Super Netball round six: Magpies handed 15-point thrashing by dominant Lightning
The Collingwood Magpies had no answer for Sunshine Coast’s Steph Wood in the Super Netball’s inaugural Anzac Day clash. Catch up with all the round six Super Netball action.
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Collingwood’s first Anzac Day match will be one to forget, with the Magpies going down in a 15-point demolition by the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Catch up with all the Super Netball action.
Steph Wood unleashes in Anzac Day demolition
-Georgia Doyle
In a game they’d like to forget, Collingwood Magpies were handed a 15 point thrashing by a dominant Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Collingwood’s Sophie Garbin was kept scoreless until the 33 minute mark in Super Netball’s inaugural Anzac Day match. With the Australian squad announced in two days, her lapse in form, scoring only two of seven, will be concerning for selectors.
Garbin was forced to the bench, with MVP Karla Pretorius putting immense pressure on her from the get go, forcing three turnovers and five missed shots in just 30 minutes. Pretorius also had impressive numbers of her own, with 10 gains and just three penalties.
Conversely Steph Wood was phenomenal for Lightning, attacking the scoreboard with 14 from 21 including five super shots, having only shot five in as many games this season.
Collingwood head coach Nicole Richardson had a strong focus on trying to quell Wood’s influence.
“Shut down Steph’s first phase, when we shut her down [Ash] Braz wins ball,” she implored during an early time out.
However, with Ash Brazill busy trying to win ball, Lightning had oodles of room in attack. It allowed Laura Scherian to run rampant, as Magpies were looking for screaming intercepts rather than doing the hard yakka to shut her down.
Fighting until the very end, Collingwood were contesting every chance they had, but were on the wrong side of the whistle with 60 penalties compared to Lightning’s 32.
Jodi-Ann Ward came alive for Collingwood in the third quarter when she no longer had Wood to worry about. But it was too late, her three defensive wins couldn’t be capitalised on as the Magpies were forced to take long shots that just weren’t sinking.
In a last ditch attempt to make inroads on the scoreboard, Richardson benched Kelsey Browne for the first time this season, as Collingwood wanted maximal defensive pressure across the court.
This switch pushed Ward out to wing defence, and saw Jacqui Newton enter the game. A change Richardson praised after the game.
“I think shuffling that defence end, so Jacqui can come on and win ball for us worked well. Jodi also plays in wing defence for Jamaica and causes some damage internationally, so I was happy with what that produced” she said post match.
Having led by as much as 20, Lighting also emptied their bench to provide on-court experience to their rookie players, as the team now rockets into the top four.
Facing a fired up Thunderbirds side next week, Collingwood have clear targets for the remainder of the season.“We need to make sure we have a positive win-loss ratio in these last eight matches. We don’t lose sight of wanting to play finals, there’s a lot of twists and turns in the next eight rounds. The season is so close, so we’ve gotta stay positive and make sure we’re up for the challenge each game, play consistent 60 minutes and get results on the board” Richardson said after the game.
ANZAC HONOURS
Completing the trio of Melbourne ANZAC matches, Super Netball held its first game on Anzac Day since the league’s inception. Joining forces with their football counterparts, Collingwood Magpies and Melbourne Storm, the netballers donned special kits for the occasion. With Collingwood AFL hosting the contest every year, time will tell if Super Netball follow suit.
SOPHIE’S CHOICE
Australian Diamonds squad selection is two days away, and with some recent shaky performances Sophie Garbin may be nervous. Her accuracy currently sits at just 66 per cent, and she has the second most turnovers in the league. While unlikely to be left out of the squad, will her previous form be enough for Stacey Marinkovich to choose her for a ticket to Cape Town?
100 CLUB
Sunshine Coast Lightning marked their 100th club match with an emphatic win, showing why they are Australia’s most successful start-up elite sporting club. They formed in 2017, and have appeared in five consecutive finals series, including back to back premierships in their first two years.
West Coast Fever dream run ends in Thunderbird victory
-Jenny Sinclair
In an epic encounter, West Coast Fever and the Adelaide Thunderbirds delivered one of the games of the 2023 Super Netball season. In front of 7615 fans, both sides battled for ascendancy, but it wasn’t until the final heart-stopping seconds that the Thunderbirds came from behind to steal a one point victory.
A defensive masterclass by the Thunderbirds proved to be the ultimate difference, stamping their claim as premiership contenders, and handing their opponents their first loss of the season.
In the titanic all-Jamaican battle, Thunderbirds’ defender Shamera Sterling took the first honours with an early intercept. While Sterling picked off four intercepts across the match, Jhaniele Fowler’s fingertip control was on display, as she went on a 51 goal scoring spree.
Fever roared out to a nine goal lead during the first term, until three supershots from match MVP Eleanor Cardwell put the Thunderbirds back into the game.
With the best backline in the league, time and again the Thunderbirds’ defenders sent their team into attack. Their midcourters were generally clean with the ball, giving up just 16 turnovers in the high pressure match.
Latanya Wilson was a menace through the midcourt, causing struggle-street for Fever’s Alice Teague-Neeld. The wing attack coughed up eight uncharacteristic errors, as Wilson hauled in five intercepts.
With the scores level in the third quarter, Fever coach Dan Ryan implored his troops to shut down the opposition.
He said during a time-out, “This needs to be a shift in work rate from all of you, they are coming and we need to stop them.
“We are getting outworked.”
Fever looked tired in the final quarter, after two consecutive long haul trips over east. Leads to the ball dried up, and the Thunderbirds were still full of running. Fever were unable to keep the Thunderbirds out of two point scoring distance as Cardwell went on a rampage in the last few minutes. She put up four two pointers to seal the game on the buzzer.
It was a disappointing result for Fever stalwart Verity Simmons, who ran out her 150th national league game, and for Dan Ryan’s 50th match as coach.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING
In reaching his 50th national league game, coach Dan Ryan has recorded two very different experiences. At his former club, the Thunderbirds, Ryan limped to a one win, 27 loss record.
Conversely at the Fever, he has 17 wins for just 5 losses at a 77 per cent success rate.
WONDERFUL WILSON
Adelaide Thunderbird Latanya Wilson has been weaving her magic at wing defence this season. Having shut down the two best wing attacks in the league in recent weeks – Liz Watson and Alice Teague-Neeld, teams should be wary of her at the Netball World Cup.
Firebirds find first Super Netball win over GIANTS
-Alex Murdoch
The Firebirds have hit back at naysayers predicting a winless season by defeating GIANTS Netball 70-66 in an edge-of-seat stoush in Brisbane today.
“It’s so amazing… and so nice to get a win,” Firebirds Goal Shooter and match most valuable player Donnell Wallam said after scoring 55/57 shots at 96.4% including four two-point Super Shots to seal the deal.
The win followed netball great Catherine Cox’s earlier foreshadowing of a winless season for the three-time premiers, who won the 2011, 15 and 16 seasons, now classed as in a ‘rebuilding phase.’
“They could go through this season without a win – they could be the first side to do that since 2018,’’ Cox said on Fox Sport’s Centre Circle, citing the last-minute loss of Goal Attack great Gretel Bueta to pregnancy leave as the reason.
“They’re not easybeats but it could happen.”
After five consecutive losses, including a nailbiting two-point defeat to Super Netball table-toppers and reigning premiers West Coast Fever last week, the ladder bottom-dwellers proved a mid-court starting switch was the secret to its success.
Utilising the same line-up that triggered last week’s comeback, Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion took on the wing defence role (switching from centre), with Macy Gardner as centre (from wing attack), Laura Dunkley as wing attack and Emily Moore as goal attack (with the latter two off the bench).
For the Queenslanders it was an early match made in heaven, driving a dominate path straight to Wallam and up-and-comer Moore – drawing an early 14-7 lead to claim its first quarter win of the season 19-15.
For the GIANTS, however, it was not the 100th game celebration they had hoped for – coming off two straight victories against the Collingwood Magpies and Adelaide Thunderbirds after a slow three-loss start and standing sixth on the ladder.
It didn’t all go Queensland’s way, however, with the GIANTS hitting back in the second quarter, swinging momentum with a tightly contested physical stoush which had gains favouring the visitors and Super Shots wreaking havoc – ending with a 33-33 halftime score with Moore scoring on the buzzer to secure the Firebirds tie.
Mid second quarter also saw GIANTS captain and goal shooter Jo Harton subbed off after scoring 10/15 shots with an accuracy rate of 66.7%, to be replaced by Matisse Letherbarrow who finished out the match with 17/20 and a rate of 85%.
With momentum slowing, the Firebirds switched back to its usual starting line-up, with Ravaillion back as centre, Gardner in WA, Gabi Simpson in WD and Mia Stower in GA in the third quarter – taking the fight to the GIANTS with a quick five-point lead (43-38).
Although this was slightly clawed back by the GIANTS shooting combination of Letherbarrow and Sophie Dwyer (GA) 26/33 and 78.8% accuracy including a massive six Super Shots – heading into the final quarter, it was still a Firebird’s 53-50 lead.
Meanwhile, Giants Academy graduate turned Firebird Moore said ahead of the match that on the court there would be no love lost between the teams.
“Everyone knows that when you’re on that court there’s no love lost and both teams will be doing whatever it takes to get that win.”
Swifts down Vixens with final-quarter comeback
– Kate Allman
The NSW Swifts have leapt to equal second place on the Super Netball ladder after stealing a come-from-behind 67-66 win against the Melbourne Vixens in Sydney.
Scores were locked at 66 apiece with just over a minute to go as the crowd rose to its feet in Ken Rosewall Arena.
Swifts shooter Romelda Aiken-George put the home side up by one, but the Vixens took possession and looked to seal the match with a Super Shot via the usually steady hand of Mwai Kumwenda with 40 seconds to go.
Stunningly, the ball bounced off the rim and NSW Swifts defender Allie Smith, fresh off the interchange bench, broke the hearts of her former teammates the Vixens by collecting the matchwinning rebound.
“To come up with a rebound like that when she probably hasn’t played much netball at goal defence, to come off the bench, recognise that crucial moment and go up with two hands, I thought it was beautiful,” said Swifts co-captain Paige Hadley after the match.
SLOW STARTS TO SWIFT RETALIATION
Opponents have lashed the Swifts through the first five rounds of the season for starting slow and having to chase the game through second halves.
Saturday night’s match looked to be falling into a familiar pattern when the Vixens punished a Maddy Proud loose ball with two successive goals by Mwai Kumwenda to open the match. But a desperate time-out by Swifts coach Briony Akle in the first quarter stemmed the bloodletting.
“We are better than this,” said Akle as the scoreboard read 12-7.
From there, the Swifts clawed back and pulled out a new trick for the 2023 season: they won a second quarter.
“We had too many mistakes and poor decision-making. The game was there to be won, and some of our own errors handed momentum back to the Swifts,” admitted Vixens coach Simone McKinnis after the siren.
ROMPING ROMELDA
In what initially appeared a strange decision, Vixens coach Simone McKinnis chose to start 23-year-old Olivia Lewis over veteran defender Emily Mannix.
It was a tough day to send in the bench-warmer against a firing Romelda Aiken-George, who shot for 46 points and was named player of the match. The 34-year-old new mum is finding an exciting second act in her career at Sydney, after being dumped last year by the team she played 14 seasons with, the Queensland Firebirds.
She wowed the crowd in the first half by regaining the ball after missing one shot and sending it back to the net while falling out of court.
But Lewis found a second gear too, staking her claim on a starting position for the future. Her crucial intercept in the Swifts‘ shooting circle just moments before halftime sent the visitors to the break at 30-all.
“[The Swifts play] a style that suits Liv Lewis, there’s not a whole lot of movement there. So she does read it quite well and has that great elevation. It took her a while to get a feel for it and timing but she’s doing well,” McKinnis said.
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