2024 SSN ROUND 14

I feel the lack of court time for Scherian this year is going to hurt Tbirds for finals. They will want to make sure that Frew is fit to play.

Horjus is a star! But seeing her and Fretwell showcase their skills at both ends of the court, is great to watch.

I feel like Tania Obst prefers Tayla Williams at WA over Laura S

I don’t think Giants’ poor season was because of Winders, but as the season went on she got less and less court time. Amy Sligar became the preferred WD, probably rightly so as she seemed to win more ball. She’s obviously a great player to have on their bench for flexibility’s sake.

So happy for the Swifts so important to finish off on a positive note to build on for next season. The emotion on Helen’s face at the end of the game almost had me in tears. Sad we had to beat the Giants to avoid the wooden spoon. I know some people don’t like Harten’s theatrics but I love her.
Agree with everything you say Al_ex re the recruiting considerations fit both the Swifts and Giants. It is critical that the Giants recruit a tall experienced GK and even though Palavi has been fantastic I still think the Swifts need a tall GS.

The Bay of Plenty Giants had a fairly pointless year in my opinion. JLP was her usual physical self. Probably Giants best and most consistent player all year. Harten simply can no longer physically compete at this level sadly. Trying to fit her onto the floor when she was available accomplished nothing. Indeed, Giants shooting circle never developed any cohesion or consistency all season. Dwyer had an inconsistent year and has realistically taken a step or so backwards. Leatherbarrow was impressive but I never felt like she got the opportunities her play warranted, nor did I get the impression Julie Fitz truly had faith in her.

Julie Fitz has her favorites and Sammy Winders (nee Saunders) is first among equals really. Sammy was brought into to provide some depth and compete with Amy Sligar for the vacant WD spot. That by the three quarter mark of the season Sligar had totally usurped Winders and made the WD spot her own tells you everything you need to know about Sammys season really.

To be fair, it’s a two way street. Sligar had a great season and took her opportunities. But Winders didn’t make the decision that difficult either. She’s been average for much of the time and poor for the rest of it. Sligar was probably the brightest spot from an otherwise horrendous 2024 season.

As for Giants, a truly bizarre season comes to an end. They were awful all year, comfortably the worst team in a very two tiered comp. A 2024 SSN team giving significant minutes to Jo Harten, Chelsea Pitman, a 29 year old Sam Winders, a 29 year old Jodi-Ann Ward and a 28 year old JLP can also hardly be described as a team building for the future.

So the 2024 Giants were not built for the future. That means they were built to be a “win now” team. A “win now” team that finished dead last. And in the same season a brand new team played in the comp and also had horrendous injuries.

The club has some big decisions to make. Giants aren’t in a position to remotely compete with this group, so clearly a rebuild is required. Is Julie Fitz the right person to do that? I wouldn’t have thought so as this season was such a wasted exercise. Giants may feel differently I guess.

NSW is rich in WA/C talent- obviously there’s Miller, but Eliza Burton and Hope White are two excellent options as well.