Super Netball Round 3: West Coast Fever big winners over Collingwood, Vixens beat Giants
Defending premiers West Coast Fever flexed their muscle in a comprehensive win over Collingwood, and the Vixens held off the Giants in another thriller.
West Coast Fever kicked off Sunday’s games with a statement that they will be hard to beat in 2023, while the Vixens won a tight one against the Giants. Catch up on all the Suncorp Super Netball round three action.
Vixens hold off Giants in thriller
-Katrina Nissen
The Melbourne Vixens have shaken off last week’s controversial outing to claim their first undisputable Super Netball victory of 2023. In a tight game, their five point win required focus to put the umpiring debacle behind them, and shut down their opponent’s supershot prowess.
In contrast, it was a disappointing result for Giants Netball who are now in unfamiliar territory with three straight losses to start off the season.
It was goal-for-goal early in the match with both teams looking to settle. Vixens eventually won that arm wrestle, forcing two held balls which gave them a slight lead.
Experienced duo Jo Weston and Emily Mannix caused all sorts of disruption in the Giants shooting circle in the second quarter. Both defenders got their hands to tips and precious rebounds which were converted at their shooting end.
With the Vixens lead out to seven entering the second supershot period, all the pressure was on the Giants shooters and their bag of tricks. As pundits predicted, the lead was decimated as Dwyer’s hot hand was shown, shooting 3 from 4 super shots.
Speaking to commentary about the Giants shooting display, Vixens coach Simone McKinnis was quick to point out where her side was letting themselves down.
“If we scored off our own ball then we wouldn’t be giving them a chance to shoot two pointers.”
As the penalties across the court began to creep up, the umpires let it be known that they wouldn’t tolerate any unsportsmanlike conduct. By mid-way through the third quarter they’d issued three cautions for intentional delays and continuous contacts. In particular the Vixens’ circle defenders were expensive, as they gave away 32 penalties.
With scores locked at the end of the third quarter, it set up a mouth watering final term.
With less than two minutes to go and up by two, the Vixens played keep away with the ball until they found last week’s heroine, Mwai Kumwenda under the post who extended their lead.
Speaking after the match, MVP and co-captain Liz Watson said that playing the ball around and maintaining their focus at the end of the match was something they had been working on.
SUPERSHOT SAVIOURS
Giants have in their arsenal the most prolific supershot shooters in the league. Over the opening rounds they have sunk 32 supershots, which is 15 more than the next closest team. While this ability to peg back deficits is certainly handy, it begs the question of how formidable they will be if they use it to extend a lead rather than chase it?
WORLD CUP HEAD-TO-HEAD
Australian selectors would’ve been keeping a close eye on the two centres going head-to-head in this match, as Jamie-Lee Price (Giants) and Kate Moloney (Vixens) offer vastly different options for the Australian side. Price’s defensive ability, versus Moloney’s clinical ball handling and combination with the Aussie captain, makes it anyone’s guess.
West Coast Fever cruise in Magpie thumping
-Jenny Sinclair
West Coast Fever maintained their perfect start to the 2023 Super Netball season, with a 27 point takedown of Collingwood. Falling just two goals short of the all time highest score in a match, Fever have rocketed straight to the top of the league table.
The thumping dished out by last year’s premiers has sent a ‘catch me if you can’ message to the rest of the competition. Banking their third win was also critical, as Fever face a horror stretch on the road, playing at home just once in the next five rounds.
In contrast, the Magpies struggled to get into top gear against Fever’s experienced campaigners, and a game plan that limited Shimona Nelson’s scoring ability.
With Courtney Bruce and Sunday Aryang boxing in Nelson, opportunities were limited for the Jamaican star. Sitting on an unusually low output, Nelson was benched for half the game, in the hope that a more mobile shooting circle might outfox the Fever.
However, scoring off just 50 per cent of their centre passes, the game started to slip past the Magpies during the second quarter. They shuffled their line, and started searching for supershot success, but a 72 per cent accuracy rate was costly.
At the opposite end of the court, the brilliant Jhaniele Fowler reigned in the air, setting a new league record for consecutive goals scored. Sent to the bench for a rest in the late stages of the game, she finished with 51 points, recording just her first miss of the season in the third quarter.
Two of the most entertaining coaches in the league, Dan Ryan and Nic Richardson, were out of their seats for much of the match, imploring their troops to push on. Richardson gave Ash Brazill a spell on the bench, who with ten penalties against her by half time, was frustrated by some of the umpiring calls.
With both teams experiencing final quarter fadeouts over the past two rounds, Ryan instructed Fever to have an ‘aggressive mindset’ as they looked to close the game out. And push on they did, despite resting a number of their stars ahead of a hectic travel schedule.
In the 27 point thumping, Fever’s wing defence Jess Anstiss kept the influential Kelsey Browne relatively quiet, and eventually sent her to the bench. Courtney Bruce was influential with 10 gains, while Verity Simmons was awarded MVP for her hard-running role in centre.
Speaking after the match, Richardson denied that last week’s umpiring issues had any impact on the Magpies’ performance today. She said of the match, “(We were) Outclassed, outplayed, back to the drawing board and hopefully we can put in a better performance against the Firebirds (next round).”
TRAVEL TRAVESTY
With just one home game in the next five rounds, Fever will traverse the length and breadth of the country. For a team that already logs more frequent flyer points than any other Super Netball team, it’s an area of the fixtures that needs addressing in future.
SIMPLY THE BEST
It took until the third quarter of Round 3 for Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler to record her first miss of the season. The league’s leading goal scorer has sunk 165 points at 99% per cent, having sunk 146 consecutive shots.
200-gamer leads Swifts to first victory
– Kate Allman
NSW Swifts goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George sent a defiant message to her former teammates the Queensland Firebirds on Saturday night, celebrating her 200th game with a 74-71 win at her new home in Sydney.
After revealing her return to court in 2023 felt “way too early” on Fox Netball’s The 4th Quarter this week, the 34-year-old new mum showed she still has it netting 39 goals for the Swifts.
She set the tone within the first 30 seconds, scoring the first point in a frenetic match that saw multiple lead changes and momentum swings.
The teams went toe-to-toe across the mid-court but it was Aiken-George who comprehensively outplayed the youngsters of the Firebirds’ new guard, holding space and outmanoeuvring rookie goal keeper Remi Kamo.
“To have played 197 games for one team and then have her 200th game against them, I think she performed brilliantly and she stood up when we really needed it,” Swifts captain Maddy Proud said.
The veteran Jamaican national player was controversially dropped by the Firebirds after she fell pregnant in 2022, having played 14 seasons and winning three premierships in the purple dress.
Wallam magic returns the spark to Firebirds’ season
A no-look fingertip lay-up while falling out of court was the highlight of a phenomenal individual performance by Firebirds goal shooter Donnell Wallam at the other end of the court.
“I can’t say I have ever seen anything quite like that. What a game-changing move from Donnell Wallam. She’s falling out of court, doesn’t even sight the goalposts,” former Swifts and Diamonds player Catherine Cox AM said on the broadcast.
In a match that will have plenty of Hollywood-worthy replays for both team’s shooters, Wallam scored 59 from 64 attempts.
She was just seven points from equalling the record individual score in a Super Netball match of 66 from 68, clocked by West Coast Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler in 2018.
Scoreboard missing in action
While last week an Adelaide court surface and lighting debacle forced their match to be abandoned. This week, the Swifts had to deal with an unexplained scoreboard issue at home.
The stadium screen at Ken Rosewall Arena did not display scores for the majority of the first half. Dismayed players and fans had to squint at a small digital counter courtside that was only viewable for one side of the stadium.
“There were a few times where we didn’t really know what was going on and what the time was,” Swifts captain Maddy Proud admitted after the match.
“It’s hard with Super Shot time, and things like that, to not know the score. I was just glad we were checking the centre passes and making sure they were right.”
It’s poor timing for the league in a week that heaped criticism on Super Netball rules and infrastructure including the “cursed” Netball SA stadium in Adelaide.
Thunderbirds prevail 66-42 on the Sunshine Coast
– Katrina Nissen
The Adelaide Thunderbirds have sent shockwaves through Super Netball as they dished up a 24 goal hiding to ladder leaders Sunshine Coast Lightning.
The match between last year’s two cellar-dwellers was one of the most anticipated of Round 3, but quickly turned into a Thunderbird defensive masterclass as they outshone their opponents in nearly every area on court.
Thunderbirds opted for a mobile and defensive starting line, while Lightning featured the wile of a Karla Pretorius and Kadie-Ann Dehaney defence at the other end. The result was a fast and furious encounter from the first whistle, as the two best defensive sides in the league went head-to-head.
The game moved at frenetic speed and an attempt by Steph Wood to slow the ball during a penalty earned her a caution before the first quarter break.
With momentum on the side of the visitors, Lightning turned to their newest squad member, Shannon Eagland, in the hopes her height could win ball at wing defence. But her debut did little to disrupt Adelaide’s flow as they powered out to a 13 goal lead by the half time break, including a 9 out of 10 goal run.
Eagland was brought into the side as a potential injury replacement player for Lightning vice-captain, Tara Hinchliffe. While no official decision has been made on whether she has cemented that contract, Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds had positive things to say of Eagland and her debut.
“Shannon has been great for us. She, culturally, has fit in really well and she is a tall wing defender for us so I can also throw her into the circle. I am sure she will be in goal defence in games moving forward. We are still looking at Tara’s injury replacement so it was good to get a look at Shannon tonight, analyse that and make a decision moving forward.”
During the main break, Thunderbird centre Tayla Williams credited a change in focus to her side’s blistering start. “There was a focus on coming out strong, sticking to what we know right from the start, rather than waiting to half time to get our s*** together.”
Lightning’s woes continued in the second half as they struggled to find fluidity in attack. Their centre pass to goal rate dropped to less than 50 per cent, as the Thunderbirds continued to push out their lead. Reynolds attributes that poor statistic to the slow start.
“We were playing catch up netball so we shot more 2’s than we would like to so our starts need to be better so we aren’t shooting under pressure.”
Jamaican goal keeper Shamera Sterling’s ability to shut down Australian shooter Cara Koenen will be a cause for concern for Australia’s head coach, Stacey Marinkovich, who was watching from the stands.
Lightning feeders, including fellow national team member Steph Wood, struggled to get the ball past Sterling who snaffled any misplaced passes. Across a multitude of substitutions, Lightning continued to unravel, while the Thunderbirds monstered on.
English import and match MVP, Eleanor Cardwell, or ‘The Claw’ as she is affectionately known by fans, had another impressive outing shooting 51 from 54 including 4 super shots as her side won every quarter.
Thunderbirds are facing Giants Netball next week who are renowned for their supershot comebacks so, they will be hoping to replicate a similar performance.
Goal attack Tippah Dwan says, “Giants have been really good these past few weeks. So we need to be really focused on getting those turnovers and scoring off them as well.”
Close contests? No thanks
Heading into this match, and setting aside last week’s draw debacle, both Lightning and Thunderbirds were the only two sides to register double digit wins this season. This stat bodes well for the competition and these likely finals’ contenders.
The Cardwell Connection
There’s a fresh new vibe in the Thunderbirds this year with Eleanor Cardwell adding joy as well as precision and experience to the Adelaide front end. The English import has made no secret of her love for the supershot but it’s her ‘silly’ prematch games which she says have helped the Thunderbirds connect before each match.
Originally published as Super Netball Round 3: West Coast Fever big winners over Collingwood, Vixens beat Giants
‘I’m appalled’: Netball drama takes ugly turn
A Triple M host has been called out on-air after describing the viral Australian men’s viral netball dance as “embarrassing”.
Netball dance sparks worst kind of reaction
The netball players at the centre of Australia’s latest viral video storm have spoken out as ugly details emerged.
‘Australian haka’ leaves fans stunned
The Australian men’s netball team has channelled its inner boy band and left onlookers floored with a wild pre-match dance.