Super Netball survey tips the rise of the Victorian teams

The world’s best players are tipping Victorian Super Netballs clubs to rise, and Queensland teams to fall off the pace.

Melbourne Vixens have added Diamonds shooter Caitlin Thwaites to their playing roster for this season. Picture: AAP

The world’s best players are tipping Victorian Super Netball clubs to rise and Queensland teams to fall away after a dramatic off-season for player movement.

A Netball Australia survey of 56 players and club administrators provides a strong indication of the sentiments of an 80-player competition.

The survey installs Melbourne Vixens as strong favourites, with 44 per cent of respondents picking them to win it overall, and a strong majority backing them as the mostly likely bottom-four team from last year to feature in this year’s finals.

The Vixens have added Diamonds shooter Caitlin Thwaites, and South African young gun Ine-Mari Venter to their playing roster, but are expecting to be without the services of Malawian star Mwai Kumwenda for most of the season as she recovers from an ACL tear.

Coaches around the league are very wary of what the famously disciplined Vixens can do if they stay healthy, after injuries derailed their minor premiership defence last year.

Giants Netball are second favourites in the premiership race after landing national captain Caitlin Bassett in an off-season during which the team shed a crop of experienced talent.

The challenge for Bassett and the Giants will be integrating into the team after an interrupted pre-season: the shooter fractured her forearm on tour with the Diamonds in January and has only recently returned to on-court duties.

Meanwhile, everyone has one eye on a rejuvenated Magpies team that took out the league’s pre-season tournament in Brisbane. Collingwood have added experience at both ends of the court with English star keeper Geva Mentor and veteran Australian goaler Nat Medhurst.

Collingwood’s underachievement over the past two years was often sheeted home to a hole at goal attack the team could never seem to fill. This season, with Medhurst on board, the pressure will rest on the shoulders of young Jamaican shooter Shimona Nelson, another new recruit.

Coach Rob Wright knows that Nelson cannot carry a winning scoring load on her own, and is expecting Medhurst to raise her output after averaging eight goals a game for the Fever last year. Nelson presents as a nightmare match-up for most teams: she is 195cm tall with long arms and fast feet. But the 20-year-old has struggled to fight through the physical wear of a full season at shooter to date.

Preview graphic for Super Netball season

While betting markets have West Coast as equal premiership favourites after falling just short in a home grand final last year, they ranked fourth in the Netball Australia survey, and a quarter of voters tipped them as the most likely team to fall out of the finals places this season.

The Fever retained the core of their team, save for Medhurst who was unexpectedly shown the door just days after the club’s maiden grand final appearance.

West Coast still have plenty of shooting firepower this year with Jhaniele Fowler the favourite to defend the MVP title she won last year, but it’s up to the team’s midcourt to prove that they can still operate efficiently without the space and support Medhurst provided.

The consensus elsewhere is that the Firebirds and Lightning are both due for a drop-off in performance after losing key players in the off-season. Both teams were heavily tipped to fall out of finals contention this year.

The Firebirds’ problem will be replacing Laura Geitz, who retired in August. Geitz has been arguably the greatest matchwinner in Australian netball over the past decade, and anchored a fierce Firebirds defensive unit last year. The team isn’t short on talent elsewhere, especially in the shooting circle, but there simply wasn’t a more significant loss for a team in the off-season.

The Lightning also farewelled a host of players after their second consecutive premiership, including Mentor, Bassett and Kelsey Browne. Those losses were mitigated by the return of New Zealand captain Laura Langman, and the addition of Ugandan shooter Peace Proscovia.

Kiwi coach Noeline Taura has built a remarkable resilience into the Sunshine Coast set-up, but they barely made the finals last year, and a three-peat is unheard of in elite netball. With Taurua now juggling club and national coaching duties with the Silver Ferns, there are no shortage of obstacles ahead of the Lightning.

As for the final two teams: no one outside of the Thunderbirds or Swifts tipped either team to make the finals this year, much less win a premiership.

The Swifts have returned essentially unchanged, and will be backing some natural progression from one of the league’s youngest sides in their second year under coach Briony Akle. The Thunderbirds, on the other hand, have pushed a broom through the building after a dismal two seasons that reaped just one solitary win. Adelaide have a new coach, a new CEO, and a new look roster studded with international talent.