NS Scoreboard: SSN Semi Finals 2024

Kate Moloney had an awkward fall and collided with Latanya Wilson’s shin before leaving the court in the second term. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

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News of the Week

The Diamonds have announced an additional test series later this year against the England Roses.

Tickets go on sale on the 21st August, or will be available to watch on Kayo Freebies. The matches will be held at:

Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday 19th September
Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney) on Sunday 22nd September
Bendigo Wednesday 25th September

Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard is a superstar both on and off court. The fist bumps on her shoulders after her first goal was a shout out to a young fan who’d dislocated her shoulder the day before, while she also sent a message of support.

🥹

Video description: Fowler-Nembhard shoots a goal, then crosses her arms and touches both shoulders.#FEVvLIG https://t.co/jAAerzwyNz pic.twitter.com/AzXDUeAVtx

— Maddy (@maddyoby) July 21, 2024

The run of record crowds and sell-outs in 2024 has seen a massive 25% increase in attendance for Suncorp Super Netball in the home and away season. In all, 331,841 fans attended games during the regular season, re-establishing SSN as the most attended women’s sport league in Australia before the finals were even played. That’s an average of 23,703 spectators per round, or almost 6,000 per match which is really quite incredible.

Interest in netball seems to be at an all time high right now. The record for largest round attendance was broken four times this year; firstly in the opening round, then in round six, round 12, and round 14. In the final round, 34,726 fans turned up to support their teams. That was almost 6,000 more people than had set the record just two rounds before.

Attendances everywhere have been tremendous, particularly in Perth. However, a big factor in the overall increase this year has undoubtedly been the full time move of Thunderbirds to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. With the success of that move, perhaps there is the opportunity for some of the other teams’ games to be moved to larger venues in future. The two Queensland teams in particular, seem capable of attracting more fans than their current venues can hold.

Is it time to fix inequitable fixtures? To name a few – in this weekend’s crucial final, Lightning are facing their fourth trip in a row on the road, while the Mavericks also played their last four games out of state, albeit with one ‘home’ game in Tasmania. Vixens have spent three of the last four weeks away corresponding to their dip in form, while Fever also reliably slump each year, when they’re traveling for three out of four games in the middle of the season. While all teams have to travel, surely there’s a way to make sure no side is on the road for such a long consecutive period of time.

RAC Arena has had record crowds this season. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography

The rookies

The Thunderbirds Lauren Frew has had a strong season, let alone for a rookie. Starting at goal attack from Round 1, she was given the perfect amount of court time to build confidence and connections, without physically draining the youngster. And by the time the semi-finals came around, Frew was ready to shine. Picking up MVP, in her 47 minutes out on court Frew finished with 17/18 (94.4%), 13 feeds and 10 centre pass receives.

Game MVP Lauren Frew celebrates the win with fellow shooter Lucy Austin. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

The shooting circle

Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard starred for Fever on her birthday with 67/69, as they won through to the preliminary Final with a 72-62 win over Lightning. Shanice Beckford played a good support role too, although she did give up six general play turnovers. With Lightning shooting at only 70%, it was a big contrast at the other end of the court. Fowler-Nembhard’s only two misses for the game came from super shot attempts, meaning she was 67/67 with regular goals. That continues her incredible run with one-point attempts where she has had less misses (14) than games (15) so far this year.

Meanwhile, her Jamaican teammate is as good as ever this year. Thunderbird Romelda Aiken-George finished with a game high 39/44 (88.6%) and pulled in four rebounds. And while she looked a little frazzled early on when double teamed, Aiken-George soon found her neutral game day face, and didn’t look in the least bit concerned when shoved out of the way by frustrated defender Emily Mannix.

Lightning and Vixens each shot at just 70% in their games, a figure that the Vixens will need to urgently rectify ahead of their preliminary final. The last time they played Fever, Kadie-Ann Dehaney rattled Sophie Garbin who received just 30 minutes of game time. Lily Graham did well in her absence, but expect Fever to try and apply similar pressure.

Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard was a well deserved MVP, after standing up against the immense pressure of being double defended. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography

The midcourt

It’s perhaps unusual for any team to have a captain who spends so much time on the bench, but Hannah Petty was influential for the Thunderbirds. Playing 21 minutes of the match, Petty was introduced in the second quarter when the Thunderbirds had a lead but weren’t looking completely comfortable. With the Vixens going on a number of mini-runs, Petty brought a sense of calm to the Thunderbirds who were able to settle into their work. It takes a strong leader to put their ego aside, and play the role that is called for rather than the one they might prefer, and Petty does it beautifully.

In a battle of the midcourts, both Lightning and Fever had theirs purring. Liz Watson, who finished with an astonishing 58 feeds and 26 centre pass receives combined beautifully with Leesa Mi Mi, who had 43 feeds and an intercept. Fever’s looked more stilted at the start as they started with a more defensive look, but really kicked into gear when Kelsey Browne took the court at centre.

Hannah Howard in the major semi final. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

Hannah Petty looks long down court. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

Kelsey Browne and Lisa Mi Mi had a good contest through the middle. Browne was instrumental in adding speed to Fever’s attack. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography

The defenders

The league’s best defensive combination were at it again in the major semi-final, picking off 21 of the Thunderbirds’ 24 gains. Led by Shamera Sterling with an astonishing 14 gains, the Thunderbirds backline was close to impenetrable at times. Amid their havoc, they kept Sophie Garbin scoreless across the entire second quarter, and Kiera Austin and Garbin to just two goals apiece in the third. In all, the Vixens had just 36 successful attempts at goal, with only the two point shooting making the margin somewhat more respectable.

Fever’s backline weren’t quite at the same level, but still produced a reputable 13 of their side’s 14 gains. Kadie-Ann Dehaney was a rock under the post with 8 gains, while Aryang (3) and Williams (2) were both solid. Their pressure over the shot was immense, with Lightning shooting at just 70% accuracy, which dropped to just 38% in supershot territory.

While seven of the ten Vixens managed to pull off a gain, pickings were slim inside their defensive circle. Jo Weston finished with two, Kate Eddy and Em Mannix one a piece, and Rudi Ellis none.

Once again the Jamaican defensive duo gained plenty of ball for their team. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

Kadie-Ann Dehaney put immense pressure over Lightning’s shooters, reducing their accuracy to just 70%. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography

Tactics

We often talk about successful tactics, but it’s also worth looking at those which are less so. The Vixens decided to double team the prolific Romelda Aiken-George in the first quarter, leaving rookie Lauren Frew largely to do her own thing. In the first quarter, Aiken-George looked slightly frustrated, albeit while still putting in 13/14. Meanwhile, Frew ran rampant, putting up 6/7, taking 7 centre pass receives and contributing 5 feeds.

Aiken-George calmed down in the second quarter, putting in 10/11, while Frew recorded 8/8 but no centre pass receives, allowing the ball to be brought to her. By the time Frew received more of the attention she deserved in the second half of the game, it was too late. Her confidence was up and her eye was in. With Ellis fairly close to Aiken-George in height, it may have been better to leave the pair going one on one, and putting more pressure on the feed outside the circle, and particularly the work being done by Frew.

It’s been a tough latter part of the season for the Vixens, losing three of their last four games. Two of those games were absolute thumpings inflicted on them by the Thunderbirds, to the tune of 15 and then 25 points. They now go into their preliminary final against Fever, knowing that their recent finals history also isn’t too flash. They’ve now lost four of their last five finals matches played – one against the Thunderbirds and three against the Fever. With history against them, it will take a mighty effort for the Vixens to take the win next weekend.

Fever also had a less than stellar start to their game, running with a defensive line that included Jess Anstiss at centre, Sunday Aryang at wing defence, Fran Williams at goal defence, and Kadie-Ann Dehaney at goal keeper. Lightning got the jump on them as Fever looked constipated in attack, and coach Dan Ryan was quick to respond. He shifted to a more attacking line, bringing Kelsey Browne on at centre, and dropping Anstiss and Aryang back. Liz Watson was able to slip the lead without Aryang’s close attention, but Steph Fretwell felt the impact instead.

Lauren Frew in action during the major semi final. Image: Hannah Howard | On the Ball Media

Lauren Frew was MVP of the major semi final. Image: Hannah Howard | On The Ball Media

Stats watch

If you’re a stats nerd and want the most accurate win indicator, keep an eye on the magic number of 75. Champion Data has crunched the numbers, and if a side converts more than 75% of their centre passes, they have a 90% chance of winning. Less than 75%, that figure drops to just 29%. And any side that has converted more than 78% this season has won their match – every single time! And it continued in this week’s semi finals.

In the minor semi final, Lightning had a respectable 73% centre pass to goal rate, but that was simply no match for Fever’s 83%. Meanwhile, in the major semi final, Thunderbirds converted 79% of their centre passes, while Vixens converted just 46%. A number like that is never going to cut it in a final.

Thunderbirds had a similar poor number (47%) in their round eight loss to the Firebirds. But ever since that defeat, they’ve shown remarkable consistency in a run of seven straight wins. Their centre pass to goal rate in those past seven games have been… 77%, 73%, 75%, 78%, 74%, 77%, 79%. Currently, their efficiency in attack is as good as it has ever been in Super Netball.

In both semi finals, there was a big gap between the teams in one particular area; missed goal turnovers. Apart from the damage done on the scoreboard, the other factor that goes with a missed goal turnover is the drop in confidence that happens to a shooter and to their team when they continually lose possession in these circumstances.

In the major semi final, Thunderbirds were on top right across the court, but this was only made more so by the missed goal turnover count of 10-2 against Vixens. Meanwhile, in the minor semi final, it made a big difference. Lightning finished the match with stats of 54/77 (70%), but the most important part of those 23 missed attempts, is that they could only rebound five of them. Lightning ended the game with 13 missed goal turnovers against them compared to Fever’s one. That is a huge difference in such an important game.

Steph Fretwell finished with just 60.7% accuracy, after a tough outing. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography

The games

Major Semi Final: Thunderbirds 68 def Vixens 43

MVP: Lauren Frew

The Thunderbirds absolutely blew the Vixens off the court, beating them by 25 points in a dark day for the Melbourne club. It was Vixens’ biggest ever defeat, and their equal-lowest score in Super Netball. Looking totally dispirited in the rooms post match, the Vixens struggled right across the board. Little went right, with their team metrics overshadowed by the Thunderbirds.

	Thunderbirds	Vixens
Centre pass conversion rate	79%	46%
Gains conversion rate	71%	38%
Missed shot conversion rate	50%	13%
Gains	24	8
Turnovers	20	26
Shooting percentage	86.8%	70.6%

Once again Georgie Horjus controlled the Thunderbirds’ attacking end, and Lauren Frew did a wealth of work while her opponent double-teamed Romelda Aiken George. Frew ended up with 17/18 – more goals than any of the Vixens scored despite playing in a supporting role to her Jamaican teammate.

There wasn’t a single weakness in the Thunderbirds’ team. However, the absolute stars of the show were Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson, who finished with 14 and 5 gains respectively. They pulled off some near-impossible takes, and few balls were safe in the attacking end. The overall tally of 24 gains to 8 was a huge mismatch.

For the Vixens, Hannah Mundy was the best performed midcourter, as she finished with 12 centre pass receives, 25 feeds and an intercept. Every team member, bar Rudi Ellis, proved expensive with the ball in hand, as they gave up a collective 26 turnovers. They will need a much-improved performance next week.

Tilly Garrett at full stretch. Image Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media.

Vixens shooters were rotated regularly as their accuracy struggled under pressure. Image Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media.

Minor Semi Final: Fever 72 def Lightning 62

MVP: Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard

Fever won through to the Preliminary Final next week with a solid win over Lightning. The match was seemingly decided in the circles, thanks to a huge disparity between the shooting percentages and Lightning’s inability to snap up the rebounds.

	Fever	Lightning
Centre pass conversion rate	83%	73%
Gains conversion rate	86%	57%
Missed shot conversion rate	40%	9%
Gains	14	7
Turnovers	15	11
Shooting percentage	93.4%	70.1%

Lightning burst out of the blocks in the first quarter with a smooth attacking line, and solid defence that held Fever up as they looked to penetrate into the circle. Their only area of concern was the pasting that Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard was giving Courtney Bruce, but coach Belinda Reynolds was quick to switch Ash Ervin, with her extra height and reach, into the circle. Lightning won the first quarter by two.

That all changed in the second, when Fever’s coach Dan Ryan reverted to a more attacking line up. Their midcourt immediately looked freer, and while Liz Watson was able to slip the leash, Sunday Aryang’s shift onto the dangerous Steph Fretwell gave her the yips. Fretwell shot at just 60%, and was particularly inaccurate from the two point range, finishing with 2/9 from that area.

In all, Lightning had one more attempt than Fever, but with their super shots not dropping, Fever were generally able to convert at the other end. Fever scored with just one shot from range which might hurt them in the week or two ahead, but in the minor semi-final, it was enough to get the job done against a Lightning team that squandered too many chances.