NS SCOREBOARD: SSN 2023 Semi-finals

Adelaide Thunderbirds are into their first National League grand final in 10 years after taking out a gripping Major Semi Final against NSW Swifts at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday. Swifts had the ascendancy for most of the game and led by as much as seven goals, before a fourth quarter surge by Thunderbirds saw them snatch a draw right at the very death and send the game to extra time.

Thunderbirds took the lead in extra time and held on to record a famous victory 64-62. They will now wait to find out who their opponents are in the grand final at John Cain Arena in Melbourne in two weeks time. Meanwhile, Swifts live to fight another day. Next week, they will host West Coast Fever in the Preliminary Final.

The Thunderbirds were overjoyed to make it straight into the grand final. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

An interesting talking point arose regarding Super Netball extra time rules after the major semi final. The rules say that when heading into extra time, teams simply continue going in the same direction that they were going in the fourth quarter. There is no changing of ends, no matter how long extra time goes for. The problem with this is that in netball, there can certainly be a “scoring end” due to differing umpiring interpretations, and that was apparently the case in the major semi final.

Over the 60 minutes of regulation time, the team going to the left won every quarter and outscored the team going right by 66-50. As they were going in that direction in the fourth quarter, Thunderbirds got to continue going to the “scoring end” for the entire duration of extra time. This is a rule that should perhaps be reviewed.

Swifts’ assistant coach Natalie Avellino is one of the smartest tacticians ever to play the game. Has she continued to innovate with the supershot from the sidelines? Did Romelda Aiken-George deliberately miss a very short shot under the post with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter against Thunderbirds, then re-feed the rebound incredibly sharply to Helen Housby at the top of the circle?

This allowed the English star to slot her fourth 2-pointer in a row – why shouldn’t we now see shooters deliberately hitting the post to buy time to secure a higher scoring option? This is very similar to a goal keeper taking a throw-in effectively to themselves by hitting the net as innovated in Fast 5 netball. Just one of these surprise plays could win the championship.

The 2022 Super Netball champions, West Coast Fever, remain alive with a chance to defend their title after a 64-57 win over Melbourne Vixens in the minor semi final in Perth on Sunday. Fever had been struggling to close out games this year, but in this game, they were strong right to the end, led by captain Courtney Bruce and star shooter Jhaniele Fowler.

For Vixens, this is sadly the end of their season, and this means that the grand final in two weeks time at John Cain Arena will be a neutral contest with no Victorian team involved. There will still be a big crowd, especially with some supporters coming from interstate for the clash, but it raises an interesting question. Who would the local Vixens fans support out of the three remaining teams; Thunderbirds, Swifts or Fever?

Sunday Aryang was crucial to Fever’s victory over the Vixens. Image: Clinton Bradbury

Stats Leaders

Most goals – 55/57 Jhaniele Fowler (Fever v Vixens)
Most supershots – 8/10 Helen Housby (Swifts v Thunderbirds)
Most goal assists – 24 Maddy Proud (Swifts v Thunderbirds)
Most feeds – 50 Liz Watson (Fever v Vixens)
Most intercepts – 3 Shamera Sterling (Swifts v Thunderbirds)
Most deflections – 15 Courtney Bruce (Fever v Vixens)
Most gains – 7 Courtney Bruce (Fever v Vixens)
Most turnovers – 8 Maddy Proud (Swifts v Thunderbirds)
Most penalties – 18 Maddy Turner (Swifts v Thunderbirds)

Injuries

Eleanor Cardwell appeared to jar the fingers of her shooting hand as she fell to the ground, but seemed unhindered for the remainder of the match.

Jo Weston rolled her ankle at the end of the first quarter, after spending some time on the bench to be re-strapped she returned to the court and seemed unbothered.

Emily Mannix took a ball to the face courtesy of Jhaniele Fowler, she left the court but gave the doctor a thumbs up and was able to return to the match.

Milestones

Jess Anstiss played her 100th SSN Match

Break out performance of the round

Statistics can be deceiving. If you didn’t watch the Major Semi Final on Saturday night, you could be forgiven for thinking Adelaide Thunderbirds shooter Lucy Austin had an ordinary game. She finished with just 13.5 Nissan Net Points, one of the lowest scores on court, but that doesn’t tell nearly the whole story.

Without Austin, Thunderbirds would not be heading to the grand final now. It’s as simple as that. Her shooting under pressure was incredible in this game. It was Austin who scored right on full time to send the game to extra time.

In her first year as a full time member of the Thunderbirds team, Austin is growing in confidence with each week. And one of the big improvements has been her shooting range. She is now just as comfortable taking super shot attempts as her more illustrious shooting partner Eleanor Cardwell.

In Saturday’s game, she was successful with five of her six attempts from two point range, and 18 of her 20 total attempts to be the most accurate shooter on court. And after a slow start to the season, her combination with Cardwell is improving with every match.

Lucy Austin (second from right) was crucial in the Thunderbirds victory. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

Match Reports

MAJOR SEMI – THUNDERBIRDS 64 d SWIFTS 62

By Andrew Kennedy

Another tantalising finals series began with a rematch of the round 14 game, New South Wales Swifts seeking a better result hosting the red hot Adelaide. The Swifts’ entire starting lineup comprised premiership players and Thunderbirds had come in from the wilderness with an outstanding 2023 Suncorp Super Netball season, headlined by their super recruits Eleanor Cardwell and Shamera Sterling.

Both teams stuttered at various points, with the visitors hammering in seven consecutive goals in the first quarter but trailing 11-16, before making crucial changes in the second which slowly turned the tide. Despite a titanic showing from Swifts’ goal attack Helen Housby and Diamond Sarah Klau, the Thunderbirds had the run of play and momentum, and luck from somewhat unpredictable umpiring at huge moments. In extra time they won through to their first grand final since their last premiership in 2013.

What worked?

The substitution of young Thunderbirds players Lucy Austin and Taylah Williams onto the court late in the second quarter made all the difference. Having been down by seven, Austin shot five supershots and Williams contributed 15 goal assists, an equal high for her team. The rookie centre also took the intercept that earned Adelaide their extra time chance, and thereby their place in the championship match in Melbourne in two weeks.

Coming from the season’s best two teams naturally there were many highlights, especially the variations in structure from both shooting lineups. Aiken-George was very quiet in goals with nine in the first half, constantly setting up Housby’s 5/5 supershots and using her body to hold off Wilson and Sterling. In the second half she played a more traditional role, with 19 goals and four rebounds. For Thunderbirds Cardwell was outstanding as ever with 6/8 two-pointers and some sizzling goal assists to Dwan driving to post, but also creatively setting up Austin and fending off the Swifts, and also taking two spectacular vital rebounds.

Where the match was won and lost?

The attacking mojo of Adelaide built in the fourth quarter, and continued into the five minutes of extra time, while the experienced host side lost their composure. Paige Hadley completely sprinted into a stationary Maisie Nankivell with the scores level at 51-all, and Williams took an amazing standing 3-foot intercept off Proud. While Swifts’ midcourt had five turnovers, Thunderbirds’ Williams and Horjus had none in the same period, and almost zero in the entire match. Thanks to great feeding, and brimming confidence of Austin and Cardwell, the team nailed six supershots in the last 20 minutes.

In contrast, removing Aiken-George in favour of Fawns at goal shooter appeared to be a bad choice for Sydney this time around, as the youngster scored 0/2 from the two-point arc and no regular goals, failing to be the last-gasp hero on this occasion.

It was war at the end of the third quarter with several difficult situations occurring back to back. If any of these umpiring decisions had been seen differently it might have led to another result. Maddy Proud firstly felt hard done by, called for causing contact, then she deliberately ran through her opponent and the circle, obviously simmering with anger, probably doing herself and her team a disservice. Georgie Horjus was clearly hurled to the ground by Maddy Turner but Horjus was called for replay and stepping. Then the climax, a wrong call of over a third off a pass by Proud, just as her team tried to zoom the ball down court in just ten seconds, but instead lost possession.

Which players/combinations stood out?

The consistency of Tayla Williams at centre and Georgie Horjus at wing attack for Adelaide were unrivalled, bettering even their star international teammates. Williams in particular might keep her captain on the bench in the grand final, playing more minutes than Petty. having no turnovers for fifteen goal assists, and taking two intercepts in the fourth quarter which lead to overtime being played.

It’s impossible to ignore fan darling Shamera Sterling even from within a raucous one-eyed Sydney crowd. She racked up the best defensive stats of all players, three intercepts, seven deflections, two rebounds, and two pickups.

Both team captains Maddy Proud and Hannah Petty were obvious for the wrong reasons, showing so much enthusiasm that their play at times caused chaos. Petty had six turnovers in less than a half and negative Nissan net points, while the experienced Proud faltered under finals pressure. She lost possession twelve times including the only turnover and only intercept pass thrown by Swifts in extra time. Even worse she lost composure at the end of the third quarter, screaming at the umpires, even albeit at a wrong over-a-third call.

Shooting statistics

Swifts
Romelda Aiken-George 30/38 (79%)
Helen Housby 23/28 (82%)

Thunderbirds
Eleanor Cardwell 24/28 (86%)
Tippah Dwan 11/17 (65%)
Lucy Austin 18/20 (90%)

MVP – Georgie Horjus

Shamera Sterling was overcome with emotion after the win. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

Maddy Proud and Maisie Nankivell tussle for the ball. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

Shamera Sterling was in menacing form. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

Sarah Klau was a stand out for the Swifts. (Image by: May Bailey | Netball Scoop)

MINOR SEMI – FEVER 64 def VIXENS 57

By Jenny Sinclair (first published by Newswire)

West Coast Fever have booked their place in the Super Netball preliminary final, after a stirring seven point victory over the Melbourne Vixens. Two missed shots and a monster block will haunt goal attack Kiera Austin as her side fell away in the closing minutes of the match.

After losing four games in the past five rounds, Vixens’ coach Simone McKinnis rued her side’s exit from the finals.

Speaking to commentary she said, “It’s just those moments in the last quarter where it was there and we didn’t make it. It’s disappointing and it hurts, but I couldn’t ask for more effort.”

With the Vixens dumped from the Super Netball finals’ race, the controversial sale of the grand final will be thrust back into the spotlight. With hosting rights sold to Victoria, it will be the first time, outside the Covid hub years, that two interstate clubs will contest the decider on neutral territory.

In contrast, it was a strong outing for the Fever after their recent loss to the bottom ranked Magpies. Fever captain Courtney Bruce said a changed lead up helped get them over the line.

“Dan (Ryan) gave us Monday off to recoup and recover after a long trip to Tassie. We really had to look at ourselves and do a session with the team psych about finding that new level.”

Little separated Fever and Vixens during the season, and an indifferent run of form in recent weeks meant the match was expected to be a close one. And while it didn’t compare to the Thunderbirds’ sensational extra-time, come-from-behind win yesterday, the match kept a sea of green fans on the edge of their seats.

In a crisp attacking game, errors were few and defensive gains hard to come by. However, Vixens opened up the first break when several careless passes gifted them easy goals.

Fever shrugged off their slow start to finish with a remarkably low nine errors, as they continuously found an imperious Jhaniele Fowler under the post. The prolific Jamaican won MVP rights as she finished with a match high 55 goals from 57.

Vixens defenders were in the wars against her, with both Jo Weston and Em Mannix forced to the bench with an ankle tweak and blow to the face respectively. Both returned to the game, but not before Weston sent a scare through the Diamonds camp with the World Cup on the horizon.

Fresh off her national selection, Fever’s Sunday Aryang was in red hot form. She and her captain, Courtney Bruce, created aerial havoc combining for nine gains.

With the game on even terms and becoming heated, Vixens centre Kate Moloney copped a warning after a late hit on Verity Simmons. It was a timely reminder to all players to stay tidy, after yesterday’s game spiraled out of control on the back of some subpar officiating. Conversely, this match had a mammoth 141 penalties called as the umpires kept good order.

Vixens co-captain Liz Watson led her side with 50 feeds and 24 goal assists. Her opponent Jess Anstiss had a quiet game to celebrate her 100th national league match, but will take the victory.

The winner of next week’s preliminary final between the NSW Swifts and Fever will meet the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Super Netball grand final.

WILL MINUTES MATTER FOR MUNDY?

With all Super Netball players off contract come September, the future of rising star Hannah Mundy is in the spotlight. Currently sitting behind the Australian captain at the Vixens, the wing attack has averaged just 25 minutes of court time per game this season. Touted as a future prospect for the Diamonds, will she move clubs in search of a starting seven position?

BENCH BUDDIES

Fever have barely touched their bench in 2023, with Emma Cosh (average 4.7 minutes per game), Rudi Ellis (5.4 minutes) and Kim Jenner (16.6 minutes) mostly glued to the pine. With a dearth of young, tall goal keepers in Super Netball, Ellis could potentially be hot property.

Shooting Statistics

Fever
Fowler 55/57 (97%)
Glasgow 6/11 (55%)

Vixens
Kumwenda 39/42 (93%)
Austin 15/22 (68%)

MVP – Jhaniele Fowler