Super Netball: Inspiring return of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard has led the West Coast Fever to a breakthrough win
An inspiring performance from West Coast star shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard has lead the Fever to a breakthrough season win, while handing the Melbourne Vixens a tough loss at home.
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A typically powerful shooting performance from superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard in her return match has delivered West Coast Fever a breakthrough win after silencing the Vixens at home in Melbourne.
Winless after the opening two rounds, the Fever defied an injury-hit defence to get their campaign underway with a 67-57 victory over last year’s Super Netball runners-up at John Cain Arena.
It was an inspiring comeback for Fowler-Nembhard, who was playing her first match for the season after taking time away from the game following a tragic miscarriage at the start of the year.
The Jamaican superstar – a five-time Super Netball player of the year – dominated the scoring to finish with 59 goals from 60 goals in an MVP performance.
“She loved it and I think that’s the most important thing,” Fever coach Dan Ryan said of Fowler-Nembhard’s return.
“We all said to ‘J’ at the start of the game that this was about just getting out there and doing what you love and she hasn’t missed a beat. She looks amazing.
“I just love seeing the confidence that she instils in everyone she plays with and she brings out the best in others.
“We have certainly missed her leadership and her spirit when she hasn’t been around our environment or out on court with us. She is so much more than an unbelievable goal shooter, she is just a great person.
“We love having her at our club and she really brought us to life today, which was awesome.
“She was as business as usual to be honest with a real level of great calm and composure about her.”
The loss was the Vixens’ second for the season as they prepare for the Melbourne derby against the Mavericks next round.
After an even first quarter, the Fever got on a roll in the second period and didn’t allow the Vixens back into the match.
The Vixens shook up their line-up across the court in a bid to find a spark, bringing on young talent Lily Graham, Maggie Caris and Zara Walters off the bench at different stages.
Goal attack Kiera Austin top-scored for the Vixens with 18 from 26, while Sophie Garbin finished with 16 from 20.
Vixens coach Simone McKinnis lamented her team’s patchy play and said they had been unable to match the Fever’s hunger.
“I thought Fever were really hungry, they were up and about, they had an urgency and hunger out there,” McKinnis said.
“I thought we were patchy and we couldn’t back up a good patch with another (good) patch, so it was up and down for us all game, so that was disappointing.”
WELCOME BACK
It was no surprise Fowler-Nembhard was straight back into the Fever starting line-up after being cleared to make her return.
And the 198 cm Jamaican’s height and strength under the post created headaches for the Vixens’ defence with Emily Mannix’s replacement Caris switched onto her at goal keeper for the start of the second half in place of Rudi Ellis.
While the goaling stats looked one-sided, McKinnis praised Caris’ performance on the Fever star.
“I like that she worked off the body, she still got caught sometimes, but she worked off the body and she wasn’t far off some of the balls,” McKinnis said.
“I was pleased for her … I thought she came on and did really well.”
Fowler-Nembhard’s comeback offset an injury-hit Fever defensive end after the Aryang sisters were both ruled out.
Ruth Aryang will undergo surgery this week after rupturing her achilles injury at training, while her older sister Sunday is expected to miss just the one match with an ankle injury.
GRAHAM’S GOALS
Graham made an early impact off the bench when she was injected into the match in the second quarter for Garbin at goal shooter when she showed off her long-range shooting ability in the power-five period.
After the Fever’s lead blew out to 12 points, 19-year-old Graham (14 from 19) nailed three two-point shots to help cut the margin to six goals at halftime.
But the super shots didn’t drop after that and Garbin returned for the start of the fourth quarter.
“I thought that she came on well and she did so similarly in round one,” McKinnis said.
“That’s really important to get back into the contest and she did a really good job at that, but we do really well to get back in and it drops off again. It’s just that urgency to push on and demand more and it wasn’t there across the board.”
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Originally published as Super Netball: Inspiring return of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard has led the West Coast Fever to a breakthrough win
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