Super Netball, Round 8: Mavs win at home, Firebirds pull of upset of the season
The Melbourne Mavericks have broken through to claim their first win at home. while the Firebirds pulled off the upset of the season against the reigning premiers.
Melbourne Mavericks have tasted victory on their home court for the first time with a third quarter blitz setting up a 64 to 58 win against the NSW Swifts at John Cain Arena.
The Mavericks’ outscored the Swifts by 11 in the third term to overcome a half time deficit and put themselves on the brink of the top four.
Their third win of the season has the Mavericks in sixth but they are level on points with the fourth placed Sunshine Coast Lightning ahead of a massive Melbourne Derby against the Vixens on King’s Birthday.
Scintillating performances from goal defence Kim Jenner and shooters Shimona Jok and Gabrielle Sinclair at either end of the court spearheaded Sunday’s win.
Jenner was the player of the match as her desperation resulted in her chalking up ten deflections, two intercepts and a rebound.
“Absolutely amazing (to get our first home win). Our crowd is incredible and we love playing for them each week and we’re so glad to get a win for them at home,” Jenner said.
“So important (to be close to the top four), we’re such a competitive group and we’re going for finals. So every win is amazing.”
Jok scored 40 goals or more for the third game in a row shooting 41 of 45 attempts, while super shot specialist Sinclair nailed 4 of 6 two-point shots as she got more than three quarters of game time at goal attack due to an injury to Eleanor Cardwell.
Mavericks captain Amy Parmenter and centre Molly Jovic were also instrumental with Parmenter recording a team-high five intercepts and Jovic leading the match for goal assists with 22 from a whopping 39 feeds.
“It’s so special. It has been what feels like a long time coming to win in front of our fans,” Parmenter said.
“It’s such a new crowd so to give that to them finally means a lot.”
Housby’s sizzling super shots
The Swifts needed to improve their offence after a record-low score in their 25-point drubbing by the Adelaide Thunderbirds in last week’s grand final rematch, and Housby shouldered a lot of the load to try lift her team to victory.
Housby rotated between goal shooter and goal attack at stages and was threatening either way with 8 of 11 super shots while shot at 95% from closer to the post.
Cardwell goes down
The Mavericks’ marquee signing for their debut season, Eleanor Cardwell, is now in doubt for the King’s Birthday Melbourne Derby against the Vixens with a quad injury.
The England international was visibly concerned when being assessed by medical staff at quarter time and she did not return to the court as she watched on with ice on her right quad.
“I think she went running for a ball and felt a little niggle in her quad,” Mavericks coach Tracey Neville said.
Cardwell has been playing predominantly goal attack but was switched to her preferred position of goal shooter for the first quarter’s power five where she shot at 100% including a super shot.
She missed last month’s loss to her former side the Adelaide Thunderbirds with an ankle injury that forced her to leave the court in the Mavericks’ inaugural win against the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
More injuries mar contest
Diamonds goal defence Sarah Klau left the court with an ankle issue in the final quarter after accidentally stepping on the foot of Swifts teammate Teigan O’Shannassy.
Klau had been the Swifts best player to that point in with five intercepts and eight deflections in what was a physical match with many players hitting the floor from fierce contests.
Mavericks wing attack Maisie Nankivell and Swifts wing defence Allie Smith suffered a head clash in the third quarter that led to both of them being sidelined.
Mavericks centre Molly Jovic forced her team to take a tactical timeout in the fourth quarter to clean up the blood from a scratch on her face, and she was not the only player to receive contact to the face when competing for the ball.
FIREBIRDS PULL OFF UPSET OF THE SEASON
Bottom of the ladder Queensland Firebirds caused the upset of the Super Netball season, dismantling the previously high flying Adelaide Thunderbirds 52 to 42 in a dominant performance. The Firebirds took full advantage of the defending champions, who were missing chief playmaker Georgie Horjus through injury, winning three of the four quarters to secure just their second victory of the year by 10 points.
Both sides had key names out for the clash, with captain Kim Ravaillion and Isabelle Shearer missing for the Firebirds, while the Thunderbirds looked lost in attack without Horjus. Firebirds have adjusted to being without Ravaillion, who’s been on managed minutes as she continues to recover from pre-Christmas spinal surgery, but the Thunderbirds without Horjus is an unfamiliar sight.
Laura Scherian earned her first start for Adelaide, tasked with replicating the speed, leadership and playmaking of her teammate. While the attack end was clearly missing something with Horjus on the sidelines, Scherian’s experience wasn’t enough to bring the team together, finishing with five costly turnovers and only nine goal assists.
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst was frustrated with her teams performance, speaking post match she acknowledged the impact of not having Horjus available for the game.
“The manner that we lost it was the most disappointing, we were making simple mistakes but you can’t do that in this league. There’s no doubt that Georgie is important to our team, but we’d been preparing for playing without her. We had some plans in place, but they didn’t come off as we would’ve liked.”
After a lack-lustre few weeks, Donnell Wallam was back in impressive form against the Thunderbirds, despite being matched against the fearsome defensive skills of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey. Her combination of dynamic movement and strong holding limited Sterling-Humphrey’s aerial ability, as Wallam went on a scoring rampage finishing the game with 35 from 39 including one supershot.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran had a field day against the relative inexperience of Lauren Frew, and then debutant Kayla Graham. Putting on a show for the Australian selectors, she reeled in five gains in an MVP performance. The Firebirds were able to capitalise on the hard work of their defenders, scoring off 64 percent of their defensive gains.
Speaking post match, Bakewell-Doran was full of praise for her side’s efforts.
“I’m so proud of the girls, it’s been a hard slog to get here. Our hunger for a win has never left, we did what we know how to do and we did it with confidence and the scoreboard shows that.”
It was a defensive masterclass from both sides, with aerial prowess and rangy arms a key feature at either end of the court. Sterling-Humphrey came to life in the last quarter as Thunderbirds tried to reel in a 14 point deficit, but was otherwise below her usual impressive form, finishing with seven gains. However, her side failed to reward even those efforts, only managing to score off 31 percent of the team’s gains.
Firebirds coach Bec Bulley had nothing but praise for her side’s efforts, especially after their disappointing one goal loss last time the two teams met.
“We were on our game, it didn’t matter who was on court for them, we adjusted and always went back to doing our job and taking care of our opponent. We had the confidence that last time we only lost to them by one and we felt like we could’ve won. It shows when you’ve got a team that are performing well on the day that we can beat anyone.”
DIAMOND WATCH
With the Australian Diamonds squad announcement imminent, players were putting on a show trying to catch the selectors’ eyes. Defenders Ruby Bakewell-Doran and Matilda Garrett will both be hoping for another call up, and put on a good show with five gains and three deflections respectively. Georgie Horjus could be looking at her maiden appearance after a strong start to the season across both wing attack and goal attack. Thunderbirds below-par performance today could be an indicator of just how dominant Horjus has become.
VIXENS BRILLIANCE ON DISPLAY
Sunshine Coast Lightning’s home stadium has become a happy hunting ground for West Coast Fever, as the visitors chalked up their seventh win in their last eight matches at the venue. The 71 to 68 point victory was hard fought after both sides ran goal for goal for much of the match.
While Lightning were able to go on some mini runs early, Fever found an extra gear in the third quarter to finally hit the lead, and weren’t headed from that point to maintain top position on the Super Netball ladder.
Fever coach Dan Ryan, praised his side’s turnaround from last week’s loss to the Vixens.
“The way they trained this week it was like they were possessed demons,” Ryan said.
“They wanted to get back into the winning circle.”
From the first whistle, the match was played at a frenetic pace.
Neither side gave an inch as players threw themselves at every pass resulting in four bodies hitting the deck in the opening two minutes.
The tight contest kept going with nothing separating the two sides at the first break, and just one at half time.
With scores once again locked late in the third term, Fever brought on young goal attack, Olivia Wilkinson, after Shanice Beckford had been shut down and forced into errors by the Lightning defence.
The change paid dividends as Wilkinson added height and accuracy at the post, which allowed her side to grind out a three-goal lead heading into the final term.
Ryan praised Wilkinson’s poise in a pressured game.
“She made a few mistakes but learned from it” he said.
“It was a tight contest and a huge game for her to play and learn from.”
Lightning pegged it back to tie up scores in the last quarter, leading to a pressure cooker last few minutes.
Trailing by three heading into the final five minutes, Lightning were forced into super shots; however, were starved of space in the two-point zone.
With Steph Fretwell tightly marked, Cara Koenen was forced into a hail-mary shot from the two-point zone.
Having not shot one all season, it ultimately sailed over the baseline allowing Fever the reply and ultimately a nerve-wracking win.
Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds addressed her side’s lack of super shot attempts in the final period, and their decision to not bring on talented super shot shooter, Reilley Batchelor.
“We have been a little bit off our super shots,” Reynolds said.
“I think at the end of the game, we chose to stick with our experience out there.
“It was a tough, tight contest.
“To bring ‘Roo’ [Reilley] on in those last few minutes would have been a big ask.
“I think it goes back to that third quarter where we had a bit of a lead.
“I think that was the time that, if we could have pushed on from there, we could have brought Roo on when we could have had more freedom and a bit more of a licence to go for them.”
Without Diamond Courtney Bruce for the fourth straight week, Lightning’s Ash Ervin inherited the toughest job of the game; trying to contain the best goal shooter in the world in Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
While the wins were far and few between, and Ervin was well and truly beaten in the first quarter, she came alive in the second term.
By the full-time whistle, Ervin bagged five gains, but Fowler-Nembhard shot a near perfect game of 55/58 to win MVP.
DIAMONDS OF THE SEASON
With the 2024/25 Australian Diamonds’ squad to be named in the next few weeks, national selectors were among the crowd..
Lightning has three Diamonds and a few fringe athletes who could earn a national call-up.
For Fever, Sunday Aryang has all but signed her place in the squad while Kelsey Browne will be hoping her form this season, has earned her a recall to international netball.
VIXENS BRILLIANT IN ROMP
The Melbourne Vixens’ brilliance was on full display as they overpowered an understrength Giants outfit to secure a 74-60 victory in front of a packed house at John Cain Arena.
The Vixens shot their highest ever score on their home court with the architects of last week’s stunning defeat of the previously unbeaten West Coast Fever - Sophie Garbin, Kiera Austin, Hannah Mundy and Kate Moloney - dominating.
The quartet toyed with their opponents as the ball whizzed in and out of the goal circle to create the possible shot - showing why the Vixens have lost just once from eight game this season.
As a result, Garbin nailed 51 of her 55 attempts including three of four super shots to be the highest rated player on court.
Her partner in crime Austin was similarly lethal shooting at 88% as she got the better of her much-anticipated match-up with last year’s Goal Defence of the Year Jodi-Ann Ward.
A major super shot discrepancy opened up as the Giants attempted to chase the game - Matisse Letherbarrow and Sophie Dwyer shot 8 of 15 attempts at the two-point goal - but they were never able to mount a comeback.
The Giants fought hard and their physicality led to Garbin receiving a heavy knock to the nose in the dying minutes.
“I love the physicality, it comes every week,” Garbin said.
“The best teams have that two shooter threat, not just one person taking those twos. Obviously Kip is so good at it but if I can take some pressure off her as well (it is a boost to the team).
MOLONEY AND MUNDY MONSTER THE GIANTS
Vixens centre Kate Moloney and wing attack Hannah Mundy continued their stellar seasons as they combined for 70 feeds and 36 goal assists.
The midcourt duo were the second and third highest rated players on court respectively with their connection with their shooters once again a highlight.
They also taught their direct opponents a lesson in defensive desperation with them combining for three intercepts compared to none from their counterparts.
GIANTS MISS SKIPPERS
The Giants travelled to Melbourne for a second straight week buoyed by winning two of their last three games - after losing their first four games of the season - but lost co-captains Jamie-Lee Price and Jo Harten in the build-up.
Price went off late in her best on court performance in last week’s victory against the Mavericks with what she said was cramp after an awkward collision but the Giants’ star centre actually sustained a minor knee injury.
Meanwhile English shooter Harten - who scored her 3000th Super Netball goal last week - was a late withdrawal with illness.
Maddie Hay - who returned from a nine-month hip injury last week - was handed the captaincy duties but the wing attack was unable to replicate her impressive return against the Mavericks as she coughed up five first half turnovers and she was benched for the third term as a result.
MELBOURNE DERBY NEXT FOR VIXENS
The Melbourne Vixens’ next assignment is to maintain bragging rights over their new, noisy neighbours the Mavericks in a King’s Birthday showdown.
The Vixens triumphed by seven goals in the first round clash and a bumper crowd is expected once again to watch Melbourne’s newest sporting rivalry.
More Coverage
Swifts elevate natural leader after shining through dark period
She’s stood tall through some of the darkest days for her club and sport but Maddy Turner hopes there are calmer waters ahead when she steps into a captaincy role with the Swifts.
‘Standing on ancestors’: The Black Swans trailblazer playing for family
Playing for her cancer-stricken mother, ‘hero’ father and a generation of Torres Strait Islander girls, this Black Swans player is blazing a trail she hopes others will follow.