Net Gains 2023: Magpies must distance themselves from centre pass debacle or get left behind
The Magpies say they have distanced themselves from the centre pass fiasco in the Melbourne derby, yet their flat effort in the west seems to indicate otherwise. Time to move on.
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Plenty of teams happy with their efforts over the weekend but the most relieved people of all over the weekend must have been Netball Australia staff given a problem-free round.
While there were two blowouts — with pre-season finalists West Coast Fever and Adelaide Thunderbirds notching big wins — two matches went down to the wire in one of the closest seasons on record and to have the focus on court is a win in itself.
No doubt, there were officials checking decals, court consistency and centre passes all weekend.
The round 2 debacles won’t be totally forgotten though.
Already, they’re having an impact on the ladder.
Had the Swifts-Thunderbirds game in Adelaide finished in a win for the home side, they would be sitting on top of the ladder thanks to a better percentage than defending premiers the Fever.
The Swifts, meanwhile, would be in a four-way tie for second place had they won, while they currently sit in fifth, two points out of the four.
And it’s worse for the Magpies, who have a 1-2 record and are sitting in sixth place and wondering what could have been had better processes been in place.
BYE BYE BRAZ
Ash Brazill has confirmed what most probably already thought.
This will be her final year of netball after a stellar career.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist is favoured to win a spot in the World Cup squad and the South African tournament is likely to be her swan song.
It helps explain why she was so devastated by last week’s centre pass fiasco and is demanding even more from herself than usual.
“This is going to be my last year of netball, so I’m putting everything I have on court,” Brazill told Fox Sports after her team’s disappointing 80-53 loss to the Fever in Perth on Sunday.
“If that shows me passionate and fired (up), so be it, I just want to be out there, I want to enjoy it and I want to walk away with a premiership, so I think you are going to see a bit of emotion.
“It’s not directed at the umpires, that’s just me being frustrated at myself, how do I get myself in the game, how do I pick up ball for my teammates?
“I wear my heart on my sleeve — probably a bit too much.”
T-BIRDS HYPE JUSTIFIED
A shaky start against the Queensland Firebirds and a dominant Swifts showing early in the game last week had some wondering whether Adelaide had been overhyped this season.
But their performance in a 66-42 victory against the Lightning on the Sunshine Coast showed the Thunderbirds are indeed, the real deal.
The Lightning won their opening two matches of the season comfortably to sit at the top of the Super Netball table heading into round 3.
But they were always going to face a test against the Thunderbirds, with their Diamonds goalers coming up against Jamaican defenders Shamera Sterling and LaTanya Wilson.
Wilson, in fact, played most of the match at wing defence, stopping ball before it could even reach the circle, while Matilda Garrett was outstanding at goal defence, finishing with four intercepts in a strong circle defence with Sterling.
Cara Koenen shot at 100 per cent but put up just 28 attempts as she struggled to shake Sterling and gain dominant position in the circle, while Steph Wood was shuffled forward to wing attack late in the game in an attempt to help the ball into the circle.
English Roses import Eleanor Cardwell again showed the difference she has made to the team, finishing with 55 points on 51-of-54 shooting, including four super shots to be named player of the match in her best showing so far this season.
While she started the first two matches alongside young tall Lucy Austin, Cardwell paired with Tippah Dwan for the entire match on Saturday night in what is becoming a well-oiled and fruitful combination for the Thunderbirds.
ALL HAIL ROMELDA
Romelda Aiken George’s departure from the Firebirds may not have been on her terms but it was great to see her new team — the NSW Swifts — and the Queensland side celebrate her in style in her 200th game.
The Swifts got the chocolates 74-71 with Aiken George making 39-of-48 attempts and adding six rebounds.
After the match she was embraced by both Swifts and Firebirds players, with great friend and former Firebirds captain Gabi Simpson — also a former housemate — making a speech that brought Aiken George to tears.
The 34-year-old — who hardly made a peep in her first two seasons in Australia — even took to the microphone and brought daughter Gianna out of the crowd to thank her backers after becoming just the 12th player in national league history to make the 200-game mark.
HOT: JHANIELE FOWLER
Saying Fowler turned in a stellar performance for West Coast is sounding like a broken record.
But the Jamaican great is breaking all kinds of records of her own in the circle to show why she is regarded as the world’s best holding shooter.
Fowler went through the opening two rounds of the season without missing a goal — making 55-of-55 in the grand final rematch in round 1 before knocking down 59 straight in her team’s one-goal victory against the Giants.
She missed a shot in the Fever’s 80-53 win against Collingwood on Sunday — shock horror — narrowly missing an incredible mark.
Her errant shot — it just rolled across the rim and out — was her first miss since the first quarter of last season’s grand final and left her just one short of 200 in a row.
With 53 successes after her single grand final miss (she finished with 58-of-59 in the Fever’s 70-59 premiership victory), her two flawless games to start this season and 32 in a row against the Pies before Sunday’s miss in the third term, she had 199 goals in a row.
Following the miss, she put away another 19 in succession before being given a breather late in the game with the Fever well in control.
After four flawless matches last season, she’s more likely than not to put the ball in the hole.
Start the tally again and see how far she can get this time.
NOT: MAGPIES
Collingwood will deny it, but the drama of last week’s match against the Vixens must have had an effect on their performance against the Fever in Perth on Sunday.
While they quickly put the centre pass debacle behind them, with coach Nicole Richardson stressing in the dressing room after the match last Sunday that they could not allow the one-goal loss to the Vixens to impact their momentum, the fallout would no doubt have deflated their confidence a little.
Now sitting at 1-2 heading into an important Easter Sunday match against the Firebirds, the Magpies need to bounce back to the winners’ circle if they are to make the finals.
Bec Bulley’s side is improving by the game and the Firebirds, despite heading to Melbourne with an 0-3 record, are likely to jag a win at some stage, especially if an opponent has its guard down.
GIANTS CAN’T LOSE FAITH
The Giants will also head into round 4 winless after going down in another thriller.
It will be little comfort to Julie Fitzgerald’s side that their performances against both of last year’s grand finalists were outstanding, given they did not manage to grab the points in either match.
But if they can manage not to drop their heads, they remain every chance of making the finals.
The job gets no easier though. An Easter Sunday clash in Adelaide awaits them and they way the Thunderbirds played at the weekend, it will be every bit as challenged as they were against the Fever and Vixens.
Sophie Dwyer has been on fire from long range over the past fortnight. It’s just unfortunate her two fourth-quarter shots from range failed to drop.
At the other end, Mwai Kumwenda iced the match again — just as she did against the Magpies a week earlier.
Kumwenda sank the final eight goals of the match for the Vixens, the first of those locking the scores up at 55-55 before she held her nerve to keep edging the Vixens ahead in a contest that was crucial for both teams.
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Originally published as Net Gains 2023: Magpies must distance themselves from centre pass debacle or get left behind
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