Super Netball: NSW Swifts put on defensive masterclass to beat GWS Giants

The Swifts have held off the Giants to take their second Super Netball title 63-59 after Helen Housby took an intercept two minutes from full-time.

NSW Swifts goal attack Helen Housby with the trophy after her team's victory in the 2021 Super Netball Grand Final match between Sydney Swifts and GWS Giants at Nissan Arena, in Brisbane, on Saturday. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Helen Housby has come up with few more important plays than the intercept she took two minutes from full-time as her NSW Swifts attempted to withstand the super shooting of the Giants and a fightback that almost got the Giants across the line.

The Swifts hung on to win their second Super Netball title 63-59 after leading by as much as 10 points early in the final term.

The game delivered as the season showpiece, with the Swifts clinical through the opening three-and-a-half quarters.

They sped to a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes, led by two at quarter-time after a Giants fightback and built on their lead quarter on quarter with sublime play across the court.

Goal shooter Sam Wallace (54 points on 51/55 shooting) was outstanding under relentless pressure from Giants defenders Sam Poolman and Tilly McDonell, defender Maddy Turner nullified young Giants goaler Sophie Dwyer and co-captains Maddy Proud and Paige Hadley won the crucial midcourt battle.

But as the greatest proponents of the super shot, the Giants could never be counted out of the game and clawed their way to within six points before Housby halted the run with a crucial intercept.

“I think the girls today just stuck to the game plan and really executed, it was very hard work but I just couldn’t be happier,” Housby said.

Turnover ball was crucial for the Swifts and player of the match Maddy Turner was enormous for her team, finishing with four gains, two intercepts and a deflection.

But stats only tell part of the story.

Turner did what no other player in the league has been able to do this season – shut down teen wonder Sophie Dwyer, who had little influence in the final.

Dwyer had seemed nerveless during the season, taking shots with courage and calm that belied her years. But under enormous and relentless pressure from Turner, she showed the nerves of a 19-year-old playing her first grand final.

The all-NSW final had promised to be something special with both teams representing a state nearing the end of a second month in lockdown.

Both teams left Sydney on June 23, scrambling out of NSW before it entered lockdown while believing they would be away from home for less than a week.

Sixty-seven days and four states later, the Swifts and Giants were the last two standing and both paid emotional tribute to New South Wales residents after the toughest Super Netball season in history.

“It’s been so overwhelming the messages from back home,” Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud said. “We feel the guilty ones getting to do this. This is what is getting them through lockdown. To everyone back home in Sydney we love you.”

Giants captain Jo Harten was classy in defeat, paying tribute to both the Swifts and NSW fans.

“It is a privilege to keep playing this game during a global pandemic,” Harten said. “It is bitterly disappointing not to come away with the win today but it is an honour to play the game we love in front of fans.

“We speak to our fans and our members back in NSW regularly and we hope you’re doing well and staying safe.”

“The first time in my life I’m speechless,” Swifts captain Proud said afterwards.

“That was such incredible game. The Giants are always going to bring it. Our girls, how bloody good. I was looking at Lozzie Moore who was in the same point in 2019 to have been through this journey together and both be on the court today words can’t describe.

“It’s been so overwhelming the messages back home. We feel the guilty ones getting to do this. This is what is getting them through lockdown. To everyone back home in Sydney we love you.”

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom