Super Netball tips: Bianca Chatfield, Lisa Alexander and fellow CODE experts’ big round three calls
The Swifts defeated the Firebirds in a classic to claim their ‘State of Origin’ title in the Super Netball season, while the Thunderbirds won a thriller against the Lightning, as the Fever held off the Mavericks. Talking points inside.
The Thunderbirds and NSW Swifts have both claimed stunning extra-time victories in the third round of of the Super Netball season.
Melbourne Mavericks’ hunt for a maiden Super Netball win will last another week after a tough seven-point loss to the Fever.
Meanwhile, CODE Sports’ netball experts are going head to head in a Super Netball tipping competition this year.
Linda Pearce has tipped a perfect eight from eight so far to take the lead. Former Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander, Bianca Chatfield and Nat Medhurst headline the chasing pack.
Scroll down to see their picks.
Swifts claim bragging rights in ‘origin’ classic
NSW Swifts earned bragging rights over the Queensland Firebirds in Super Netball’s version of State of Origin, in a 77 to 73 point extra time thriller. For the second time this weekend, teams couldn’t be separated after 60 minutes so an extra 10 minutes ensued. After trailing by as much as eight goals, a monster 19-7 fourth quarter got the Swifts back in the match, and their composure to the final whistle sealed the deal.
In her 100th Super Netball match, Swifts superstar shooter Helen Housby seemed initially overawed by the occasion. She struggled to have her usual impact early on, it wasn’t until the second half, with the game in the balance that she was able to unleash, nailing five from five supershots to bring her side home.
Housby became a household name when she robbed Australia of a Commonwealth Gold in 2018. Reflecting on her milestone pregame she said, “A lot of coaches over the years have instilled confidence in me, Tracey Neville was one of the first. At the end of the day you have to believe in yourself, and I try to put myself in high pressure situations. But I’ve failed a lot of times as well, I think that’s why I succeed.”
Exploiting an initial lack of height in the Swifts’ goal circle, Firebirds had a fast start, courtesy of some dogged defence as their opponents struggled to find their shooters without the strength of Sam Wallace-Joseph who started on the bench. Swifts’ coach Briony Akle was quick to ring the changes, injecting Wallace-Joseph in an attempt to settle her frantic shooting end.
Emotions ran high in the fight for state pride, with bodies hitting the deck as everyone hustled hard to get their team in front. The Swifts in particular struggled to rein in their penalty count, finishing with 75. Defender Maddy Turner was particularly expensive, her 22 infringements leaving her circle defenders with little protection.
Speaking post match, Akle was adamant she had confidence that her team would finish the game off
“They had the energy, once they knew they were back in the game. It was then going to the strategy. I knew once we got it even, I knew we had it. We’re the team that can do it. The Firebirds brought it to us for 60 minutes, so we had to be smarter and we were”
With the Firebirds starting to struggle on the scoreboard late in the game, even the injection of Firebirds captain and stalwart Kim Ravaillion wasn’t enough to steady the ship. Coming into the match cold in the fourth quarter, she got only 18 minutes of court time and gave away three crucial turnovers.
Firebirds Head Coach Bec Bulley was dejected post game, knowing that the game was theirs for the taking.
“For three quarters we did our job; however, now it’s about when we put ourselves in that position we need to be executing and winning the games. We can’t be the team that doesn’t close out games. We want to win. No one deserves to win, you have to earn it and do the work. And I think tonight Swifts earned it, they got on top of us in the last quarter. We have to keep doing the work for 60 minutes, or 70 minutes if that’s what it takes.”
Firebirds defensive duo Ruby Bakewell-Doran and Remi Kamo seemed unphased by Housby’s milestone match. Their rangy arms matched the athleticism of the Swifts, as the pair combined for 11 gains. However, it was Swifts co-captain Paige Hadley who dominated the mid-court, finding her shooters with ease and adding valuable defensive pressure through the court. She finished with 26 goals assists, one intercept and only three turnovers in an MVP performance.
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
As tempers flared through the match, players got increasingly feisty as they contested every ball. Changes to World Netball Rules have seen multiple send offs in national league matches in the UK and New Zealand, but Australia are yet to see any despite some heavy hits. While the umpires didn’t bat an eye when Maddy Proud sent Macy Gardner to the floor in the second quarter, it’s only a matter of time before a potentially game-changing send off occurs..
MAVS FALL BUT SHOW FIGHT
by Jenny Sinclair
New kids on the Super Netball block, Melbourne Mavericks, were unable to capitalise on their home court advantage, slumping to their third consecutive loss of the season 69 to 62. However, they’d be heartened by just a seven point deficit against the ladder topping West Coast Fever, courtesy of the goal shooting prowess of Shimona Jok (nee Nelson).
Speaking after the match, Mavericks coach Tracey Neville said, “It was her time to shine. We asked a lot of her today, we put a lot of pressure on her.”
Jok was a shock signing for the Mavericks, who made use of a loophole in the new rule allowing teams to sign an 11th player, and designed primarily to give experience to young talent that are eligible to play for Australia.
Jok has previously played more than 80 Super Netball games and has close to 20 caps for Jamaica, but as she didn’t take the court for her home country at the last World Cup, is theoretically able to play for Australia.
With the shooting end faltering in recent weeks, Neville didn’t hesitate to swing Jok into her match day ten. Jok provided accuracy and athleticism under the post, finishing with 27 from 29 goals.
More importantly, she took the pressure off star signing Eleanor Cardwell, who has been left with too much to do in recent weeks, and has looked visibly frustrated as a result.
And in what proved to be a Jamaican shootout, Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard also starred as she became just the second person to break the 8000 goal barrier, finishing with a perfect 50 from 50 and earning her MVP honours.
In a fiery opening quarter, Mavericks left Fever shell-shocked as they jumped out to a three-goal lead. Uncharacteristically sloppy handling errors from the Fever proved costly, however it wasn’t long before normal service was resumed by the visitors, who cleaned up their court play to blow the game open in the second quarter.
With Mavericks slipping further behind on the scoreboard, Neville pulled an even bigger surprise, shifting Jok into several cameos at goal keeper to try and match Fowler-Nembhard for height.
Speaking at half time, Fever’s coach Dan Ryan said, “Good on the Mavericks for giving that a crack, she’s certainly got some attributes to make an impact.”
Mavericks caused their opposition some nervous moments as they fought on to the end with a flurry of two-pointers. The ultimate difference was their struggle with centre pass conversion, finishing with just 63 per cent compared to Fever’s 81 per cent.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Mavericks have been quick to show their support for significant issues, donning orange bibs to raise awareness of family violence, which impacts one in four Australian women.
The Mavericks joined forces with Lumo Energy and Respect Victoria to make a strong statement about what has tragically become a national epidemic.
In shocking statistics, one woman has been murdered every four days this year, with many well known to their offender.
THUNDERBIRDS CLINCH THRILLER
by Katrina Nissen
Super Netball fans were left with whiplash after the seesawing clash between the Sunshine Coast Lighting and Adelaide Thunderbirds, which resulted in the first extra-time match of the season. After finishing with level scores of 50 apiece, teams were forced into a pulsating 10 extra minutes, with Thunderbirds eventually prevailing 60 to 56.
Lightning got their noses in front at the end of the first extra time period, off the hand of their captain Steph Fretwell’s super shot. However, costly fatigued-induced ball-handling errors crept into their game in the final minutes, allowing the Thunderbirds to clinch the eventual four goal win.
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst praised her side’s ability to stay in the game and push on for the win.
“We have been quite exceptional with that,” Obst said.
“We have a real strong belief that we can hang in there, and we have shown over the last 12-18 months that we can do that.
“When we trusted one another and we connected, we were able to win the game by four goals which was just incredible given what had happened in the previous 60 minutes.”
In a tale of two halves, the Thunderbirds looked to hold an unassailable 11 point lead by half time, but Lightning mounted a heroic comeback to level the scores by the end of sixty minutes.
The difference proved to be the injection of Fretwell, who started the match on the bench after sustaining an ankle injury in Round 2. Taking the court with her side staring down a 12-goal deficit, Fretwell sparked the fightback, slotting 20 from 27 including five supershots for the match.
It was a tennis match early on as uncharacteristic errors plagued both sides from the first whistle. After Lightning coughed up the ball no less than six times in the first seven minutes, coach Belinda Reynolds called a time-out. The instruction: “If there is an error, just regroup.” But the call for level heads did little to staunch the goals flowing for the Thunderbirds who took an 11-goal lead into the first break.
Not happy with her battle with Romelda Aiken-George, Lightning defender Courtney Bruce had a chat with the umpires during the halftime break. Despite pleading her case that the contest was mutual, the umpires simply instructed Bruce to ‘adjust her positioning.’
The battle between Australian captain Liz Watson and Latanya Wilson was tantalising. Jamaican international Wilson had the upper hand, forcing the usually clinical Watson into silly ball-handling mistakes, and limiting her usual high workload. For her part, Wilson took four gains.
The two brilliant, imposing defensive lineups delivered an unprecedented 48 turnovers and 18 intercepts across the 70 minutes of matchplay. Superstars Courtney Bruce and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey finished with eight gains each for their respective sides.
YOUNG GUNS
Sunshine Coast Lightning might have signed a number of Diamonds stars to their roster, but their gaps have been filled in with some of the cream of Australia’s young talent.
With the youngest team in the league, players including Ash Ervin, Leesa Mi Mi, Ava Black and Reilley Batcheldor had their work cut out for them against the brilliant Thunderbirds defence.
Ervin excelled in the defensive end, but Mi Mi had a tougher afternoon at centre, giving away seven costly turnovers.
MATCH PREVIEWS
SATURDAY
(all times AEST)
Lightning v Thunderbirds
UniSC Arena, Sunshine Coast, 5pm
The Lightning will be out to bounce back from its horror road trip to Perth and big loss to the Fever last week when the side returns to its home court in round 3.
Steph Wood is likely to line up despite picking up an ankle injury last week and she and Cara Koenen will need to be at their best against a Thunderbirds defensive unit that has started the season on song.
Mavericks v Fever
John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7pm
The Mavericks will be desperate to avoid an 0-3 start to the season but face the form side of the competition in the Fever, which is coming off a 25-goal drubbing of early premiership favourite the Lightning.
A great clash looms between two England stars – Mavericks shooter Eleanor Cardwell and Fever defender Fran Williams – that could determine the game.
SUNDAY
Firebirds v Swifts
Nissan Arena, Brisbane, 2om
The Swifts head into this one as favourites given their line-up but the Firebirds have played two outstanding games, winning one and losing the other by just a goal.
It will be master versus apprentice in the coaching ranks when former Swifts assistant Bec Bulley goes up against two-time premiership coach Briony Akle in a contest that has every chance to live up to the State of Origin hype.
Giants v Vixens
Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, 4pm
Even though it’s only round 3, this is shaping as a pivotal match in the Giants’ season after they their lost their opening two games.
They can’t afford to miss the jump again this week against a Vixens side that has won its opening two games, although it had to fight all the way.
Jo Weston got through half a game in her Vixens return last week and is likely to take on a bigger role against Sophie Dwyer and Jo Harten.
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