NS Scoreboard: SSN Round 4 2025

Cover Image: Shaun Sharp/Sporting Moments by Shaun

Writers: Ian Harkin, Ariane Virgona, Katrina Nissen, Andrew Kennedy, Elly McNerney, Jenny Sinclair

Photographers: Danny Dalton, Clinton Bradbury, Shaun Sharp, May Bailey

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Results

GIANTS Netball 64 def Adelaide Thunderbirds 63

West Coast Fever 68 def Sunshine Coast Lightning 66

Melbourne Vixens 67 def Melbourne Mavericks 59 

New South Wales Swifts 71 def Queensland Firebirds 63 

 

 

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Milestones

Shimona Jok 4000th league goal

 

Debutantes

Sanmarie Visser (Thunderbirds)

 

Injuries

Grace Whyte (Swifts) – ankle niggle 

 

 

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LET’S TALK ABOUT:

News Of The Week

Congratulations to two-time premiership winner, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey who announced this week that she and husband, Andrew, are expecting their first child. Sterling-Humphrey will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, prompting the Thunderbirds to elevate South African defender Sanmarie Visser from training partner as her replacement. 

 

The Netball Australia Annual Report was released last week. It provides a positive outlook for Netball Australia under the leadership of CEO Stacey West, and Chair Liz Ellis. For the calendar year of 2024, Netball Australia had an operating surplus of $650,883. That was the third straight surplus and the largest since 2012. NA was also able to greatly reduce its debt, and is on line to pay off the remainder by 2027. After looking in serious financial trouble just three years ago, netball in Australia is now in a much healthier position.

Among the positives driving the improved position were crowd numbers. Crowds at Diamonds matches were strong, with 47,363 fans attending the five matches. Meanwhile, last year’s SSN season drew the largest overall attendance and the highest average attendance of any women’s sporting league in Australia. The final total of 366,222 spectators was up 25% on 2023. Viewing figures for SSN through Foxtel and Kayo were up 18% on the previous year, while Diamonds tests were also popular.    

 

West Coast Fever have unveiled a 12m mural of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard located just outside RAC Arena. The artwork by Michael Betts and Murial Media, is a nod to Fowler-Nembhard’s illustrious career and includes a list of all of her incredible achievements along with an incredible painting of the superstar.  

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Former Queensland Firebirds captain and premiership winner Gabi Simpson has come out of retirement and signed as a temporary replacement player with the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse in the ANZ Premiership. Simpson will add cover for Maddy Gordon and Whitney Souness, who are currently working through their `return to play’ programmes. 

 

In International netball news, Europe Netball have made the hard decision to cancel the Open Tournament which was due to start this week. The event, which included teams from France, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Israel, Malta and Switzerland, alongside the Wales U21 side, was called off after pro-Palestine campaigners reportedly called for organisers to exclude Israel from the competition. Europe Netball cited safety concerns as the primary reason for the decision after the protesters allegedly vocalised plans to “disrupt” the event. 

 

GIANTS and Swifts celebrated ‘Inclusion Round’ this weekend. GIANTS theme of ‘netball as a sport for all’ was represented with dancers and musicians from a range of ethnicities, which they played during the last five minutes of each quarter. Giants donned their usual rainbow bibs while Swifts and Firebirds embraced the theme by wearing Progress Pride bibs and rainbow ribbons. Firebirds also went the extra step with rainbow sweat towels.

 

 

Alongside Kim Green and Cath Cox, Paige Hadley added her netball knowledge and smarts in her debut commentating the match between GIANTS and the Thunderbirds on Saturday. Another feature of the broadcast this weekend was the masterclasses given by the Browne sisters. Showcasing their creativity, we saw Kelsey and Madi Browne offer midcourt and coaching analysis prior to the Melbourne Derby at John Cain Arena on Sunday. We can also expect Eleanor Cardwell in commentary in Round 10, as she revealed the news to Bianca Chatfield in the Fox broadcast prior to the game. 

 

 

The Super Netball Reserves began on May 3rd. The competition runs from Round 4 to Round 10 of the Suncorp Super Netball League and features the best of Australia’s young netball talent. Many matches take place before or after SSN home games so we recommend you arrive early or stick around to support the next generation of netballers. Tickets are free for matches happening not consecutively with SSN matches. You can find more information here and see the full home and away fixture here. Be sure to head to social media to check out the full team lists.

Results:

Melbourne Mavericks Reserves 62 def Queensland Firebirds Futures 49
Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures 66 def GIANTS Netball Reserves 40
West Coast Fever Reserves 64 def Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts 56
QBE Swifts Academy 59 def Thunderbirds Futures 41
Melbourne Mavericks Reserves 55 def Vixens Academy 48

 

Stay in the conversation with the Netball Scoop Forum.

Catch up with The Sporting Scoop podcast on Spotify and Youtube 
This week’s guest was Kiera Austin. 

 

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Stat of the Week

In Saturday’s thrilling game in Perth, Fever was able to gain an advantage by efficiently converting the possession they got off Lightning. As we mentioned last week, goals from gains is an important statistic, and this week Fever became another team to go through a match converting 100% of their gains. But goals from unforced turnovers are also important as capitalising on your opposition’s mistakes can make a big difference on the scoreboard.

Fever did exactly this, scoring from 80% of Lightning’s unforced turnovers. As a result, Fever was able to score from 90% (18/20) of all the possessions they got from Lightning during the match. By comparison, Lightning was only able to convert 59% (10/17) of the ball they got from Fever. During round four, all four winning teams scored more goals from gains and turnovers than their opposition, but Fever’s advantage was clearly the greatest.

Goals from gains & turnovers    
Fever 18 v Lightning 10
Giants 16 v Thunderbirds 13
Vixens 18 v Mavericks 15
Swifts 17 v Firebirds 14

 

 

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Rolling stat of the Season

As Fever came from behind to snatch victory over Lightning, it was the extension of a winning streak stretching all the way back to 2021. Fever has now won the last nine matches against Lightning (they’ve actually won 13 of the past 14) and that is the longest current winning streak in Super Netball.  

Longest current winning streaks ` 
9 matches: Fever v Lightning
6 matches: Lightning v Firebirds
5 matches: Fever v Giants
5 matches: Swifts v Giants

Fever’s win also stretched their winning run at RAC Arena against Lightning to five. But there’s no respite for Lightning at home either as Fever has won its last six matches on the Sunshine Coast. In other current winning streaks, Vixens have won their past five matches at home against Giants, and they’ve also won all six SSN matches played against Thunderbirds in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Thunderbirds have won their past five matches at home against Vixens.

 

 

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MATCH WRAPS:

Giants v Thunderbirds

In an exciting finish, Giants just managed to hold on for their first win of the season. After an impressive first quarter from the Giants, neither team found great consistency or momentum thereafter, and it was a high tally of disappointing passing errors from Thunderbirds that saw them fail to convert defensive gains into attempts at goal. Giants’ defence, headlined by Jodi-Ann Ward with four intercepts, were sharp and tenacious, successfully keeping the Thunderbirds at the sideline and causing difficulty for the Adelaide shooters. Linking forward from there, it was particularly pleasing to see the home side’s 79% conversion to goal of Thunderbirds’ errors. Jamie-Lee Price and Sophie Dwyer combined well, while captain Jo Harten, after initially being given a rest at half time, came back on and controlled play under pressure in the Giants’ attack end.

For Thunderbirds, after trailing by as much as eight goals late in the second quarter, it was a game of catch up from there, and they just failed to do so. Georgie Horjus was back to her best, while Latanya Wilson was as strong as ever. Goal attack Lauren Frew scored a solid 7/11 at supershot range including four in a last ditch attempt to close the margin in the final minutes. Debutante Thunderbird goal keeper Sanmarie Visser also performed well, maintaining pace and footwork to admirably win possession and back up her teammates. However, it was perhaps more the confidence and experience lost with the absence of the heroic Shamera Sterling-Humphrey that made the biggest difference on the day. 

 

 

 

Fever v Lightning

In what was perhaps the highest quality game of the season to date, Fever came from behind in the last quarter to take an exciting two goal win, and claim their ninth straight victory against Lightning. The 35-all first half exemplified the high standard of attack from both teams. Lightning then stepped up in the third quarter and in fact led for most of the second half, before a resurgent Fever took charge late in the game. For Fever, champion shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard was as steady as a rock as always. Meanwhile, Alice Teague-Neeld and Jordan Cransberg controlled the midcourt, and Kadie-Ann Dehaney continued her strong start to the season with six gains in defence. 

Lightning will be rueing a missed opportunity for a rare win in Perth. In the dying stages, they appeared to lose composure and went away from the assured play that had served them well to that point. Cara Koenen was seen in tears after the game, having missed with two late super shot attempts, but the fact is that she had played a tremendous game to that point. Leesa Mi Mi had another outstanding game at centre, finishing with more assists than Liz Watson. Then there was Courtney Bruce. After a lacklustre start to the season, Bruce started on the bench, but was soon injected into the game, and it was something like the Bruce of old.   

 

 

 

 

Mavericks v Vixens

Vixens maintained their undefeated reign in the Melbourne Derby, taking an eight goal win over Mavericks. The Vixens broke away in the second quarter by capitalising on the Mavericks’  mistakes. Vixens look to be building towards reattaining their disciplined and clinical selves, exploiting their strengths of ball speed, circle positioning, and the strong connections between each third of the court. When questioned at the end of the game as Player of the Match, Sophie Garbin noted that the team has been focusing on providing variety out on court; however, she commented that this may be to the detriment of their signature style that brought them to the grand final in 2024. 

Kiera Austin, shot 19/22 and finished with 19 goal assists. Austin, along with  Hannah Mundy (23 assists), and Kate Moloney (10  assists), provided good support for Garbin who finished with 45/52. Mavericks made 19 unforced errors to Vixens’ eight, and this had coach Tracey Neville looking for answers, including shuffling the midcourt. The defensive work of the Vixens, in particular Jo Weston, created problems for Uneeq Palavi and Sasha Glasgow. Goal shooter Shimona Jok, shot 43/47 but was rotated off the court in the third and fourth quarters as the team were in desperate need of super shots. Glasgow and Palavi shot four between them as Mavericks won the last quarter, but the damage was already done by that stage.  

 

 

 

 

Swifts v Firebirds

Competition front-runners, the NSW Swifts have maintained their unbeaten start to 2025 with an up-and-down eight goal win over the Firebirds. After an even first half, Swifts jumped decisively out of the blocks with a 7-2 run in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Swifts’ defence pressured the Firebirds into eight general play turnovers for the quarter, and the shooting combination of Grace Nweke and Helen Housby capitalised clinically at the other end. Nweke continued her blistering start to her Super Netball career, shooting 54/57, showing new adaptability and timing, while her combination with Housby becomes more dangerous by the game. 

Player of the Match Paige Hadley was a reliable workhorse in the midcourt with 24 goal assists and only one turnover, while Sharni Lambden continued to prove herself an asset to the Swifts in her first year moving from Melbourne. Maddy Turner was an astute and well-timed introduction from the bench just before the half – her familiar combination with Sarah Klau covered all the available space, forcing the Firebirds into a series of poorly executed passes. For the Firebirds, Mary Cholhok (43/52) continues to build in her first Super Netball season, really commanding the ball from the Firebirds midcourters. Macy Gardner had another solid game for Firebirds, as did Emily Moore at goal attack. Firebirds were able to win the final quarter, but that one-sided third quarter had put the game almost beyond doubt.

 

 

 

 

 

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Players of the Round

Sanmarie Visser (Thunderbirds)

Visser put out a promising performance on debut for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in their slim loss to the Giants. Against a strong and established Giants shooting pair, the young South African played 55 mins, and finished with three gains, five deflections, and three pickups. One area of concern would be the 23 penalties she conceded, but as far as debut games go, she put in a strong showing, and her future looks bright in SSN. 

 

Courtney Bruce (Lightning) 

It has been a tough 12 months for Bruce. Due to injury, she didn’t play a big part in Lightning’s 2024 season, and when she did, she wasn’t nearly as effective as she had been in the past. She also started 2025 in a similar vein. But when called on against Lightning, suddenly the spark was back. She was able to disrupt the Fever attack which had been flawless to that point, and she continued to be a menace throughout, finishing with six gains and 11 deflections. Bruce revealed post match that she’s making an earlier return than expected after a foot injury has hampered her in recent months. 

 

Sophie Garbin (Vixens) 

In response to last week’s less-than-ideal performance, Garbin showed us what makes her such a formidable force on court. Strong under the post, shooting 45/52 (87%), and collecting 3 rebounds equalling Jo Weston, and crafty outside the circle with 11 second phase receives, equalling Hannah Mundy. This movement saw Kiera Austin able to drive strong into the circle and exploit the strong shooter to shooter connection. Garbin also finished with 2 pickups, sealed the game with a final goal on the buzzer, and was named Player of the Match.

 

Helen Housby (Swifts)

Housby is simply in sublime form at the moment. She is having a tremendous start to the 2025 season, and she’s clearly loving having Grace Nweke as a shooting partner. In round four, she scored 14 goals, including three super shots, two of them in the decisive third quarter to really pile the pressure on the Firebirds. She also had 19 goal assists, one gain, one deflection, 24 centre-pass receives, one pickup, and zero general play turnovers. Her combination with Nweke and captain Paige Hadley, is a winning one.   

 

 

 

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Quotes Corner

Tania Obst on dropping Lucy Austin from the game day 10

“Purely based on team balance. We thought we needed more cover in defence. Squads are now 11. And she will get valuable court time in the reserves.”

 

Erin O’Brien on playing against Romelda Aiken-George

 “It was tough. She was someone I loved to watch when I was growing up so to play against her is a real privilege. I love the challenge of trying to get her a bit annoyed. It was fun.” 

 

Dan Ryan on keeping Olivia Wilkinson on in the final minutes of the match 

“I’ve got great confidence to put her on in any kind of circumstance, and I think today was another great moment to demonstrate the development that she has established over the past couple of months. I thought she did some great stuff for us as well, against some real high-quality players.” 

 

Mary Cholhok on the feeds into the goal circle. 

“I think the attack did a great job looking in and trusting that I’d take that ball. Our feeding, we’ve been working on that during training and just look up and put it in the air. Just keep working and looking in and trusting that I’ll be able to take that ball.” 

 

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Ladder

Team / Pts / %
Swifts . 16 . 117%
Thunderbirds . 8 . 108%
Lightning . 8 . 103%
Firebirds . 8 . 98%
–
Vixens.  8. 96%
Fever. 8. 92% 
Mavericks . 4 . 96%
Giants . 4 . 90%

 

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Next Week

Sat, May 10
5pm – FIREBIRDS v THUNDERBIRDS
7pm – FEVER v MAVERICKS (5pm local time)

Sun, May 11
2pm – LIGHTNING v GIANTS
4pm – SWIFTS v VIXENS