Upsets, glory: Every game from the HART Sapphire and Ruby Series round three reviewed

Round three of the HART Sapphire and Ruby series has come to a dramatic close at Nissan Arena, with a mix of big wins and even bigger upsets. See where your team stands heading into this weekend’s huge double-header.

The Gold Coast Titans have put a stopper on the ACU Brisbane North Cougars’ three-year reign as Hart Sapphire Series favourites, following a five-point win in Sunday night’s round three clash.

Their 63-58 triumph is the first loss the Cougars have suffered since round 10 in 2020, crushing the northern side’s dreams of another undefeated season.

Neither team gained more than a five-goal lead throughout the game, with the Titans holding a single-point advantage at the first and third quarter breaks before sealing the deal at full-time.

Titans head coach Temepara Bailey capitalised on the rolling substitutions allowance, with each of her players getting hands on the ball including shooting sensation Talitah Faifai, who has so far been starting on the bench.

Talitah Faifai in action for the Titans. Picture: Supplied

The 17-year-old replaced Cathrine Tuivaiti as goal shooter halfway through the third quarter, providing the Titans with a moving circle.

Bailey said she made the switch in order to counter-attack the Cougars’ hands-on defence.

“We are very lucky with our shooters that they each have a different style,” Bailey said.

“In terms of the height down that end, Cougars were getting a lot of hands on (the ball).

“We made it a moving circle and that seemed to work really well.”

Under immense fatigue from her high work rate, goal attack Josie Bingham played a crucial role in bringing the ball from the centre third to the post.

Josie Bingham of the Titans. Photo: Gold Coast Titans

Intense contest through the mid-court landed Cougar Lia Woolnough and Titans Kourtnee Baird and Keisha Grant in hot water as each received cautions for persistent infringements.

Holding a 44-43 lead at three-quarter time, the simple but magic from words of Bailey “go out there and do your own job” put the Titans into the right headspace to come out firing.

Two centre pass breaks and defensive turnovers from Jess Milne in the circle earned the Titans a five goal win.

The win thrusts the Titans into a prime ladder position ahead of round four, sitting second on the table on equal points with the TAE Aerospace Ipswich Jets who lead on goal percentage.

Despite the confidence booster, Bailey said she was taking the season one week a time.

“I’m just going to enjoy this moment,” she said.

“We will debrief tomorrow and then have a look at our game plan for next week.”

The Titans are set to go head-to-head with the Brisbane South Wildcats next week, while Bond will have their first bye of the season.

Elsewhere in the competition, Bond University are still chasing their first win of the season after going down to a slick Jets line-up by 30-points.

The contest began close in the first quarter, until interestingly a knee injury to Danielle Taylor – which has been confirmed to be a twisted knee, and will train this week – shifted momentum.

Perhaps the team were charged by seeing their teammate with what then looked like a season-ending injury, because Samoan national goal keeper Lenora Misa came on to combine with Lily Gribble in goal defence, and the two became an equally dangerous duo.

Fresh off her matchwinning performance for the Firebirds as a temporary replacement player to the injured Macy Gardner, centre Hulita Veve dominated the midcourt for the team in green before resting for the second half.

Proving the depth of their squad, the Jets brought on all of their bench players and still pushed the score out comfortably to a 75-45 point win.

Meanwhile the Carina Leagues Club Tigers’ Sapphire side enjoyed their first bye of the season, watching on as the Ruby team crushed a travelling Barastoc Panthers line-up.

Tigers vs BARASTOC Panthers Ruby Series, Nissan Arena. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The Tigers were in control from the first whistle and closed the game with a comfortable 84-40 win.

The dominant win keeps the Tigers on top of the Ruby ladder, clear of second-placed Jets by four points.

In other Ruby games, it was the Jets who conquered the Bull Sharks 56-48 while the Wildcats defeated the Thunder by 11 points (43-54).

Despite the win, the Wildcats remain outside of the top four while the Thunder hold their wooden spoon reputation.

In the Cougars-Titans Ruby match, it was yet again the Gold Coast side who came out on top.

Brisbane North Cougars vs Gold Coast Titans, Ruby Series, Nissan Arena. Picture: Patrick Woods.

In similar fashion to the Sapphires, the Titans side claimed a five-goal victory (33-28), the lowest scoring match of the round by more than 30 goals.

Next week, a double-header round four and five will host a battle of the cats as the Tigers Sapphire and Ruby face off against the Cougars on Saturday followed by a clash with the Titans on Sunday.

On Saturday night both Jets squads will battle it out against the Sunshine Coast Thunder before heading to Springfield to challenge the Cougars on Sunday evening.

The Thunder Ruby and Sapphire sides will enjoy a home game at the University of Sunshine Coast on Sunday when they go head-to-head with the Bull Sharks.

In Ruby games, the Panthers will face the Bull Sharks on Saturday before backing it up with a chance to secure their first win of the season over the Wildcats on Sunday.

Originally published as Upsets, glory: Every game from the HART Sapphire and Ruby Series round three reviewed