Darling Downs Panthers secure win over rival Ipswich Jets in 2025 Ruby Netball Series season opener
The last time the Darling Downs Panthers won a season opener they created history. A win over Ruby Series Netball rivals Ipswich Jets on Saturday points to what could be another historic season. Find out why here.
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Opening round wins are hard to come by for Darling Downs Panthers but when they do record one they are significant.
The last time the Panthers secured a round 1 Ruby Series Netball win they broke a 20-year drought – booking a first ever finals berth.
Panthers captain Khloe Fanning hopes Saturday’s 59-51 win over rivals Ipswich Jets is an ‘omen’ pointing to what lies ahead.
“Hopefully it is an omen. The last time we won our first game we made the finals,” she said.
“Winning the first game of the season is always great, we’ve won a few but they don’t happen a lot for us, to win against Jets makes it even better.
“It’s good way to start the season, a special win that gives everyone confidence.”
Scoring the opening two goals of the match, Panthers quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a 9-2 scoreline with the Jets flying high in the first quarter.
With his team strugglingly to stem the flow of goals Panthers head coach Chris Beckett called a time-out that ultimately changed the game.
“The girls responded really well to what Chris said in that time-out,” Fanning said.
“I think we just needed to reset, we came out (of the time-out) with focus, turned things around and finished winning the first quarter.
“We didn’t look back after that. We led at every quarter and won the match.”
One of just two players over the age of 18, Fanning said she was impressed by how well her young teammates responded in the game.
“We’ve always had young teams,” she said.
“But this squad is very young. Of the 10 players in the team, eight are 18 or younger.
“There’s not a lot of experience in the side but everyone worked so hard in pre-season and it showed out there.
“I thought both ends were good for us. Millie (Lockwood, goalshooter) and Emily (Stapleton, goal defence) were good but really the whole team deserves credit.
“We responded really well to feedback, made good adjustments and took advantage in the supershot periods.
“More importantly though we really enjoyed our netball, that helps a lot, and we know there is plenty of room to improve.”
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