Last weekend, we saw the opening round of Suncorp Super Netball played in Brisbane, but it only got off the ground thanks to a lot of scrambling behind the scenes, resulting in some last minute changes to rules, schedules and travel plans. The big talking point was the new 2 goal super shot, in play for the last five minutes of each quarter. And it really came into play in the opening match. Firebirds played well from the start, against the more fancied Lightning and had them under real pressure. Up stepped Steph Wood with a brilliant display of shooting from the 2 point zone, and turned the game around in Lightning’s favour. They went on to win convincingly, almost all down to dominating that power play period in each quarter. The closest match of the round was the NSW derby between Swifts and Giants. This was a real battle the whole way. Swifts played it smart at the end to hang on and record a 2 goal win despite the Giants being more successful from super shot range. In the other two games, Fever downed Thunderbirds and Vixens accounted for Melbourne rivals Collingwood. After matching the Vixens throughout the match, the Magpies didn’t use the final 5 minutes of the match well and their tactics around the 2 point shot were questionable. There is much to learn for all teams as to how they play that final 5 minutes of each quarter. Round 2 will be played this weekend, with round 3 played on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
In round 8 of the ANZ Premiership, Pulse’s unbeaten run came to an end. On several occasions this season they had been pressured, but the champions had always found a way to win. But not this time. Mystics, down by 5 at 3/4 time, put in a brilliant last quarter, winning it 14-7 and Pulse simply had no answer. Young shooter Grace Nweke starred with 38 goals. It was a tremendous game and a vital win for Mystics in their battle with Tactix for a grand final spot. Tactix won 2 matches over the weekend which put them on 32 points from 12 matches. Mystics are on 29 points from 11 games. The two teams meet this Sunday in a vital clash and then Tactix plays Pulse the following day. These two games will go a long way to deciding who plays in the grand final. In the final game of round 8, just like Mystics, bottom team Magic came from behind for an exciting victory over Steel with captain Sam Winders inspirational. Round 9 starts tonight.
2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 1
Queensland Firebirds 48 (18, 12, 12, 6) lost to Sunshine Coast Lightning 66 (10, 18, 14, 24)
Firebirds
Aiken 26/34 (77%)
Dwan 11/16 (69%)
Venter 4/7 (57%)
Stower 1/4 (25%)
Team Total: 42/61 (69%)
Super shots 6/12 (Dwan 3/4, Venter 2/4, Stower 1/3, Aiken 0/1)
Assists 31 (Cassidy 17)
Gains 17 (Hinchliffe 7)
Lightning
Koenen 35/43 (81%)
Wood 14/19 (74%)
Proscovia 6/8 (75%)
Team Total: 55/70 (79%)
Super shots 11/13 (Wood 10/11, Koenen 1/2)
Assists 48 (Wood 19)
Gains 13 (Maweni 6)
Points: Lightning 4, Firebirds 0
Player of the Match: Steph Wood (Lightning)
Adelaide Thunderbirds 62 (13, 14, 18, 17) lost to West Coast Fever 74 (18, 20, 15, 21)
Thunderbirds
Potgieter 35/37 (95%)
Gooden 10/14 (71%)
Horjus 6/11 (55%)
Hodges 1/3 (33%)
Team Total: 52/65 (80%)
Super shots 10/15 (Gooden 9/10, Potgieter 1/2, Hodges 0/1, Horjus 0/2)
Assists 47 (Nankivell 12)
Gains 15 (Shimmin 5)
Fever
Fowler 52/55 (95%)
Teague-Neeld 10/15 (67%)
Stanton 3/8 (38%)
Cosh 1/2 (50%)
Team Total: 66/80 (83%)
Super shots 8/11 (Teague-Neeld 4/4, Fowler 2/3, Stanton 1/2, Cosh 1/2)
Assists 59 (Charles 20)
Gains 17 (Bruce 6)
Points: Fever 4, Thunderbirds 0
Player of the Match: Alice Teague-Neeld (Fever)
Giants Netball 61 (17, 16, 13, 15) lost to NSW Swifts 63 (17, 11, 21, 14)
Giants
Bassett 24/26 (92%)
Harten 19/23 (83%)
Austin 3/4 (75%)
Dwyer 2/2 (100%)
Team Total: 48/55 (87%)
Super shots 13/18 (Harten 9/13, Dwyer 2/2, Austin 2/3)
Assists 44 (Price 16)
Gains 13 (Parmenter 6)
Swifts
Wallace 33/40 (83%)
Housby 11/13 (85%)
Garbin 11/14 (79%)
Team Total: 55/67 (82%)
Super shots 8/17 (Wallace 6/13, Housby 2/3, Garbin 0/1)
Assists 48 (Haythornthwaite 15)
Gains 15 (Klau, Moore 6)
Points: Swifts 4, Giants 0
Player of the Match: Lauren Moore (Swifts)
Melbourne Vixens 63 (15, 14, 16, 18) def Collingwood Magpies 52 (13, 16, 14, 9)
Vixens
Kumwenda 19/24 (79%)
Philip 19/26 (73%)
Thwaites 15/19 (79%)
Team Total: 53/69 (77%)
Super shots 10/20 (Kumwenda 4/6, Philip 3/7, Thwaites 3/7)
Assists 50 (Watson 28)
Gains 15 (Eddy 5)
Magpies
Ryde 34/38 (90%)
Sinclair 10/17 (59%)
Allen 2/3 (67%)
Team Total: 46/58 (79%)
Super shots 6/9 (Sinclair 4/6, Allen 2/3)
Assists 40 (Sinclair, M.Browne 12)
Gains 12 (Sinclair, Jovic, Bragg, Mentor, Ward 2)
Points: Vixens 4, Magpies 0
Player of the Match: Kate Moloney (Vixens)
Table:
1 – Lightning . 4 points . 138% (Pld 1)
2 – Vixens . 4 points . 121% (Pld 1)
3 – Fever . 4 points . 119% (Pld 1)
4 – Swifts . 4 points . 103% (Pld 1)
–
5 – Giants . 0 points . 97% (Pld 1)
6 – Thunderbirds . 0 points . 84% (Pld 1)
7 – Magpies . 0 points . 83% (Pld 1)
8 – Firebirds . 0 points . 73% (Pld 1)
Upcoming matches (SSN):
(AEST)
1pm, SAT 08 AUG – Giants v Thunderbirds
3pm, SAT 08 AUG – Firebirds v Vixens
1pm, SUN 09 AUG – Lightning v Magpies
3:30pm, SUN 09 AUG – Swifts v Fever
5pm, TUE 11 AUG – Giants v Fever
7:30pm, TUE 11 AUG – Firebirds v Magpies
5pm, WED 12 AUG – Swifts v Thunderbirds
7:30pm, WED 12 AUG – Vixens v Lightning
2020 ANZ PREMIERSHIP – Round 8
Mainland Tactix 52 (13, 15, 9, 15) def Northern Stars 42 (11, 9, 11, 11)
Tactix
Bird 37/42 (88%)
Selby-Rickit 15/19 (79%)
Team Total: 52/61 (85%)
Assists 47 (Selby-Rickit 27)
Gains 9 (Watson 6)
Stars
Wilson 35/41 (85%)
Hume 7/10 (70%)
Team Total: 42/51 (84%)
Assists 38 (Kara 16)
Gains 7 (Burley 2)
Points: Tactix 4, Stars 0
Player of the Match: Erikana Pederson (Tactix)
Northern Stars 50 (16, 10, 12, 12) def Southern Steel 43 (7, 12, 11, 13)
Stars
Wilson 39/39 (100%)
Hume 11/15 (73%)
Team Total: 50/54 (93%)
Assists 48 (Reuela-Buchanan 26)
Gains 10 (Burley 6)
Steel
Halpenny 26/29 (90%)
McCollin 17/18 (94%)
Pelasio 0/1 (0%)
Team Total: 43/48 (90%)
Assists 40 (Crampton 19)
Gains 12 (Heffernan 6)
Points: Stars 4, Steel 0
Player of the Match: Maia Wilson (Stars)
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 35 (10, 10, 12, 3) lost to Mainland Tactix 44 (15, 10, 9, 10)
Magic
Latu-Meafou 18/22 (82%)
McPhee 17/22 (77%)
Team Total: 35/44 (80%)
Assists 32 (Souness 16)
Gains 14 (Tong 9)
Tactix
Bird 26/30 (87%)
Selby-Rickit 16/18 (89%)
Prosser 2/2 (100%)
Team Total: 44/50 (88%)
Assists 41 (Pederson, Selby-Rickit 15)
Gains 9 (Poi 4)
Points: Tactix 4, Magic 0
Player of the Match: Kimiora Poi (Tactix)
Central Pulse 42 (10, 13, 12, 7) lost to Northern Mystics 44 (8, 12, 10, 14)
Pulse
Dunn 21/23 (91%)
Ekenasio 20/28 (71%)
Metuarau 1/2 (50%)
Team Total: 42/53 (92%)
Assists 38 (Gordon 13)
Gains 4 (Jury 2)
Mystics
Nweke 38/44 (86%)
Tui 4/4 (100%)
Vui 2/2 (100%)
Team Total: 44/50 (88%)
Assists 39 (Toeava 19)
Gains 10 (Karaka 5)
Points: Mystics 4, Pulse 1
Player of the Match: Grace Nweke (Mystics)
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 37 (13, 8, 7, 9) def Southern Steel 36 (9, 11, 12, 4)
Magic
McPhee 14/16 (88%)
Williams 14/19 (74%)
Latu-Meafou 9/11 (82%)
Team Total: 37/46 (80%)
Assists 35 (Souness 19)
Gains 13 (Winders 5)
Steel
McCollin 20/22 (91%)
Halpenny 15/20 (75%)
Pelasio 1/2 (50%)
Team Total: 36/44 (82%)
Assists 31 (Crampton 13)
Gains 11 (Selby-Rickit, Heffernan 4)
Points: Magic 4, Steel 1
Player of the Match: Erena Mikeare (Magic)
Table:
1 – Pulse . 41 points (Pld 11)
2 – Tactix . 32 points (Pld 12)
–
3 – Mystics . 29 points (Pld 11)
4 – Stars . 21 points (Pld 12)
5 – Steel . 15 points (Pld 12)
6 – Magic . 14 points (Pld 12)
Upcoming matches (ANZP):
(NZ times)
7pm, FRI 07 AUG – Steel v Mystics
5pm, SAT 08 AUG – Steel v Pulse
5pm, SUN 09 AUG – Mystics v Tactix
7pm, SUN 09 AUG – Magic v Stars
7pm, MON 10 AUG – Pulse v Tactix
