Super Netball preview: Wildcard to 'rock the boat’, Collingwood’s ‘tricky’ World Cup dilemma
The new Super Netball season is upon us and while one team is predicted to surge up the ladder, another faces an awkward dilemma.
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Can anyone stop the West Coast Fever from going back-to-back?
The Super Netball season gets underway this weekend and the Fever are strong favourites to dominate again after claiming their maiden premiership last season.
With powerhouse Jamaican goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler and Australian defender Courtney Bruce at either end of the court, plus a deep squad growing in talent — the Fever won the preseason Team Girls Cup and will be hard to beat.
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Perennial contenders the Melbourne Vixens will be around the mark again, although last season’s runners-up have been dealt a blow with shooter Rahni Samason to miss a large chunk of the season with a leg injury.
With only eight teams and four finals spots up for grabs, Super Netball is one of Australia’s closest domestic competitions, evident in the snakes and ladders battle for finals last year.
If Fever and Vixens are strong again, that leaves just two other finals spots.
One team many are predicting to rise up the ladder is the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who snagged the recruit of the off-season in England Roses shooter Eleanor Cardwell.
She adds to a deep roster of shooters including Lucy Austin, Georgie Horjus and Tippah Dwan.
“Adelaide Thunderbirds, I love the recruiting they’ve done with Eleanor Cardwell,” Fox Netball’s Cath Cox told news.com.au.
“That’s a big, big pick-up for them. I think she’ll be great for them. I don’t know if they’re capable of winning but I think they’re going to rock the boat a lot this year.”
Paired with Jamaican defensive duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson, the Thunderbirds have the talent to push for finals.
South African star boosts Lightning
The Sunshine Coast Lightning were wooden spooners last season but will be boosted the return of gun South African defender Karla Pretorius.
Goal attack Steph Wood is in career best form and she will reunite with Cara Koenen in the shooting circle after they enjoyed a successful combination at January’s Quad Series.
But the Lightning have copped a heartbreaking injury blow on the eve of the season, with defender Tara Hinchcliffe rupturing her ACL for a second time.
“The only way is up really,” Koenen joked.
“The league is really tight points wise. We had a few awesome performances and we got waxed a few times on court as well.
“We’ll definitely be looking to make finals and be really, really competitive this year.”
Gretel Bueta, arguably Australia’s best netballer, will miss the Queensland Firebirds’ campaign and this year’s Netball World Cup after announcing she was pregnant with her second child.
Donnell Wallam, who starred in her debut Super Netball season and made her Diamonds debut last year, will have to shoulder a heavy load up front at the Queensland Firebirds.
World Cup creates Collingwood dilemma
While the focus is on Super Netball, there is already one eye on this year’s Netball World Cup, where Australia will be aiming to reclaim the title off New Zealand.
With Bueta unavailable for selection, Koenen, Wallam and Collingwood’s Sophie Garbin will all look to put their best foot forward to start at goal shooter for the Diamonds.
There’s intrigue around Garbin — who shone when given the goal shooter’s bib for the Diamonds and is an excellent holding shooter under the post — but is relegated to goal attack behind goal shooter Shimona Nelson at the Magpies.
“It’s a tricky one because it’s also not helping Sophie Garbin’s international campaign,” Cox said of the club dilemma.
“Ideally she’s a goal shooter, that’s where she plays the best. But she’s got to be doing it often to get really comfortable with it and to get that game sense and game strength up.
“Obviously with Shimona Nelson sitting behind her that’s really tricky to do because they want to have the best on court but to have the two best on court there’s one of them out of position.”
It may prompt Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich to ask Magpies coach Nicole Richardson to give Garbin more minutes at goal shooter.
“I don’t know how that chat goes on,” Cox said.
“If in a World Cup year, if Stacey Marinkovich picks up the phone to Nicole Richardson and goes, ‘Can you do us a favour and get her on the court?’.
“I’m sure she’s not going to cross the boundaries and do that but you’d certainly be thinking about it, wouldn’t you.”
Swifts to rebound from ‘disappointing’ 2022
Elsewhere, the Giants are determined to go all the way and win the premiership after making finals but falling just short on several occasions in recent years.
They will likely be battling it out with the NSW Swifts, who just missed the top four last season after an ACL injury to shooter Sam Wallace.
Wallace is set to make her return this season, and the Swifts’ shooting stocks have been boosted by training partner Romelda Aiken-George, along with Helen Housby and youngster Sophie Fawns.
“I think the Swifts will be a little better with Sam Wallace back in the mix,” Cox said.
“And you think about the likes of a Romelda Aiken on the sidelines, it’s pretty crazy.”
Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud knows they can make finals but wants to see more consistency from her team every week.
“The way last season ended was super disappointing,” Proud told news.com.au.
“Obviously we had the heartbreak of losing Sami early but I actually think we put out enough good performances that we could have been in contention for finals but we probably just let ourselves down at the wrong times.
“To beat a few of the teams we did beat showed we were definitely in it last season but it was just that lack of consistency, not being able to string together good performances was a real let down for us.
“We’ve already addressed the fact we can’t let that happen again. Yes, we may have had a different shooting combination in there but that can happen to any team in any where.
“We have to look to ourselves first but as a collective, what caused us to lose our way through the middle of that season. For us finals and winning the competition is always the benchmark and we want to go out and do that in 2023.”
Round 1 action is headlined by the Grand Final replay between the Fever and Vixens on Saturday night.
Catch all the action on Fox Netball via Kayo Sports. Each round, two selected games will be available to stream for free on Kayo Freebies.
The last game of every round will be immediately followed by magazine show Pivot, which will show highlights from the round and wrap up the weekend’s action
Super Netball 2023 Round 1 (all times AEDT)
Collingwood vs NSW Swifts — Saturday 5pm
West Coast Fever vs Melbourne Vixens — Saturday 7pm
Sunshine Coast Lightning vs Giants — Sunday 2pm
Queensland Firebirds vs Adelaide Thunderbirds — Sunday 4pm
Originally published as Super Netball preview: Wildcard to 'rock the boat’, Collingwood’s ‘tricky’ World Cup dilemma
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