Net Gains: Magpies change famous anthem to reflect Super Netball demise

With just two games left for the Magpies in Super Netball, the team pulled out a fairytale win over Adelaide to show their passion is defying the situation. Check out this week’s NetGains.

Good old Collingwood for … “two weeks”.

Magpies players belted out their song for just the third time this season following their upset of top of the table Thunderbirds in their final home game at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

But the words to the famous “Good old Collingwood forever” anthem were changed by the players, who will play in the black and white strip for just another two games after Collingwood made the decision not to renew their Super Netball licence.

GOOD OLD COLLINGWOOD FOR [redacted] pic.twitter.com/fBUyz14APo

— Collingwood Super Netball (@collingwoodsn) June 3, 2023

The win was a victory for the resilience and passion of a playing group that is determined to play the season out with a pride and passion that defies their situation.

Nine full-time players – Ash Brazill is the exception having declared earlier in the year this would be her final netball season – have no idea what the future holds for them given their team will cease to exist and there is currently no Collective Player Agreement for the 2024 season despite every player in the league being off contract.

But they have put their issues aside until then and after a disappointing season for a team that made the finals last season and had top-four expectations again this year, finally put a 60-minute performance together and toppled the premiership favourites.

Saturday night may have technically been their final home match but they will be in action at John Cain Arena again next week, in a sold-out Victorian derby against the Melbourne Vixens and would love nothing better than to finalise the history of that contest with a win.

Certainly the players are tugging at the heartstrings.

Co-captain Geva Mentor. Photos: Getty Images

Ash Brazill.

Co-captains Geva Mentor and Brazill, who have been so crucial in keeping the spirits of the players up since they were dragged into a meeting by Pies CEO Craig Kelly almost three weeks ago, dissolved into tears at the full-time whistle.

Mentor’s former England teammate Stacey Francis-Bayman said in commentary it was hard not to get caught up in the emotion of the moment.

I think it’s really hard not to get caught up in the emotion of the moment.

“Netball is a community and we do ride the highs and lows together,” Francis-Bayman said.

“I think it’s so disappointing how things have transpired for the Magpies, that are capable of fantastic things and we saw that against one of the favourites of the league.

“But you couldn’t help but feel really sad but really warmed by the result that they were able to get in the last home game.”

Super Proud of this amazing group of athletes! What a performance under extreme circumstances. Nothing but ❤️ #weballpic.twitter.com/G9NlM9GVrF

— Nicole Richardson (@NicoleRicho3) June 4, 2023

Collingwood’s fate cannot be used as a gauge for the health of the league as a whole though.

The Swifts-Giants derby at Ken Rosewall Arena was sold out, while the Vixens, who have understandably been reluctant to trumpet their support in light of the Magpies’ struggles, sold out their contest against the Swifts last week and are already putting out the full-house signs for the derby next Monday.

More than 10,000 packed Perth’s RAC Arena to watch the Fever bounce back to the winners’ circle, while the Firebirds’ signature First Nations round clash was a sellout.

SWIFTS FINDING WAYS TO WIN

They say nothing worthwhile ever comes easy - and that mantra has certainly been embraced by the Swifts, who are just finding ways to win, regardless of circumstances.

The two-time Super Netball premiers shot to the top of the ladder with their 68-63 win - the club’s eighth straight victory this season - over the Giants in the NSW derby in front of a sellout crowd at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

Ahead by nine goals at one stage in the third term, the Swifts had to fight for the win, with the Giants taking a two-goal lead seconds ahead of the final break before England international Helen Housby levelled scores at three-quarter time.

“I think we’ve found a way just to win, whether that’s coming from behind or in front,” said Housby, who finished with 28 points from 23-of-25 shooting including five pivotal super shots.

“We’ve found a way just to grind it out.”

The Swifts have turned the super shot into a weapon this season, rather than just a mechanism to catch up but Housby, who sank three of her five two-pointers in the first quarter alone, said the key was knowing when to take the shot and when not to.

“I think we’ve nailed it this season with that,” she said.

“Having Didi (Romelda Aiken-George) there to take the rebounds, I feel confident to put it up.”

The Swifts continue to just find ways to win. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

FOWLER’S MILESTONE MOMENT

Jhaniele Fowler tends to fly under the radar at times but Saturday’s milestone moment provided a reminder of just how dominant the Jamaican shooter has been since joining Super Netball in 2018.

Fowler landed her 5000th goal in the Fever’s win against the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Perth on Saturday night.

And in case she wasn’t going to show much emotion, there were plenty of others willing to do the cheering for her.

The crowd of more than 10,000 that had packed RAC Arena made plenty of noise when Fowler sank her 36th goal of the night - but it was her daughter Drehannah, her no.1 fan, who was most proud.

After sacrificing plenty of time with her daughter to play in Australia, especially during the worst of Covid lockdowns and border closures, the pair, along with Fowler’s fiance Ashani Nembhard, have been reunited this season and were there to see the milestone in person.

Jhaniele Fowler of the Fever lines up her 500th goal. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

FIREBIRDS FIRST NATIONS ROLE MODELS

It’s just three years since the Queensland Firebirds were at the centre of a First Nations firestorm when they kept the league’s only Indigenous player and talented midcourter Jemma Mi Mi on the sidelines for the entire match.

Mi Mi had been used extensively to promote the round but with the Firebirds on the cusp of an upset of eventual premiers the Vixens, she was left stranded on the sidelines in Cairns.

It prompted Netball Australia’s Declaration of Commitment, with a coalition of the sport’s peak organisations coming together to take action to break down the barriers that have prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, coaches, umpires and administrators from thriving.

It also led to a massive rethink form the Firebirds, who arguably now lead the league in the First Nations space.

In the lead-up to the club’s First Nations home game, Donnell Wallam, one of just two Indigenous players in the league along with Leesa Mi Mi - Jemma’s younger sister who made her debut just three weeks ago - reflected on her club’s efforts.

“Seeing how the girls embrace this round and make our Firebirds environment a culturally safe place for us, it’s really special to be a part of,” Wallam said.

The Firebirds have had plenty of brickbats for what was, admittedly, a poor culture for First Nations players in the past.

But through some tough truth-telling, hard work in the First Nations space with their Reconciliation Action Plan and the league-leading Diamond Spirit program, they now deserve a few bouquets.

The club attracted a sellout crowd of 4588 to Brisbane’s Nissan Arena on Sunday, where Wallam turned in a stellar showing, finishing with 71 points on 65-of-70 shooting, including six-of-eight super shots in the Firebirds’ 76-71 win over the Vixens.

Originally published as Net Gains: Magpies change famous anthem to reflect Super Netball demise