Super Netball 2024: Queensland Firebirds’ ‘R squared’ defenders up with best in league

A second-year goalkeeper and her former state league teammate have been rated among the best defenders in the league as the Firebirds show they cannot be discounted by Super Netball rivals.

They’re the Firebirds’ not so secret defensive weapons one former Diamond believes deserve to be rated alongside the best in the league.

“R squared” - or Ruby Bakewell-Doran and Remi Kamo - is the pair sending shivers down the spines of the league’s most experienced shooters as they form one of the most lethal combinations in Super Netball.

Think fearsome defenders and the mind shifts to the Adelaide Thunderbirds’ Jamaican pairing of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson, or the Swifts’ dynamic duo Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner.

Remi Kamo of the Firebirds attempts to block the shot from Helen Housby of the Swifts during the round three Super Netball match between Queensland Firebirds and NSW Swifts. Photo: Getty Images

But in just three games this season, Bakewell-Doran and Kamo have enhanced their reputations as they silence some of the best goalers in the league.

Former Diamonds and Firebirds defender Sharon Finnan-White, who watched the pair take the NSW Swifts to the wire last week, said Bakewell-Doran and Kamo were forging a fearsome alliance.

“You would put them right up there with those combinations,” Finnan-White said of the best circle defenders in the league.

“From the first whistle (against the Swifts) right to the very last whistle of overtime, they were having an impact.”

The Firebirds’ full court pressure made life easier for the pair early in the game and while the wind came out of the team’s sails a little in the fourth quarter and through extra-time, Finnan-White felt they were elite.

“Probably towards the end … it had gotten away from them and it felt like the wind had been taken out of them and the ball was going in to (Swifts shooter) Sammy (Wallace-Joseph) a little bit easier,” she said.

Ruby Bakewell-Doran of the Firebirds in action during the round three Super Netball match between Queensland Firebirds and NSW Swifts. Photo: Getty Images

“But that’s also because of what’s happening out in front of them as well.

“Throughout the whole first five segments that they played, they had Hulita (Veve) one there and they had Macy (Gardner) out there and Rav (Kim Ravaillion) out there doing a lot of hard work for them and that makes it so much easier.”

The ferocity of the defence reminded Finnan-White of “old school netball”.

“It was just that one-on one, dogged, old school style of netball that I remember,” she said.

“But I feel like the umpiring game has changed a lot since my day too and I feel defenders get crucified quite a bit.

“You’re out there busting your butt and doing your best and getting penalised, it’s a hard one.”

Super Netball commentator and former Diamonds defender Sharon Finnan-White believes Bakewell-Doran and Kamo are among the best defenders in the league. PICTURE: Stewart McLean

Persistence was the key though and Finnan-White felt Bakewell-Doran’s efforts on Swifts goal attack Helen Housby, arguably the best player in the league, augured well for Sunday’s clash with the Vixens’ Diamonds shooters Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin.

“You’ve got to keep persisting and wearing them down and I think that’s what Bakewell-Doran did to Housby.

“I put that pair up there on par with (the best defenders) we’ve been seeing.”

The Firebirds head into the clash against the unbeaten Vixens with a 1-2 record but Finnan-White said the Queenslanders should not dwell on the Swifts loss.

“I’d have to say that is the best I’ve ever seen a Firebirds team play (under current coach Bec Bulley),” she said.

“I don’t think they should be too fazed by the loss to be honest.

“I know they’re going to be gutted and disappointed but they’ve got to just take what they put out there now and just keep doing that and learn from those silly mistakes that really make the difference in the end.”

Originally published as Super Netball 2024: Queensland Firebirds’ ‘R squared’ defenders up with best in league