All the Super Netball news.
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New Zealand goaler Grace Nweke has won the battle of the superstar shooters, draining 54 goals to keep the Swifts unbeaten at the top of the Super Netball ladder.
The match was billed as a battle of the star international shooters who joined their respective teams this season, with Firebirds’ Ugandan goaler Mary Cholhok rebounding after a tough clash in the Queensland derby last week to contribute 44 points to her side in the 71-63 loss.
Swifts co-captain Paige Hadley finished with player of the match honours after conceding just one turnover while responsible for handling a massive amount of ball after finishing with 24 goal assists and 32 feeds.
Traditional foes, the Swifts and Firebirds have not faced each other as top-four candidates for several seasons and the Queenslanders took the early lead, threatening to end the Swifts’ unbeaten streak.
After taking an early five-goal lead, they were up by three at the end of the first quarter and headed to halftime on level terms.
But the Swifts snuffed out their challenge by winning the third term by 10 goals and while the Firebirds won the last, they could not claw back the margin.
The Queenslanders now sit at 2-2 in fourth place after losing their second match in a row and have plenty of work to do if they are to break their Super Netball finals drought.
There were better signs for the Birdies after they failed to find Cholhok against the Lightning last week, with both the 201cm shooter and the Queensland midcourters presenting better options.
The Swifts punish 👊
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Coach Kiri Wills was pleased with the improved supply to Cholhok and the pick-up in areas the club had worked on over the last week.
But it was the Swifts who stood up best under pressure, changing up their midcourt after Hadley and Verity Simmons were crowding the top of the circle, with coach Briony Akle injecting Allie Smith at centre to great effect.
Best in the world
Super Netball pegs itself as the best competition in the world and the reason why was on full display on Sunday, with two of the top goalers in the world going head to head.
Silver Ferns star Nweke finished with 54 goals, while Cholhok had 44 points for the Firebirds. Add in England internationals Helen Housby (Swifts) and Imogen Allison (Firebirds) and a host of current and former Diamonds and it was a game of immense quality that no other league in the world can match.
Already close to the best shooter in the world, Nweke continues to improve her game and believes there is still room to be better.
“Every week, it’s a new challenge, new defenders, the training environment is different, the coaching style, the personnel, so really learning on the job, but really enjoying it,” Nweke said.
“I’m not wanting to be a one trick pony.
“I want to be able to diversify my skill set and just know in moments where I need to change up what I’m doing, I can do that.
“So (I’m) really enjoying having amazing goal attacks, wing attacks and centres out the front of me who encourage me to grow my game and feed the ball in different ways and see what we can do.”
Origin vibes
The Swifts and Firebirds were the fiercest rivals in the league heading into the creation of Super Netball after playing the two grand finals leading into the new competition.
The Firebirds had faded from their former greatness, making the Super Netball finals just once - in 2018 - while the Swifts have won the title twice (2019, 2021) and made the grand final in 2023 to be an undisputed modern powerhouse.
But a Firebirds resurgence can only be good for the competition - and the Queensland-NSW rivalry in particular - although the Birdies still have plenty of work to do to ensure they’re in the top four at the end of the regular season.
Strength in numbers
The Swifts are sitting pretty at the top of the ladder, now holding a two-game advantage over their next closest rivals - the five teams with a 2-2 record, their ladder placings determined by goal percentages.
They have plenty of stars but Hadley said it was their depth that would prove to be crucial if they were to hold on for a winning season.
“I feel like the years we’ve been really successful we’ve had a really strong squad,” she said.
“Anyone that comes out, someone can come in and fill.”
Akle has used all 11 members of her squad, including nominated athlete Grace Whyte so far and changed up positions again, mixing her midcourt and defensive line-ups throughout the match against the Firebirds.
“Many people probably thought Allie Smith wasn’t going to go into that centre position but I thought she did a job,” Hadley said.
“Obviously (she was) a bit nervous on the centre pass sometimes but I thought she really came and drove hard to get that depth and let me do my thing out the front.”
Vixens extend bragging rights over rivals as Mavs lament costly start
Melbourne Vixens have maintained bragging rights over the Melbourne Mavericks, continuing their unbeaten record against their new cross-town rivals as Sophie Garbin starred in Sunday’s Super Netball derby.
Led by an MVP performance from Diamonds’ goal shooter Garbin, the Vixens survived a late super-shot flurry from the Mavericks to secure their second win of the season with a 67-59 victory at John Cain Arena.
The Vixens won both their outings against the Mavericks in the new franchise’s maiden campaign last season and bounced back from their 10-goal loss to the West Coast Fever last week with their best performance of the season.
Garbin (45 goals from 52 attempts) led the way in the goal circle for the Vixens, who flicked the switch on their electric and rapid-fire passing, which the attack capitalised on.
While Shimona Jok (43/47) still dominated the scoring for the Mavericks, Vixens’ defenders Jo Weston and Rudi Ellis worked hard to quell the impact of the in-form goaler, who scored 60 of her team’s 71 goals in round three match against the Giants.
Four late super-shots in the final quarter between Uneeq Palavi (7/9) and Sasha Glasgow (4/8) gave the Mavs a glimmer of hope, but the margin had proved too great to reel in.
The victory edged the Vixens, who were sitting seventh on the table, closer to the top-four ahead of a showdown against the ladder-leading NSW Swifts next round.
Vixens coach Simone McKinnis was proud of the way her fast-starting team had hit back after last week’s loss to the Fever.
“I thought we had a good week in terms of on the training track, but also off, the way that we worked through last weekend,” McKinnis said.
“They stepped out and brought it out there today and it was great to watch and I was happy for them.
“There was great intensity and focus and it looked like they were enjoying it.”
The Mavericks’ will have to find a way to bounce back against the Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard-led West Coast Fever in Perth in their next match.
Mavs’ coach Tracey Neville lamented her team’s slow start and said the team needed to put scoreboard pressure early.
“Against top teams you have got to feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable and I think the pressure that they put on us was the perception that we couldn’t throw the usual ball away and they did a great job on that,” Neville said.
“The way we dealt with that technically today was a real coach-killer.
“We came back too late and at this level, we are putting a lot of pressure on the shooters to come back in those two-point times is something we have talked about a lot and we have to take the scoreboard pressure early.”
GARBIN’S GOALS
Garbin came to life in her best performance of the season, which had McKinnis hailing her presence in the circle.
Replaced by young goaler Lily Graham for almost a half against the Fever last round, Garbin made a hot start and did not miss a goal in the opening quarter.
Her movement in the circle and connection with goal attack Kiera Austin (19/22, including three super shots) proved a handful for the Mavericks’ defenders.
“I loved it. I thought her timing when she did come out for (the) ball was great, her takes under the posts were brilliant,” McKinnis said of Garbin’s performance.
“She made people confident to let the ball go and give it to her because she was just that presence and demanding in that circle. I thought it was fantastic.”
McKinnis also praised the work of her circle defenders’ on Jok at the other end and the team’s full-court pressure.
“I thought they did really well, but I think that the pressure up-court was much improved from last week,” she said.
SASHA SCARE
There was a collective sigh among Mavs’ fans around John Cain Arena when goal attack Glasgow hit the floor hard early in the opening quarter.
Driving into the circle, Glasgow looked to slip on the floor and landed heavily on the court, but dusted herself off and was able to get up and continue playing.
Glasgow missed all of last season after breaking her leg in a pre-season practice game and had been sidelined for the Mavs’ last match in round 3 against the Giants with a calf issue.
She hit the deck again in the second quarter in a collision with one of the Vixens’ defenders.
Glasgow was replaced by Palavi for the start of the second half, but returned in both of the super shot periods.
“We keep going back to the fact that she hasn’t played a proper game of netball in 16 months and it is a progression into that and getting her efficiency back in play and getting up to this level,” Neville said.
“Until she has been able to stand up to that physical pressure day in, day out and get her game sense back in, that’s something that you can’t do in rehab. That’s a slow burner for her and she just has to keep pushing at it.”
Originally published as Super Netball: Melbourne Vixens extend winning streak over cross-town rivals, Swifts remain undefeated
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