Super Netball grand final 2022: How Melbourne Vixens can nullify Jhaniele Fowler
Sam Poolman was able to stop Jhaniele Fowler in last year’s preliminary final. She reveals how the Vixens can nullify the superstar on the grand final stage.
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Fox Netball commentator Sam Poolman has done something few in the sport have managed – to nullify the effect of Fever shooter Jhaniele Fowler.
Poolman’s efforts on Fowler in last year’s preliminary final helped the Giants into the Super Netball decider.
With the Fever’s grand final game plan this Sunday revolving around the world’s premier goaler, we’ve turned to Poolman to help understand how the Vixens can attempt to mitigate one of the biggest threats in the game.
Watch West Coast Fever vs Melbourne Vixens in The 2022 Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final LIVE & FREE with Kayo Freebies from 7PM AEST Sun 3rd July. Join Kayo Freebies now, no credit card required >
Fearsome Fowler
At 198cm, Fowler is the tallest player in the league and presents a big target for the Fever feeders, who do not necessarily need to get to the top of the circle to get the ball to her under the post.
But to dismiss the Jamaican goaler as a one-dimensional player is folly.
Athletic and powerful, she is comfortable holding her space in the circle or moving to the ball, while her shooting range is also expansive and she’s ready to take the super shot if needed.
“Every year I played, the window of strategy against her continually closed,” Poolman said.
“She was one of the first players I played on when I played for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in 2013 – and there was always that area of a play that you could potentially try and expose, whether it was an area of the court you needed to get her in, or strategically try and force her as far away from the post as you could.
“But every year she just keeps getting better.
“Now, she’s not afraid to shoot the two-point shot and defensively, she’s really hard to throw over when you have the ball, so the margin to beat her is very, very slim.”
Teamwork the answer
Poolman finished with two gains, including an intercept, in her preliminary final masterclass last year and an underwhelming 10.5 Nissan NetPoints.
But in the ultimate sign that statistics can only ever tell part of the story, the keeper still dominated her direct opponent.
Much of the work was done out the front before the ball ever came near the circle.
“It’s the amount of pressure and dictating and denying contesting work that you can do out the front,” Poolman said.
“It’s always been the way to do it, I think. I’ve always been very much a team player, so I didn’t mind who got the ball.
“In that game, I don’t think I got any (major) stats, I don’t think I really touched the ball.
“It doesn’t matter who gets the hands on a ball, your aim is possession. Yes, the two-handed single intercepts are beautiful, and that’s what you want.
“But a massive win was a throw-in; a massive win was a step; a massive win was an off-side because you’re still gaining possession and forcing your opposition to make mistakes.”
Mannix or Lewis?
Emily Mannix took a matchwinning intercept for the Vixens in the dying seconds of last week’s preliminary final against the Giants – part of an outstanding game from the two-time premiership winner.
At 188cm, she gives away 10cm to Fowler but is likely to be given first crack at the champion by coach Simone McKinnis.
The Vixens did not use defender Olivia Lewis at all off the bench last week. But the former Fever squad member has an intimate knowledge of Fowler’s game, having lined up against her hundreds of times in training.
Fowler has been held to less than 50 goals just three times this season – including in both regular-season games against the Vixens – where Lewis turned in outstanding performances.
The 23-year-old had three intercepts and a deflection in the Vixens’ round 4 win at John Cain Arena before coming up with four gains, two intercepts and five deflections in their six-goal round 10 victory in Perth.
“That’s a luxury the Vixens have is Liv Lewis there as well and there’s nothing like coming up against your old team to provide that extra little motivation,” Poolman said.
“I think her elevation is really good, so they do have a person that contests vertically on the bench.”
Poolman though, would start with Mannix given her heroics last start.
“Given last week, and where they’re at, I would start Mannix but have all the confidence that you know what Liv Lewis can do for you at any time.”
Midcourt battle key
It won’t come down to just the defenders though, with both teams’ ability to contest the first ball, dictating where and how fast it moves on and denying the easy pass into the circle, the key to winning the match.
While the Vixens’ dynamic duo of Liz Watson and Kate Moloney, along with wing defence Kate Eddy – who was outstanding in the preliminary final – will be key, the Fever have improved their midcourt depth since the last time they were in the big dance in 2020.
“In previous years, I thought they only had one real solid centre at Fever. If you could crack Verity (Simmons), then whoever was at wing attack wasn’t as confident (feeding the ball to the circle),” Poolman said.
But in Alice Teague-Neeld, who has been transformed from a goaler to a creative wing attack by coach Dan Ryan this season, the Fever have another key threat in the midcourt, while at goal attack, Sasha Glasgow is both a strong feeder for Fowler and a shooting threat from long range.
“If you do double defend Fowler, Sasha (Glasgow) is comfortable to cut that circle and long bomb herself,” Poolman said.
“So I think where you could expose them in previous years, both individual players have really stepped and it’s a credit to Dan Ryan and what he’s done with that team as well.”
The Super Netball grand final will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Kayo Freebies from 6pm AEST, with the first centre pass at 7pm.
Fourth-time lucky? Fever fired up to end grand final pain
— Erin Smith
Six seasons, four finals series, three grand finals but not one trophy – it is a statistic Fever defender Stacey Francis-Bayman hopes to finally change on Sunday night.
Francis-Bayman, speaking ahead of the grand final clash with Vixens this weekend, said Fever had done the leg work and earned the right to fight for the top Super Netball trophy.
“It would be the biggest achievement of my career so far,” Francis-Bayman said.
“I have won titles in the past but SSN is the benchmark in terms of domestic netball in the world and it is a privilege to play here.
“I think I’ve been at my best since I’ve been at this club and to be able to be at my best in what I think to be the absolute best team this year is really exciting.”
While she doesn’t like to dwell on the past, Francis-Bayman said previous grand-final losses were hard to shake.
“I can recall all of them instantly and all of the moments that you wish you’d done differently,” she said.
“We are really proud of the journey that we’ve been on as a club. We haven’t reached that ultimate success but we have grown exponentially since the SSN competition started.”
Fever had a blinder of a season, winning 10 of their 14 games, to finish second on the competition ladder.
A sensational performance against an underdone Vixens in the major-semi final catapulted them into the grand final – which, due to a deal between Netball Australia and the Western Australian Government, was already slated to be hosted on their home court in Perth.
Fever coach Dan Ryan said everyone was fresh and firing and had been training well over the past couple of weeks. He said the Fever would have to pull out their best if they wish to finish the season with a win.
“I’ve always seen the Vixens as the benchmark team this season,” Ryan said.
“We know we have to play very, very well to beat the Vixens and they probably think the exact same about us, considering our performance in the semi-final.
“They’ve got quality players all over the court and they know how to show up and produce the best netball, there is no question about that.
“Our responsibility is to make sure we take care of our own backyard and show up and play our best netball. We know our best is very hard to beat and the challenge is to make sure we can use that on grand final day.”
With a sellout crowd predicted to fill up RAC Arena, Francis-Bayman has a feeling the Vixens’ fans might be outnumbered on Sunday.
“I expect they won’t make it comfortable for them,” she said. “We don’t push hostility but I think to have a home crowd, to be in our home venue absolutely gives us a boost and an advantage.”
Vixens defender Kate Eddy said playing in front of a sellout crowd would be a boost, regardless of who the fans were cheering for.
“The trick is to just pretend everyone is cheering for you,” she said.
Eddy was part of the Vixens team which won the grand final in 2020.
She said the squad planned to bring the same belief they took into the impressive fourth-quarter nine goal fight back against Giants last weekend to Sunday’s game.
But she knows it won’t be an easy game.
“The last time we played against Fever they had an absolute ripper of a game and we didn’t really play well at all,” Eddy said.
“We were on the backfoot the whole time and we went to plan B without even trying plan A.
“So for us it is just about being consistent and doing the little things in our game plan right.
“I’m hoping the game won’t be as stressful as last weekend but we are comfortable with that uncomfortable pressure as well.”
Fever play Vixens at RAC Arena at 7pm (AEST) on Sunday.
Dynamic duo’s special bond ignites Vixens
-Emma Greenwood
They are the dynamic duo of the netball world.
Kate Moloney and Liz Watson have been mainstays at the Vixens for the past decade, delivering premiership success at the highest level on two occasions.
Moloney was left without her wing-woman last year when Watson — the world’s best wing attack and Diamonds captain — was kept out of action for the entire Super Netball season following surgery on a fractured foot.
And while there are other elements to the Vixens’ success story — not least the recruitment of Diamonds goaler Kiera Austin and rising defender Olivia Lewis — the return of Watson and her partnership with Moloney has been key to their success this year.
In Sunday’s grand final, the midcourt battle will help decide the Super Netball title.
That’s the case in any netball game but with the Fever boasting the world’s best goal shooter in 198cm target Jhaniele Fowler, the need to slow down the ball before it gets into the circle is paramount.
That’s where Watson and Moloney come to the fore. Each have their distinctive traits.
Watson’s ability to get to the edge of the circle and set up play for her goalers is world class.
“We did we certainly miss Lizzy last year and whenever you lose a player of her calibre, it’s always going to hurt in some way,” Moloney said.
“What she brings on and off the court has been amazing for us this year.”
Moloney, who was named in the Diamonds’ Commonwealth Games team after a strong season, is the perfect foil, understanding almost innately where her partner in crime will be at almost any point in time, while always driving those around her to be better.
“She’s the one who will dive over the sideline or chase up every loose ball — even when it’s already out of court,” Watson said.
“She just has that passion and determination and I think when she’s out there just playing well in herself and free, that’s when she’s at her best and it makes all of us around her be able to just do our role and play at our best.”
Together, they are more than the sum of their parts.
Think of any great sporting combination: Warne and McGrath; Lewis and Langer; Lanning and Healy — Watson and Moloney are right up with the best of them.
The Vixens co-captains have been together at the club for the past decade but also came through the Netball Victoria pathway together.
“We probably started playing together when we were 15 or 16 in the Victorian Netball League and to have been able to really grow a combination off the court and the friendship that we have off the court as well, you do really feel like you just know where she is and what she’s going to do (in a game),” Moloney said. “It’s pretty special.”
Fever coach Dan Ryan’s move to shift Alice Teague-Neeld into the midcourt this season has proved a masterstroke, with she and centre Verity Simmons both knowing exactly where Fowler needs the ball, while the return of the experienced Jess Anstiss from injury only adds to West Coast’s midcourt presence.
“I think in our semi-final against them they got on top of us early and that’s when they got their confidence and I could see Verity and Alice just letting the ball go into Fowler from pretty much anywhere on the court,” Watson said.
“When they do get on a roll, they can score very quickly and get ahead very quickly.”
That’s where the one-two punch of Watson and Moloney will come in.
Expert at controlling the pace of the game, shut one down and the other responds — and both determined to be on song from the opening centre pass having learnt from recent lapses.
The buzz of their last-gasp preliminary final win over the Giants wore off quickly, with Watson determined her team would learn from the mistakes made in that game — and the loss to the Fever a fortnight ago.
“We had to really address those things that could have lost the game for us because we don’t want that to repeat itself this week,” Watson said.
“We’re so proud of the fight that we had (against the Giants) and we and we know that we’ve got that in us but we didn’t have to get ourselves in that situation … we just really put ourselves under pressure.
“We have to really address the little things that could have honestly cost us the game.”
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