Net Gains: How even in First Nations round netball is failing Indigenous players
There is a lack of Indigenous representation within netball. In Net Gains, EMMA GREENWOOD asks why couldn’t Gabby Coffey take to the court in the final minutes of First Nations round?
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The Melbourne Vixens were outstanding in their win against West Coast Fever in Perth on Sunday, becoming the first team in the league to beat the competition leaders this year.
The 76-65 win was comprehensive in the end, although the Fever clawed their way to within six points with just over three minutes remaining when Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard converted her second super shot of the final term.
That’s likely the reason Vixens coach Simone McKinnis was unable to get any of her subs on to the floor in the final minutes.
But it was disappointing to see Gabby Coffey spend the entire match on the bench.
While she’s a training partner rather than a full-time contract holder and has only moved into the match-day 10 due to an injury to regular wing defence Kate Eddy, Wiradjuri woman Coffey is one of the few Indigenous players in the league and for her to spend the entire game on the bench in First Nations round was a shame.
When former Firebird Jemma Mi Mi failed to enter the match during Indigenous Round, as it was then known, four years ago, it caused an uproar.
That was different given Mi Mi was a fully contracted squad member who often competed for a spot in the starting line-up.
Just as was the case for the Vixens on Sunday, the Firebirds had been fighting for a win over the side on top of the ladder.
But as was arguably the case for the Firebirds then, it seemed there was a chance for Coffey to get on to the court in the dying stages.
There were two minutes left in the match when back-to-back goals to the Vixens pushed the lead back out to eight points.
But with the super shot in play, there was probably a risk until a minute later the lead was 10.
Is putting Coffey on the court at that point patronising?
That’s probably a question for McKinnis, Coffey and the Vixens.
But in a sport that has had an issue with the number of First Nations players pushing through to the elite level - whether that’s the Diamonds, Super Netball or elite pathways - it’s never too late.
For that kid watching on TV, the little girl or boy in the crowd or the one who thinks their “difference” makes them less able to get to the top, any visibility is a win.
RIVALRIES ON SHOW
The weekend was the first of two First Nations rounds that will be held this season but it could just as easily have been pegged rivalry round.
A grand final rematch, the Queensland derby, battle of the battlers and in the top-of-the-table clash, arguably the biggest rivalry in the sport over the past few years.
The Vixens and Fever have been among the top teams in the league over the past few years, each club notching a premiership after clashes against each other, the Vixens triumphing in 2020 before the Fever won their first title in 2022.
In between that, there was the infamous Vixens “no show” in the west, after Melbourne did not travel to Perth to play after a trio of players was ruled ineligible to enter Western Australia after visiting northern NSW during the previous week’s bye round during the Covid era.
The Vixens were fined by Netball Australia for failing to travel to Perth, adding to the spice of match-ups since.
Without Kate Eddy and rising star Zara Walters, the Vixens were expected to struggle against the previously unbeaten Fever but had their measure, with their attack line, in particular, outstanding.
Former Fever defender Rudi Ellis also had a day out against her old club, picking up four gains, including three intercepts, playing at ‘keeper against the towering Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
Emily Mannix continued her outstanding season, forcing the benching of the Fever goal attack Shanice Beckford after the Jamaican conceded eight turnovers in the opening half.
MVP Kiera Austin, who shot at just under 80 per cent but also exerted enormous defensive pressure up the court, said the Vixens’ loss to the Sunshine Coast in Round 6 - their first of the season - was “hugely disappointing”.
“We didn’t go out there and give the Lightning the respect they deserved,” Austin said, noting the Victorians had “nothing to lose” on Sunday, with their unbeaten record already extinguished.
While the Lightning pushed into the top four with their victory over the Firebirds in the Queensland derby, the Thunderbirds pencilled themselves in alongside the Fever and Vixens as teams most likely to have cemented a finals spot at the halfway point of the season.
The T-Birds’ win over the Swifts - in which they kept last year’s grand final rivals to the lowest score in Super Netball history - was outstanding, with their 26 gains showing they possess arguably the best defensive club unit in world netball.
It was a tough week for Swifts coach Briony Akle too, who “celebrated” her 100th Super Netball match as a coach with her side dropping out of the top four with a performance they’ll want to forget pretty quickly.
The Giants fought hard for their second win of the season - and first this year on the road - with the Mavs missing a chance to be level on points with fourth place at the halfway mark.
RISING STAR SHINES
Donnell Wallam lives for the big moments in games and the fierce competitor is usually on the winning end of them.
For the proud Noongar woman, First Nations round is one of the occasions that brings out her best, but the Firebirds goaler was bettered by her direct rival on Saturday night, with the Brisbane side going down to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the intrastate contest.
In a match that pitted the only two full-time Indigenous players in the league against one another, Wakka Wakka woman Leesa Mi Mi took honours, with her efforts in the midcourt helping the Lightning to an 11-goal victory that lifted her side into the top four.
Mi Mi finished with 19 goal assists, 36 feeds and two pick-ups in a stellar effort that provided a one-two midcourt punch with Diamonds captain Liz Watson, who contributed a massive 52 feeds.
Lightning captain Steph Fretwell was back to her best after an ankle injury, but the key was the effort of former Firebird Ash Ervin, who finished the game with 11 gains, including four intercepts, and nine deflections, while playing on Wallam.
Wallam had expected a tough one-on-one contest but it seemed that would be against Diamonds goalkeeper Courtney Bruce, until she was kept out for a third consecutive week with a calf injury.
Instead, she faced Ervin, who only enhanced her growing reputation and position as a Diamond-in-waiting.
The tall defender’s ability is no surprise to Wallam, given Ervin’s past role as a Firebirds training partner and recent Diamonds camp invitee.
While the Super Netball media guide lists Ervin at 192cm to Wallam’s 193cm, it probably hasn’t taken into account Lightning defender is still growing, with Wallam saying after a pre-season match she thought the 21-year-old was now taller than her.
The Ervin-Tara Hinchliffe combination has been outstanding for the Lightning, who have racked up two wins and a controversial extra-time loss in Bruce’s absence.
Ervin’s performance provides coach Belinda Reynolds with a headache for when Bruce returns though - what is the best combination for the Lightning?
Ervin’s height makes her an outstanding keeper but it’s also Bruce’s best position and one that she occupied when named best defender in netball at last year’s World Cup.
The Lightning have an embarrassment of riches with another Diamond, Tara Hinchliffe, in their defensive unit as well.
GIANTS MAKING HAY IN WIN
The Giants’ scratchy start to the season showed just how much they have missed gun midcourter Maddie Hay, who was sidelined for almost half the season while recovering from hip surgery.
The wing attack has been a key player for the Giants in recent years and is pivotal to helping move the ball down court seamlessly to shooters Jo Harten and Sophie Dwyer.
The departure of Amy Parmenter and absence of Hay has piled pressure on the shoulders of co-captain Jamie Lee Price, who seemed to play with a greater freedom in the win against the Melbourne Mavericks on Sunday with Hay by her side.
While Price was the player of the match, in part thanks to an enormous workrate that included 17 second-phase receives and nine pick-ups, Hay, who played 47 minutes in her return, was similarly impressive, with 18 goal assists, helping the Giants fix some of the issues they have had getting the ball into the circle efficiently.
That she is out there at all is incredible.
Inaugural Giant Kim Green revealed on Fox Netball exactly what Hay had been facing after surgery.
“The surgeon didn’t actually know if she was going to be able to run, let alone play again, so it’s a mighty, mighty effort to get back out on court again,” she said of Hay’s effort to rebound after surgery for a degenerative hip issue.
“And then to have the pressure and nerves she would have been feeling going into that game and to have that performance, pretty ace.
“I think she’ll be pretty confident (after that) and I think the team will lift around her as well.”
WILSON A WINNING PICK
About four years ago in the Super Netball signing period before last year’s pay war and contracting saga, there was plenty of talk a disillusioned Shamera Sterling was set to leave Adelaide, with the Queensland Firebirds looming as the destination most likely.
That the Firebirds were in the conversation may have had something to do with the presence of fellow Jamaican Romelda Aiken-George at the Queensland club, with Sterling reportedly homesick.
It’s part of the reason why the T-Birds plumped for defender Latanya Wilson to join the club, with Sterling having recommended her former Sunshine Girls junior teammate to officials.
If it seemed like a gamble at the time, it’s turned out to be a masterstroke, with the player known at the club as “Lattitude” racking up her 50th game in the grand final rematch against the Swifts on Saturday night and having a blinder, picking up eight gains, including four intercepts that kept her the league leader this season in that category.
Wilson, in her fourth season with the club, is now regarded as one of the world’s best defenders and is a player coach Tania Obst rates as “brilliant”.
“I think she’s spectacular,” Obst said after Saturday’s victory.
“She was this quiet Jamaican girl four years ago and I knew she was going to have a good one (against the Swifts) when she walked in (on Saturday night).
“’Lattitude’ is what we like to see but she wants to be better every single time she comes to training, she wants to learn, she’s always asking questions and her physical capabilities and understanding of the game has grown immensely.
“At 23 years of age, she’s brilliant.
“It’s really pleasing that we took a punt on her three years ago and her growth, she’s become a world-class defender.”
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Originally published as Net Gains: How even in First Nations round netball is failing Indigenous players
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