Super Netball teams need more players and the lack of stars across round 8 proved it
As great as round eight of the Super Netball season was, with upsets, maiden wins, and dominance shown, in Net Gains EMMA GREENWOOD writes, what was most remarkable about the weekend was the lack of stars.
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The Fever and Vixens have cemented their spots at the top of the Super Netball ladder but the weekend’s fixtures were almost more remarkable for who wasn’t there than who was.
In what was pegged as the Fever’s return clash against former teammate Courtney Bruce, the Diamonds defender was missing from the Sunshine Coast line-up, while the Giants were without both co-captains Jamie-Lee Price and Jo Harten in their clash against a Kate Eddy-less Vixens.
The Firebirds were missing captain Kim Ravaillion but the biggest out may have been Adelaide Thunderbirds young gun Georgie Horjus.
Stacey Marinkovich and her selectors are in the process of finalising their Diamonds squad for this year and the announcement of midcourter Georgie Horjus - at least as an invitee - in the final count would not surprise.
The 22-year-old, who can swing between wing attack, where she’s a creative and reliable playmaker, and goal attack where she is able to both promote the ball and shoot, showed just how important she is to the T-Birds without setting foot on court at the weekend.
In fact, it was the fact that she was not on court that seemed to have most of an impact on the Thunderbirds, who lost just their third game of the season against cellar dwellers the Queensland Firebirds at Nissan Arena on Sunday.
Most thought the loss of goalers Eleanor Cardwell and Tippah Dwan could determine the defending premier’s success or failure in 2024.
But the way Horjus has stepped up as a midcourt ace has been pivotal to their success and they missed her enormously on Sunday.
“There’s no doubt that Georgie’s pretty important to our team but we were preparing for that, we weren’t certain if George was going to get up this week or not,” T-Birds coach Tania Obst said.
“We put some other things in place and maybe those things didn’t come off as well as we liked.
“But George has been very instrumental in what we’ve been doing and we weren’t just able to balance that out today.”
WALLACE-JOSEPH DROPPED
The NSW Swifts were also without Trinidad and Tobago goaler Sam Wallace-Joseph on Sunday but she was not out with injury or illness but dropped, with the Swifts elevating nominated player Grace Whyte.
The decision came after the Swifts posted the lowest score in Super Netball history a week earlier against the Thunderbirds in Adelaide.
Wallace-Joseph put up just seven shots in 20 minutes on court last week, turning the ball over on four occasions in that time.
After a strong start through the Team Girls Cup and early rounds, Wallace-Joseph has faded a little and it’s no surprise given the serious knee injury that kept her out for the past two years.
Having the ability to push players in and out of the squad based on form alone is a game-changer for coaches that’s long overdue and it’s great to see Swifts mentor Briony Akle using it fearlessly.
MAVS’ MIRACULOUS CHARGE
The Mavericks were without Eleanor Cardwell for more than half the match after she picked up what looked like a quad injury in the second term and spent the rest of the match on the bench after consulting doctors.
And while the Melbourne side would have loved to have her available it shows the enormous growth of the competition’s newest side in their inaugural season.
Already without two of their contracted players who picked up season-ending injuries before round 1, for the Mavs to be able to notch their first home win without Cardwell was enormous - and something that was almost unthinkable in the early rounds.
But the intensity of their full-court defence, as well as the reliability of Shimona Jok and Gabby Sinclair, has put the Mavs in a position most thought was impossible at the start of theyear.
Their win against the Swifts has put them level on points with the fourth-placed Sunshine Coast and dreaming of pushing their way into the finals.
Being able to get their first victory at home in front of a fanatical crowd at John Cain Arena is a win for the new club too, who need to win hearts and minds as much as games in their first year.
TEAMS NEED 12 PLAYERS
There are plenty of arguments for the expansion of Super Netball, with most officials and players believing adding games to a 14-match regular season is more than manageable.
But the injuries and some of the play in round 8 showed several flat teams, something they would have to overcome if the fixture was expanded.
Another two teams would increase the number of preliminary rounds to 18 plus another three weeks for finals, or four if new teams forced a top five.
It’s a move the competition needs to make if it is to remain the best in the world, especially with England launching Super League 2.0 from next year.
But the attrition of playing the best week-in, week-out is showing and Super Netball needs to move to 12-player squads if players are to be able to thrive and consistently be at their best.
There were players missing at the weekend but one of the highlights was the three debutants who managed to get on court, earning their first minutes at the elite level and showing the enormous depth in Australian netball.
Young midcourter Jessica Milne made her debut for the Firebirds at wing defence, while Kayla Graham, who like Horjus can swing between wing attack and goal attack, played 23 minutes for the Thunderbirds in Brisbane.
In Melbourne, Grace Whyte played 30 minutes for the Swifts after being promoted to the match-day team as the nominated player.
HEAD KNOCKS MONITORED
Good to see medicos intervene almost immediately after a head clash between Maisie Nankivell and Allie Smith in the Mavericks-Swifts clast yesterday.
Nankivell was slow to her feet after the accidental collision and was quickly escorted from the court by the Mavs doctor, while Smith was also subbed off.
Nankivell returned to the court, and while Smith did not, it was a tactical decision to leave her on the bench and she had been cleared to play.
But it’s fantastic to see teams putting the welfare of players ahead of anything else.
Concussion is arguably the biggest issue in professional sport today and it’s great to see Super Netball with strict protocols in place.
SUPER SHOT INFLUENCE
This masthead’s analysis of the super shot’s influence through the first round of fixtures played out again at the weekend, with the three teams taking the most shots - the Giants, Swifts and Thunderbirds all losing their round 8 games.
The Swifts were the only one of those to finish with a positive differential in the power five period - and even that was only +3 after the first quarter was level and the Mavs had the upper hand in the third term.
The Swifts finished with 11/17 super shots, the best return of the weekend, at 65 per cent, the second best accuracy behind the Vixens (6/9 for 67 per cent).
But they combined that with 21 general play turnovers, an area that coach Briony Akle said was “letting us down”.
The Giants finished with eight-of-15 super shots but lost all four “power five” periods to the Vixens, while the Firebirds won three of the four super shot terms as the Thunderbirds attempted in vain to claw back the margin, converting just four of 10 attempts from two-point range.
Originally published as Super Netball teams need more players and the lack of stars across round 8 proved it
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