How Simone McKinnis, Dan Ryan, led Vixens, Fever, to Super Netball grand final
Simone McKinnis and Dan Ryan have coached their way to the Super Netball grand final after taking very different paths. LISA ALEXANDER breaks down what’s made them great this season.
Dan Ryan has quietly and steadily built his West Coast Fever team into a machine this season.
After losing their first two games without the world’s best goal shooter, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, the Fever looked anything but ready to win their second Super Netball title in four seasons.
The Melbourne Vixens’ Simone McKinnis, who at the weekend masterminded an incredible fourth-quarter comeback to snuff out the NSW Swifts’ chances of another premiership tilt, were in a worse space at the beginning of the season.
After a shaky first six rounds, the Vixens began a five-game winning streak with a 70-52 belting of the Queensland Firebirds in round 7. They once again looked like the well-drilled outfit of previous years.
What caused the respective turnaround in fortunes?
Both coaches had very different challenges to face. Ryan without his lynchpin Fowler-Nembhard and McKinnis dealing with decisions around her own coaching future behind the scenes. Once Fowler-Nembhard was back for Fever and the Vixens announced McKinnis would finish up at season’s end, both teams and coaches got into their work without distractions.
That both hail from Geelong in Victoria and have played at the highest levels of netball, with Ryan as a young person always admiring McKinnis as an elite netballer, is a nice backdrop to what will be an intense battle in the decider.
As for tactics and strategy, both have great balance in attack and defence; both are prepared to make changes at either end of the floor – although Ryan has created a very flexible team with all ten players receiving more court time than the Vixens with a set seven being played more often.
Ryan’s tactics of using high intensity full-court defence matches Simone’s stifling one-on-one full-court team defence.
He uses a more off-circle attacking strategy with the highly skilled Alice Teague-Neeld sending high balls into Fowler-Nembhard regularly, especially when she sees the defenders out of position or with their eyes down.
Teague-Neeld’s feeds have been superbly accurate to create the one-on-one goal circle which is a feature of Fever’s attacking game.
McKinnis uses a more on-circle attack to ensure accuracy in feeding and a more traditional goaling rotational play, with lots of shooter-to-shooter connection.
Ryan will try to defensively keep the Vixens out of their preferred centre channel for feeding the circle and creating high balls into the pockets for the Fever to intercept.
McKinnis will use more one-on-one, pushing players to uncomfortable places style defence to pressure the pass into Fowler-Nembhard and create inaccurate feeds for the Vixens defenders to pounce on and counterattack quickly.
The most fascinating part of this contest from a tactics point of view will be the use of the 20 minutes of the two-point time in the game.
Vixens have been using it in their attacking game to great effect when needed, although their intent is to win the one-point shooting game.
Fever are just as capable in the two-point time but have put teams away in the one-point game to their advantage.
The difference could be the defensive capability in the two-point time. The Swifts were unable to affect the Vixens here so some work will need to go into disrupting this by the Fever.
The WA side’s consistency throughout the season has been unbreakable and they have not had as many close finishes as the Vixens.
The other area that will have a great bearing on the result is the psychological preparation of both teams.
Each coach will have a different strategy around this leading into this final.
Ryan is very transparent and shows great clarity in his messaging to the public, and this translates on to the court for the Fever with their consistency and ability to adapt to all obstacles.
Every player fully understands their role and commits to the team first mentality.
McKinnis is more guarded with her communication to the public, but the emotion was on show when she huddled the team together and spoke about the positive aspects of their performance so far and what they could achieve by being brave and going for it in the last quarter.
Ryan has been about process and diligence in planning, with the consistency of mindset preparation.
They are the minor premiers for a reason. They go into this grand final with a little less experience for most players in a decider and ironically playing in the Vixen’s home state.
McKinnis has had to rely on close finishes, dealing with the emotion of her leaving and the players playing for her to go out on a high.
They will have the advantage of playing at home and more experience in this high-pressure environment.
Ultimately, both teams are evenly matched but have taken very different paths to this weekend.
It could be a grand final for the ages, and one coach will be very satisfied when the full-time whistle blows.
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