During the past week, we clicked past the halfway mark in Suncorp Super Netball. Eight rounds were played in the month of August. Round 7 was a replay of the fixtures from round 4 and it led to some interesting results. In round 4, Lightning beat Swifts by 7 and Thunderbirds beat Vixens by 7. Ten days later in round 7, both results were exactly reversed. This time, Swifts beat Lightning by 7 and Vixens beat Thunderbirds by 7. These wins put Vixens and Swifts at the top of the ladder. Also in round 7, Giants had another great battle with Firebirds. In round 4, they couldn’t be separated, playing out a 61-61 draw. This time, it was so close to another draw, with Caitlin Bassett scoring right on full time to see Giants get up 66-65.
Round 8 was highlighted by the clash of the top two in Vixens and Swifts. This was high quality netball all the way, with Vixens just proving to be a touch better on the day. Swifts had to make do without star shooter Helen Housby for around half the game with a corked thigh, so they will think that they can definitely match it with Vixens in future games. In other games, a super shot blitz from Jo Harten saw Giants firstly get out of trouble and then run away with the match against Magpies. Then we saw a chaotic finish to the battle of the birds, with Firebirds just coming away with the win against Thunderbirds. And in the last match of round 8, newly appointed Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich looked on as her Fever team completely demolished Lightning 80-56. It was a breathtaking performance from Fever, while Lightning had a day when nothing worked and nothing went right.
Here’s something to think about. Top of the table Melbourne Vixens (who do have good long range shooters in their team) have won both of their past two matches without scoring a single super shot. In fact, they only had one attempt in each game. The tactics around using or not using the super shot have been very interesting so far in the first eight rounds. Round 9 starts today.
2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 7
West Coast Fever 71 (17, 22, 15, 17) def Collingwood Magpies 57 (14, 16, 14, 13)
Fever
Fowler 62/67 (93%)
Teague-Neeld 5/9 (56%)
Stanton 1/1 (100%)
Team Total: 68/77 (88%)
Super shots 3/4 (Teague-Neeld 2/3, Stanton 1/1)
Assists 63 (Charles 20)
Gains 18 (Bruce 11)
Magpies
Ryde 25/29 (86%)
Sinclair 13/20 (65%)
Nelson 12/14 (86%)
Team Total: 50/63 (79%)
Super shots 7/12 (Sinclair 7/12)
Assists 46 (K.Browne 21)
Gains 13 (Bragg, Ward, Mentor 3)
Points: Fever 4, Magpies 0
Player of the Match: Courtney Bruce (Fever)
Giants Netball 66 (13, 19, 15, 19) def Queensland Firebirds 65 (17, 15, 17, 16)
Giants
Bassett 37/43 (86%)
Harten 21/24 (88%)
Austin 6/7 (86%)
Team Total: 64/74 (87%)
Super shots 2/4 (Harten 2/4)
Assists 58 (Austin 26)
Gains 17 (Austin, Price, Parmenter, Manu’a, Poolman 3)
Firebirds
Aiken 45/51 (90%)
Dwan 14/17 (82%)
Team Total: 59/68 (87%)
Super shots 6/8 (Dwan 4/6, Aiken 2/2)
Assists 50 (Dwan 15)
Gains 10 (Hinchliffe 7)
Points: Giants 4, Firebirds 0
Player of the Match: Kiera Austin (Giants)
NSW Swifts 61 (16, 13, 15, 17) def Sunshine Coast Lightning 54 (16, 16, 11, 11)
Swifts
Wallace 24/26 (92%)
Housby 24/27 (895)
Garbin 11/15 (73%)
Team Total: 59/68 (87%)
Super shots 2/6 (Housby 1/3, Wallace 1/3)
Assists 54 (Proud 18)
Gains 8 (Klau 6)
Lightning
Koenen 28/30 (93%)
Proscovia 14/17 (82%)
Wood 11/19 (58%)
Team Total: 53/67 (79%)
Super shots 1/3 (Wood 1/3)
Assists 55 (Langman 23)
Gains 16 (Pretorius 6)
Points: Swifts 4, Lightning 0
Player of the Match: Maddy Proud (Swifts)
Adelaide Thunderbirds 43 (14, 10, 12, 7) lost to Melbourne Vixens 50 (9, 11, 16, 14)
Thunderbirds
Potgieter 29/31 (94%)
Horjus 9/13 (69%)
Glasgow 3/4 (75%)
Team Total: 41/48 (85%)
Super shots 2/4 (Horjus 1/2, Glasgow 1/2)
Assists 39 (Nankivell 15)
Gains 15 (Sterling 9)
Vixens
Thwaites 30/32 (94%)
Philip 14/21 (67%)
Kumwenda 6/6 (100%)
Team Total: 50/59 (85%)
Super shots 0/1 (Thwaites 0/1)
Assists 48 (Watson 27)
Gains 18 (Mannix 12)
Points: Vixens 4, Thunderbirds 0
MVP: Emily Mannix (Vixens)
2020 SUNCORP SUPER NETBALL – Round 8
Melbourne Vixens 63 (14, 16, 17, 16) def NSW Swifts 60 (15, 15, 13, 17)
Vixens
Kumwenda 46/50 (92%)
Philip 12/16 (75%)
Thwaites 5/5 (100%)
Team Total: 63/71 (89%)
Super shots 0/1 (Kumwenda 0/1)
Assists 61 (Watson 37)
Gains 10 (Weston 4)
Swifts
Wallace 46/50 (92%)
Garbin 6/8 (75%)
Housby 4/6 (67%)
Team Total: 56/64 (88%)
Super shots 4/8 (Housby 3/5, Wallace 1/3)
Assists 53 (Haythornthwaite 15)
Gains 12 (Klau 5)
Points: Vixens 4, Swifts 0
Player of the Match: Jo Weston (Vixens)
Collingwood Magpies 54 (19, 13, 11, 11) lost to Giants Netball 69 (11, 20, 21, 17)
Magpies
Nelson 37/43 (86%)
Sinclair 10/16 (63%)
Allen 2/3 (67%)
Team Total: 49/62 (79%)
Super shots 5/8 (Sinclair 3/5, Allen 2/3)
Assists 40 (Sinclair 18)
Gains 21 (Ward 12)
Giants
Harten 27/34 (79%)
Austin 25/33 (76%)
Bassett 7/9 (78%)
Team Total: 59/76 (78%)
Super shots 10/16 (Harten 8/11, Austin 2/5)
Assists 51 (Hay 16)
Gains 17 (Austin 4)
Points: Giants 4, Magpies 0
Player of the Match: Jamie-Lee Price (Giants)
Queensland Firebirds 54 (20, 14, 12, 8) def Adelaide Thunderbirds 53 (12, 13, 17, 11)
Firebirds
Aiken 40/45 (89%)
Dwan 12/16 (75%)
Team Total: 52/61 (85%)
Super shots 2/5 (Dwan 2/5)
Assists 48 (Cassidy 21)
Gains 14 (Jenner 6)
Thunderbirds
Horjus 23/30 (77%)
Glasgow 21/26 (81%)
Potgieter 5/6 (83%)
Team Total: 49/62 (79%)
Super shots 4/9 (Horjus 4/8, Glasgow 0/1)
Assists 38 (Pitman 13)
Gains 11 (Sterling 6)
Points: Firebirds 4, Thunderbirds 0
Player of the Match: Tara Hinchliffe (Firebirds)
West Coast Fever 80 (20, 24, 19, 17) def Sunshine Coast Lightning 56 (17, 8, 11, 20)
Fever
Fowler 57/59 (97%)
Teague-Neeld 10/14 (71%)
Stanton 8/10 (80%)
Team Total: 75/83 (90%)
Super shots 5/7 (Teague-Neeld 3/4, Stanton 2/2, Fowler 0/1)
Assists 70 (Charles 26)
Gains 22 (Bruce 9)
Lightning
Wood 21/27 (78%)
Koenen 18/23 (78%)
Proscovia 9/10 (90%)
Lawrie 1/3 (33%)
Team Total: 49/63 (78%)
Super shots 7/14 (Wood 7/9, Koenen 0/2, Lawrie 0/2, Proscovia 0/1)
Assists 47 (Scherian 13)
Gains 12 (Langman 4)
Points: Fever 4, Lightning 0
Player of the Match: Verity Charles (Fever)
Table:
1 – Vixens . 28 points . 115% (Pld 8)
2 – Swifts . 24 points . 105% (Pld 8)
3 – Lightning . 20 points . 99% (Pld 8)
4 – Fever . 16 points . 104% (Pld 8)
–
5 – Giants . 14 points . 101% (Pld 8)
6 – Thunderbirds . 12 points . 96% (Pld 8)
7 – Firebirds – 10 points . 91% (Pld 8)
8 – Magpies . 4 points . 90% (Pld 8)
Upcoming matches (SSN):
(AEST)
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
1pm, SAT 05 SEP – Vixens v Fever
3pm, SAT 05 SEP – Swifts v Firebirds
1pm, SUN 06 SEP – Giants v Lightning
3:30pm, SUN 06 SEP – Thunderbirds v Magpies (3pm local time)
