Victorian Netball League 2025 live stream: North East Blaze v Casey Demons, Round 18

While they may already be locked into the VNL finals, an inconsistent North East Blaze are intent on taking a major scalp in the final round against Casey Demons. Watch it LIVE here.

North East Blaze will be tasked with shutting down Casey Demons’ key playmakers if they’re to snag a confidence boosting top six scalp on the eve of finals.

With the finals-bound teams already locked in, Wednesday night’s clash between the Blaze (sixth) and Demons (third) won’t have any significant impact on the ladder heading into the post-season.

The Blaze and Demons clash will be available live and exclusive on KommunityTV from 8.30pm, with the 23&U clash kicking off the action from 7pm.

But for the Blaze, where inconsistency has defined their 8-8-1 record this season, a win over the 12-5 Demons would offer much-needed momentum leading into a tough finals series and mark their first win over a finals contender.

They’ve come close to the top sides on a handful of occasions – three goals deciding their last clash against Casey in round 8.

Blaze head coach Kate Upton predicted shutting down Demons captain Sacha McDonald through the midcourt would be key to getting on top of their rivals in a second showdown.

“Sacha is a very creative player with a huge amount of intent with everything she does in that attack end,” Upton said.

“For us, (it’s) making sure we disconnect her and (goal shooter) Emma (Ryde), because once you get it to a certain point on the court it’s very hard to stop when you’ve got a tall goal shooter.”

North East Blaze head coach Kate Upton during Round 1 of the Victorian Netball League (VN) season. Picture: Grant Treeby/Netball Victoria.

With the Blaze boasting a versatile defensive unit – with up to five players who can step into the circle defence – Upton said it would come down to the best combination at any given time as they look to capitalise on their gains.

“I think we win enough ball, it’s just making sure we convert it bringing it out – and it’s not necessarily down into the attack end, it’s converting it by bringing it through the court,” she said.

Upton said the key message within the Blaze’s ranks had been their inconsistency, with players “not on” at the same time.

“It’s understanding what we need to fix in certain moments,” she said.

“Sometimes we can execute for a longer period of time and everyone can understand what their role is in the attack end especially.

“It’s been a little bit of an up-and-down season but I think we’re learning a lot and you can see a huge amount of improvement in the understanding of what’s required in the attack end.

“I think it’s making sure everyone is on at the same time.”

The Blaze’s line-up has faced disruption with Super Netball conflicts week-to-week – the likes of goalers Nyah Allen and Mia Lavis training partners at Melbourne Mavericks and Vixens respectively, while midcourter Tara Watson was elevated to the Vixens’ 11th player in May.

“Nyah played early (then went out) and you have to readjust your structure,” Upton said.

“Then Mia, a little bit in-and-out and you want to give them as much opportunity (in a SSN environment) as possible, and a bit the same with Tara.

North East Blaze's Tara Watson in action during Round 1 of the Victorian Netball League (VN) season. Picture: Grant Treeby/Netball Victoria.

“You can kind of understand a bit about the inconsistency because you don’t know exactly who or what will be presented in a week – it’s just working around that.”

Meanwhile, North East Blaze’s 23-and-unders will eye a strong finish to an impressive home-and-away campaign against Casey on Wednesday.

Last year’s grand finalists cemented their minor premiership status with a five-goal win over City West Falcons last round, as they look for a third straight win leading into finals.

Armed with the double chance, the Blaze’s only loss this season came in round 15 against Bendigo Strikers which Upton believed provided a “good check” for their players.

With little change to last year’s grand final line-up, Upton praised the squad’s consistency across the board.

“They are an exceptional group of athletes, and I don’t think it really matters who is on the court, we can get really good rotation through that group and still end up delivering very much so on the game plan,” Upton said.