NS SCOREBOARD – AUG 24, 2020

NS SCOREBOARD – AUG 24, 2020

By |2020-08-24T12:57:49+10:00August 24th, 2020|Categories: AUS, NZ, Uncategorised, World|0 Comments

Well, what a big nine days it’s been since the last edition of the NS Scoreboard. Excitement and controversies galore in Super Netball, and yesterday, we saw the culmination of the ANZ Premiership season for 2020. A season that was anything but straightforward, ended with a straightforward result, as Central Pulse took out their second ANZ Premiership title in a row.

Seen as clearly the strongest team heading into the 2020 season, Pulse had suffered setbacks toward the end of the regular season, and their reign as champions was looking shaky. But all that counted for nothing on the day as the competition favourites just clicked straight back into gear when it mattered most. They defeated the somewhat overawed first time finalists in Mainland Tactix, 43-31.

This was a tough initiation into grand final netball for Tactix. Having comfortably beaten an admittedly under-strength Pulse lineup a fortnight ago, they should have gone into this game full of confidence. That confidence soon evaporated though, losing the first quarter by six goals and they were in chase mode throughout. Down by 10 at half time, they then won the third quarter and made a run at the champions early in the last quarter, narrowing the gap to just five goals. But that was as close as they would get. Their challenge was quickly snuffed out, with Pulse upping the intensity and scoring 11 of the last 15 goals.

For Pulse, there were good players all over the court, but youngster Maddy Gordon was a good choice as the game MVP. She was everywhere in attack and defence and it’s noteworthy that the only quarter that Tactix won was the third, when she was off court having been replaced at wing attack. She came straight back on for the last quarter and dominated again. Some have claimed that Gordon could be a surprise selection when the Silver Ferns squad is chosen. We disagree. Not that she could be chosen, but that it would be a surprise. Having seen her play this year, she is well worthy of selection at the highest level.

Another strong performer who may be in line for Ferns selection was Kelly Jury at goal keeper. She was a constant threat in this match, and the Pulse back three of Jury, captain Katrina Rore at goal defence, and Karin Burger at wing defence, forced Tactix into error on numerous occasions. But this was a full team effort. At centre, Claire Kersten just calmly went about her business as she usually does, and along with Gordon, she provided great opportunities for shooters Aliyah Dunn and Ameliaranne Ekenasio to convert, which they duly did.

For Tactix, captain Jane Watson did all she could to keep her team in the game. The quartet of Watson, Temalisi Fakahokatau, Charlotte Elley and Kimiora Poi, picked up a total of 16 possession gains between them, but that possession was squandered on too many occasions. The 27 turnovers against them were telling. They will learn from this and another year older and wiser, then can certainly give the title a shake next year. This Pulse team will be mighty hard to dethrone though, despite being without two time winning coach Yvette McCausland-Durie who bowed out of coaching at this level yesterday.

In further big New Zealand netball news, Laura Langman has just announced her retirement from the Silver ferns after a long and distinguished career. She’s truly one of the all time greats and will be hard if not impossible to replace, but there are several talented kiwi youngsters waiting in the wings.

 

2020 ANZ PREMIERSHIP – GRAND FINAL

Central Pulse 43 (12, 11, 8, 12) def Mainland Tactix 31 (6, 7, 11, 7)

Pulse
GS Dunn
GA Ekenasio
WA Gordon
C Kersten
WD Burger
GD Rore
GK Jury

Changes:
3rd Q Metuarau WA (Gordon)
4th Q Gordon WA (Metuarau)

Dunn 28/30 (93%)
Ekenasio 15/18 (83%)
Team Total: 43/48 (90%)

Assists 39 (Gordon 13)
Gains 16 (Gordon, Jury 4)

Tactix
GS Bird
GA Selby-Rickit
WA Pedersen
C Poi
WD Elley
GD Watson
GK Fakahokotau

No changes.

Bird 19/23 (83%)
Selby-Rickit 12/13 (92%)
Team Total: 31/36 (86%)

Assists 27 (Selby-Rickit 13)
Gains 17 (Poi, Elley 5)

MVP: Maddy Gordon (Pulse)


 

The past week and a half in Suncorp Super Netball has had everything. Exciting finishes, upsets, fantastic play, and a ton of controversy. The first three rounds were good, but I think we can safely say that round four was when the competition really came to life.

We saw a draw between Firebirds and Giants where both teams had opportunities to win and couldn’t take them. And we saw a nail-biting one goal win for Fever over Magpies. This game was highlighted however by a couple of incorrect decisions from umpires regarding signalling of super shots. These two decisions effectively cost Fever two goals and that could potentially prove very costly if finals spots come down to percentage. After the game, although SSN admitted to the mistakes, under the rules in place, the score could not be changed. A new system was hastily put in place to stop mistakes like that happening in future. Also in round four, we saw two upsets. Lightning beating Swifts was a minor upset, but Thunderbirds beating Vixens was a major upset. The Adelaide team successfully put Vixens under pressure and off their game.

And so to round five, and the biggest controversy for some time. In the Lightning v Giants match, Giants defender Kristiana Manu’a was sent from the court, first for two minutes, then in the last quarter, she was sent off for the rest of the game. The umpires certainly followed the process correctly in this, but there is conjecture over whether their judgement of the seriousness of the offences was correct or not. Netball is far from a non-contact sport despite what some people still believe, and there are similar clashes seen on the courts each week. Fans watched replays of the incidents and gave their opinions. But the umpires don’t have the benefit of replays. They made their calls based solely on what they saw at the time. The incident clearly upset the Giants and they squandered a good lead. Playing a large portion of the last quarter without a goal defence was a handicap no doubt, but it wasn’t that end of the court that was the problem. In attack, they gave up turnover after turnover and didn’t score a goal for the last five minutes. Lightning claimed the win 58-57 in rather farcical scenes that we hope aren’t repeated.

In round six, Swifts escaped with a two goal win over Magpies. The game was close all the way, with the champions just doing enough to get over the line. Then, Romelda Aiken continued with her return to form as Firebirds claimed their first win of the season with what was in the end a comfortable victory over Fever. Those two results mean that Magpies are now at the bottom of the ladder. That doesn’t seem a fair indication of their ability. They have been competitive in most matches, as seen by their near defeat of the defending champions, but mistakes at crucial times are costing them. At the other end of the ladder, there are three equal leaders, Vixens, Lightning and Swifts, with Thunderbirds rounding out the top four. The top three teams all appear likely to make the finals, but who knows? If there’s one thing this season has shown us it’s that any team can win on any given day.

 

2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 4

Collingwood Magpies 62 (11, 18, 18, 15) lost to West Coast Fever 63 (21, 16, 14, 12)

Magpies
Nelson 46/49 (94%)
Sinclair 12/16 (75%)
Allen 0/1 (0%)
Team Total: 58/66 (88%)

Super shots 4/7 (Sinclair 3/5, Nelson 1/1, Allen 0/1)
Assists 53 (K.Browne 21)
Gains 11 (Mentor, M.Browne 3)

Fever
Fowler 54/56 (96%)
Teague-Neeld 4/12 (33%)
Stanton 2/4 (50%)
Team Total: 60/72 (83%)

Super shots 3/9 (Stanton 2/2, Fowler 1/2, Teague-Neeld 0/5)
Assists 53 (Teague-Neeld 19)
Gains 12 (Bruce 4)

Points: Fever 4, Magpies 0

Player of the Match: M Browne (Magpies)


Queensland Firebirds 61 (14, 17, 13, 17) drew with Giants Netball 61 (18, 11, 18, 14)

Firebirds
Aiken 49/57 (86%)
Dwan 7/10 (70%)
Venter 2/4 (50%)
Team Total: 58/71 (82%)

Super shots 3/7 (Dwan 3/5, Venter 0/2)
Assists 53 (Cassidy 21)
Gains 15 (Jenner 7)

Giants
Bassett 25/29 (86%)
Austin 12/14 (86%)
Harten 12/19 (63%)
Letherbarrow 3/4 (75%)
Team Total: 52/66 (79%)

Super shots 9/16 (Harten 6/11, Austin 3/5)
Assists 45 (Harten 13)
Gains 10 (Poolman 6)

Points: Firebirds 2, Giants 2

Player of the Match: Kim Jenner (Firebirds)


Sunshine Coast Lightning 65 (17, 12, 21, 15) def NSW Swifts 58 (14, 12, 14, 18)

Lightning
Koenen 53/59 (90%)
Wood 11/16 (69%)
Team Total: 64/75 (85%)

Super shots 1/5 (Wood 1/4, Koenen 0/1)
Assists 55 (Langman 23)
Gains 16 (Pretorius 6)

Swifts
Wallace 32/40 (80%)
Garbin 9/14 (64%)
Housby 8/13 (62%)
Team Total: 49/67 (73%)

Super shots 9/17 (Housby 6/10, Wallace 3/7)
Assists 43 (Proud 15)
Gains 16 (Klau 6)

Points: Lightning 4, Swifts 0

Player of the Match: Cara Koenen (Lightning)


Melbourne Vixens 47 (11, 12, 14, 10) lost to Adelaide Thunderbirds 54 (10, 12, 13, 19)

Vixens
Kumwenda 25/27 (93%)
Thwaites 9/11 (82%)
Philip 9/13 (69%)
Team Total: 43/51 (84%)

Super shots 4/5 (Thwaites 3/4, Philip 1/1)
Assists 41 (Watson 18)
Gains 12 (Watson, Mannix 3)

Thunderbirds
Potgieter 32/32 (100%)
Horjus 12/16 (75%)
Glasgow 5/7 (71%)
Team Total: 49/55 (89%)

Super shots 5/7 (Horjus 3/5, Glasgow 2/2)
Assists 46 (Horjus 14)
Gains 14 (Sterling 8)

Points: Thunderbirds 4, Vixens 0

MVP: Shamera Sterling (Thunderbirds)


 

2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 5

West Coast Fever 59 (14, 14, 17, 14) lost to Melbourne Vixens 68 (21, 13, 18, 16)

Fever
Fowler 48/54 (89%)
Cosh 4/5 (80%)
Teague-Neeld 2/5 (40%)
Stanton 2/5 (40%)
Team Total: 56/69 (81%)

Super shots 3/12 (Cosh 2/2, Fowler 1/6, Teague-Neeld 0/1, Stanton 0/3)
Assists 46 (Charles 12)
Gains 11 (Bruce 6)

Vixens
Thwaites 31/36 (86%)
Philip 27/30 (90%)
Team Total: 58/66 (88%)

Super shots 10/16 (Philip 9/11, Thwaites 1/5)
Assists 53 (Watson 21)
Gains 8 (Eddy, Mannix 3)

Points: Vixens 4, Fever 0

Player of the Match: Tegan Philip (Vixens)


Queensland Firebirds 57 (16, 10, 17, 14) lost to NSW Swifts 64 (16, 18, 15, 15)

Firebirds
Aiken 37/45 (82%)
Dwan 12/15 (80%)
Venter 2/4 (50%)
Team Total: 51/64 (80%)

Super shots 6/10 (Dwan 4/6, Venter 2/4)
Assists 40 (Gardner 14)
Gains 10 (Hinchliffe 4)

Swifts
Wallace 41/47 (87%)
Housby 17/23 (74%)
Garbin 1/2 (50%)
Team Total: 59/72 (82%)

Super shots 5/7 (Housby 5/7)
Assists 52 (Proud 17)
Gains 7 (Klau 5)

Points: Swifts 4, Firebirds 0

Player of the Match: Helen Housby (Swifts)


Collingwood Magpies 52 (11, 11, 16, 14)lost to Adelaide Thunderbirds 60 (17, 15, 12, 16)

Magpies
Nelson 23/25 (92%)
Sinclair 10/16 (63%)
Allen 7/9 (78%)
Ryde 5/7 (71%)
Team Total: 45/57 (79%)

Super shots 7/12 (Sinclair 4/7, Allen 3/5)
Assists 42 (M Browne 13)
Gains 16 (Mentor 10)

Thunderbirds
Potgieter 39/39 (100%)
Horjus 17/20 (85%)
Glasgow 3/6 (50%)
Team Total: 59/65 (91%)

Super shots 1/6 (Horjus 1/3, Glasgow 0/3)
Assists 54 (Pitman 26)
Gains 22 (Sterling 12)

Points: Thunderbirds 4, Magpies 0

Player of the Match: Chelsea Pitman (Thunderbirds)


Sunshine Coast Lightning 58 (16, 14, 11, 17)def Giants Netball 57 (15, 16, 18, 8)

Lightning
Koenen 32/34 (94%)
Wood 13/21 (62%)
Proscovia 8/8 (100%)
Hunt 2/4 (50%)
Team Total: 55/67 (82%)

Super shots 3/8 (Wood 2/7, Hunt 1/1)
Assists 45 (Langman 17)
Gains 14 (Maweni 8)

Giants
Harten 25/33 (76%)
Austin 18/24 (75%)
Bassett 9/11 (82%)
Team Total: 52/68 (77%)

Super shots 5/11 (Harten 3/7, Austin 2/4)
Assists 45 (Hay 15)
Gains 11 (Poolman 4)

Points: Lightning 4, Giants 0

Player of the Match: Jo Harten (Giants)


 

2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 6

NSW Swifts 60 (18, 17, 12, 19)def Collingwood Magpies 58 (14, 14, 15, 15)

Swifts
Wallace 30/30 (100%)
Housby 16/21 (76%)
Garbin 9/13 (69%)
Team Total: 55/64 (86%)

Super shots 5/10 (Housby 4/9, Wallace 1/1)
Assists 46 (Proud, Haythornthwaite 11)
Gains 14 (Klau 6)

Magpies
Nelson 26/30 (87%)
Sinclair 14/17 (82%)
Ryde 13/14 (92%)
Allen 0/2 (0%)
Team Total: 53/63 (84%)

Super shots 5/9 (Sinclair 5/7, Allen 0/2)
Assists 46 (Sinclair 15)
Gains 15 (Ward 6)

Points: Swifts 4, Magpies 0

Player of the Match: Sarah Klau (Swifts)


West Coast Fever 57 (16, 9, 18, 14) lost to Queensland Firebirds 68 (14, 19, 17, 18)

Fever
Fowler 48/51 (94%)
Stanton 3/7 (43%)
Teague-Neeld 1/5 (20%)
Team Total: 52/63 (83%)

Super shots 5/11 (Stanton 3/6, Fowler 2/3, Teague-Neeld 0/2)
Assists 49 (Charles 12)
Gains 12 (Bruce 7)

Firebirds
Aiken 41/50 (82%)
Dwan 20/24 (83%)
Venter 2/8 (25%)
Team Total: 63/82 (77%)

Super shots 5/12 (Dwan 3/5, Aiken 1/2, Venter 1/5)
Assists 52 (Cassidy 23)
Gains 10 (Hinchliffe 7)

Points: Firebirds 4, Fever 0

Player of the Match: Romelda Aiken (Firebirds)


Melbourne Vixens 63 (15, 11, 24, 13) def Giants Netball 58 (14, 17, 17, 10)

Vixens
Kumwenda 25/28 (89%)
Thwaites 24/28 (86%)
Philip 8/12 (67%)
Team Total: 57/68 (84%)

Super shots 6/14 (Kumwenda 3/4, Philip 2/5, Thwaites 1/5)
Assists 50 (Watson 25)
Gains 13 (Eddy, Mannix 4)

Giants
Austin 30/34 (88%)
Harten 17/22 (77%)
Team Total: 47/56 (84%)

Super shots 11/15 (Austin 8/9, Harten 3/6)
Assists 43 (Price 19)
Gains 8 (Poolman 4)

Points: Vixens 4, Giants 0

Player of the Match: Kate Moloney (Vixens)


Sunshine Coast Lightning 53 (16, 11, 12, 14) def Adelaide Thunderbirds 45 (9, 13, 16, 7)

Lightning
Koenen 32/36 (88%)
Wood 14/20 (70%)
Proscovia 7/7 (100%)
Team Total: 53/63 (84%)

Super shots 0/1 (Wood 0/1)
Assists 46 (Langman 21)
Gains 15 (Pretorius 7)

Thunderbirds
Potgieter 28/29 (97%)
Horjus 11/18 (61%)
Glasgow 3/10 (30%)
Team Total: 42/57 (74%)

Super shots 3/12 (Horjus 2/6, Glasgow 1/6)
Assists 33 (Pitman 15)
Gains 10 (Sterling 4)

Points: Lightning 4, Thunderbirds 0

Player of the Match: Cara Koenen (Lightning)


Table:
1 – Vixens . 20 points . 118% (Pld 6)
2 – Lightning . 20 points . 108% (Pld 6)
3 – Swifts . 20 points . 105% (Pld 6)
4 – Thunderbirds . 12 points . 97% (Pld 6)

5 – Fever . 8 points . 96% (Pld 6)
6 – Giants . 6 points . 98% (Pld 6)
7 – Firebirds – 6 points . 88% (Pld 6)
8 – Magpies . 4 points . 94% (Pld 6)


Upcoming matches (SSN):
(AEST)

5pm, TUE 25 AUG – Fever v Magpies
7:30pm, TUE 25 AUG – Giants v Firebirds 
5pm, WED 26 AUG – Swifts v Lightning
7:30pm, WED 26 AUG – Thunderbirds v Vixens

1pm, SAT 29 AUG – Vixens v Swifts
3pm, SAT 29 AUG – Magpies v Giants
1pm, SUN 30 AUG – Firebirds v Thunderbirds
3:30pm, SUN 30 AUG – Fever v Lightning

5pm, TUE 01 SEP – Giants v Vixens
7:30pm, TUE 01 SEP – Magpies v Swifts
5pm, WED 02 SEP – Thunderbirds v Lightning
7:30pm, WED 02 SEP – Firebirds v Fever

 

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