Super Netball Round 3: Netball Australia may need to tighten controversial signing loophole
Shimona Jok could fix the Melbourne Mavericks’ winless funk – but should the Super Netball newcomers have been allowed to parachute her in? EMMA GREENWOOD wraps up the weekend action.
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If there’s any team that deserves a break this season it’s the Melbourne Mavericks.
Robbed of two players from their full-time list after horrific season-ending injuries, it seems only fair that they get a bit of a leg-up elsewhere.
The signing of Shimona Jok (nee Nelson) is absolutely legal.
But whether it’s in the spirit of the nominated athlete rule is another discussion entirely.
Jok ticks all the boxes for nomination so there is no suggestion the Mavericks are operating outside of the rules in signing her as their 11th player.
But was the nominated athlete position – which allows clubs to promote one of their training partners to a full-time contact for six months during the Super Netball season – meant to promote development?
If so, Netball Australia needs to tighten its criteria.
And after Saturday night’s clash, where regular shooter Jok was shifted into goalkeeper to combat the 198cm Jhaniele Fowler, who’s to argue she’s not a developing defender.
It was, after all, Mavericks coach Tracey Neville who masterminded Eleanor Cardwell’s switch from defence to attack when in charge at Manchester Thunder.
And with the Mavericks lacking a genuine tall in defence, the 195cm Jok could find herself wearing the GK bib on more than one occasion this season.
FEVER GOALER IN CLASS OF HER OWN
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard’s dominance and longevity can sometimes make you forget just what a special player she is.
The West Coast Fever shooter racked up her 8000th national league goal in her side’s 69-62 victory against the Mavericks at John Cain Arena on Saturday night, sinking 50 goals from 50 attempts.
It could be described as freakish if it hadn’t become so predictable from the holding shooter, whose metronomic precision masks the difficulty of the task.
At 198cm, Fowler-Nembhard has a distinct height advantage over most rivals. But to write her success off to just that is not only wrong, it’s disrespectful to one of the most skilful goalers in the modern game.
The Fever’s off-season recruitment after losing several players last year, has been outstanding.
But any team with Fowler-Nembhard in it is going to be a chance.
LIGHTNING CAN’T STRIKE TWICE
Sunshine Coast may have mounted a massive comeback to force extra-time in their clash with the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Saturday night but it’s unlikely to have overly impressed the Lightning players or coaching staff.
The Lightning would have been smarting all week coming off a big loss to the West Coast Fever in Perth in round 2 and few expected their insipid start against the Thunderbirds.
No team is going to rack up many wins after conceding an 11-point quarter-time lead.
While they are still bedding down combinations in their midcourt after the addition of Liz Watson and Leesa Mi Mi in the off-season – and missed Steph Frewtwell’s playmaking skills early – the Lightning just made too many errors to compete against the defending premiers.
There won’t be too many other games this season in which the Diamonds captain makes seven turnovers.
While they recovered to finish with a centre pass conversion rate of 61 per cent – still well under what they would expect – it was under 30 per cent early in the match in what the Lightning will hope is their worst performance of the year out of the way.
TBIRDS SHOWING PREMIERSHIP STEEL
Most anticipated the Thunderbirds could struggle this season after losing starting goalers Eleanor Cardwell and Tippah Dwan as well as assistant coach Tracey Neville.
But Adelaide is showing the confidence they gained through their run to the title last year is not about to disappear anytime soon.
While they have genuine international superstars in Jamaican defenders Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson as well as Diamond Matilda Garrett, a local list that always held promise has matured is refusing to drop its level.
Sterling-Humphrey in particular, has been outstanding in the opening three rounds, racking up an incredible 28 gains to strike fear into the hearts of goalers and circle feeders around the league.
Their 69-62 extra-time win against the Lightning showed the belief they have to be able to compete with any team in the competition at home or on the road.
SWIFTS THE COMEBACK MASTERS
If there’s any team you’d back to claw their way back into a match in the dying stages, it’s the NSW Swifts.
The Swifts looked like they’d head home from Brisbane’s Nissan Arena without the bikkies for the first three quarters of their clash against the Queensland Firebirds on Sunday afternoon before mounting a trademark fightback from eight goals down at the final break.
After forcing extra-time – something that happened to them three times in last year’s Super Netball finals series – they went on to win by four in another great escape.
And once the teams were level pegging, Swifts coach Briony Akle knew her side was across the line.
“Once we got to even, I knew we had it. We’re the team that can do it,” Akle said.
“The Firebirds brought it to us for 60 minutes.”
It was a fitting reward for Helen Housby in her 100th match and one in which she was shut down effectively for most of the game by the Firebirds defenders, despite shooting at 90 per cent and missing just two shots in the match.
CLOSE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR FIREBIRDS
Few predicted the Firebirds would push the Swifts to extra-time before eventually going down by found on Sunday.
It’s an effort they would have been ecstatic with last year.
But there’s a point at which pats on the back become patronising – and the Firebirds are not satisfied with a good try.
Certainly coach Bec Bulley has belief in the ability of her side and neither she, nor her players are willing to settle for just pushing the top teams.
“To be honest, coming into this game I was nervous. Not because I didn’t think we could win it but because I thought we could win,” former Swifts assistant coach Bulley said.
“I felt like we had the game plan, we just had to execute it and everyone just had to do their job.
“For three quarters, we did that, so we can take a lot of confidence from that.
“However, now it’s about when we put ourselves in that position, we need to keep executing and we need to win these games because we can’t be the team that doesn’t close out games.
“We want to win.”
GIANT PROBLEMS IN SYDNEY
The Giants’ 63-44 loss to the Melbourne Vixens has left them winless to start the season.
Worse than that though, it’s difficult to see where a win is coming from.
While the Vixens had started the season with a pair of wins, they had been made to work hard – beating newcomers the Melbourne Mavericks by seven in the derby before getting over the Thunderbirds by a single goal.
Plenty thought they could be challenged by the Giants but an abysmal opening half meant they were no chance.
With regular wing attack Maddie Hay still recovering from off-season surgery, the Giants are tinkering with their attack end, something that was highlighted when regular goaler Sophie Dwyer pulled the wing attack bib on in the second half and finishing the game with an uncharacteristic nine turnovers.
But their 19 turnovers in the opening half and a return of only six goals in the first quarter meant they were never in the match.
It’s difficult to see how things improve in the short-term as well.
Julie Fitzgerald is a coach who often uses her reserves sparingly but injected goaler Matisse Letherbarrow with great success midway through the second quarter, brushing off questions from former player Kim Green about why she hadn’t been brought on in the earlier rounds.
Captain Jo Harten said the Giants’ effort was not good enough.
“I thought we were going to turn a corner today,” she said.
But the team would not be giving up on the season.
“We go back to the drawing board, we take some individual accountability,” she said.
“We are not giving up this season and we’ll be fighting for that win next weekend.”
MANNIX ON SONG
Plenty has been made of the Melbourne Vixens’ shooting end, which includes Diamonds goalers Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin, while their midcourt is singing despite the loss of Australian captain Liz Watson.
Their defensive end has always been strong but Emily Mannix is standing up and leading the way with her efforts both at the back and at goal defence.
With Jo Weston battling a niggling injury at the start of the season, Mannix needed to be versatile enough to play out front and it’s showing in her game, with the veteran having a night out against the Giants.
A former Diamonds player, Mannix finished with 11 gains – five of those coming in the first quarter alone – and six intercepts in an MVP performance.
When Mannix is on song, it’s generally a great sign for the Vixens and her efforts alone ensured it was a long day at the office for the Giants.
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