Super Netball finals race to go down to very last game in closest season ever

The race for the Super Netball finals will go down to the very last game of the season, with one team left to hope the result goes their way.

The Super Netball finals race will go down to the very last game of the season after the NSW Swifts defeated the Queensland Firebirds 63-61 in a thriller on Sunday afternoon.

The Firebirds were in control for much of the game until the Swifts hit the lead late in the third quarter when shooters Sophie Fawns and Helen Housby nailed some crucial Super Shots.

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The Swifts managed to hold onto a slender buffer throughout a scrappy last quarter that had plenty of turnovers and missed Super Shot attempts.

Both teams had to win if they had any chance of sneaking into fourth spot, but the Swifts fell just short of the four-point margin needed to move into fourth.

They are now in fifth place, equal on 24 points with the fourth-placed Collingwood, who are 0.27 for and against percentage points ahead of the Swifts.

It means the battle for fourth on the ladder and the last finals spot will be decided in Collingwood’s clash with the top-of-the-table Melbourne Vixens on Monday.

The Swifts celebrate their win over the Firebirds. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

If they win, the Magpies will secure fourth spot. If they lose by one point, they will still finish in fourth. But if they lose by two points or more, the Swifts will leapfrog them and snag a place in the finals.

If Magpies lose by enough against the Vixens tomorrow, Swifts can still make the finals. Do the math.#SSNSwiftsFirebirds#SSN2022

— Michael Hutchinson (@xLurch) June 12, 2022

While they were thrilled to get the win, the Swifts’ finals destiny is no longer in their own hands and they will have to anxiously await the result of the Magpies-Vixens game.

“It’s taken to round 14 but I feel like we’re hitting our straps and I just hope to god this isn’t the last game we play this season,” co-captain Maddy Proud told Fox Netball.

“It’s going to be a pretty nerve-racking day tomorrow and I guess it’s just disappointing we’ve let ourselves get to a position where we have to rely on other teams but at least we’ve done what we can do today and yeah, go Vixens.”

“That last 20 seconds, we knew that four-goal buffer was there and we were trying to do everything we could to stop that two-point shot but obviously it went through,” Paige Hadley added.

Maddy Proud had another massive game for the Swifts. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“Really proud to get that win and now we just wait and see if our finals series goes ahead.

“I’m really proud that we fought hard and we’re in this position. Obviously it would be nice to be in our hands but to be within a whisker of getting that finals chance, I couldn’t be prouder of the girls, how we rallied this season.”

Covid health and safety protocols have ruled Magpies coach Nicole Richardson out of her team’s all-important Queen’s Birthday clash against the Vixens, which gets underway at 1pm (AEST) on Monday.

The team that ultimately finishes fourth will take on the Giants in the minor seminal, while the second-placed West Coast Fever will take on the Vixens in the major semi-final.