Scoop Preview: SSN 2023 Round 14

Scoop Preview: SSN 2023 Round 14

Cover image: Aliesha Vicars

 

Well, it’s certainly been another big week for netball news, hasn’t it? And all the while, there’s still one round left of the regular season in Super Netball. In round 13, Swifts wrapped up the minor Premiership and they will host the Major semi final next week. But the order of the other three finals teams is still up in the air. Then there is Collingwood. The Magpies will play their last ever Super Netball game this week and due to a quirk of scheduling, they’ll do it in Tasmania.

In Australia, the matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo. In New Zealand, the matches will be shown on Spark Sport. And in the Pacific Islands, two games of each round will be shown on PacificAus TV. Elsewhere in the world, you can stream all the games on Netball Australia TV.  You can also follow live scoring and statistics thanks to Champion Data.

 

Before we get on to this week’s games, check out our wrap of Round thirteen

Helen Housby gets the shot away under pressure. Image Simon Leonard

 

Stadium staff did a great job of entertaining the crowd when the lights went out. Image: Hannah Howard | On the Ball Media

The lights went out in Adelaide in round two. Image: Hannah Howard | On the Ball Media

ROUND FOURTEEN:

NSW SWIFTS v ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS

Ken Rosewall Arena, Saturday, Jun 17, 5pm
(7pm NZ, 4:30pm SA, 3pm WA, 8am UK)
Umpires: Jemma Cook and Rachael Ayre

How the time has flown. Can it really be 12 weeks since that chaotic night in Adelaide when these two teams last met. What a night that was. Firstly, dangerous decals had to be pulled up and replaced, thus causing a delay to the start of the match. Then at half time, with the game delicately poised at 25-25, the power went out, causing the match to be completely abandoned, called a draw and both teams awarded two points. Let’s hope nothing even remotely similar happens this week.

Since that round two match, both teams have gone on to earn places in the top four. At one stage, Thunderbirds were in top spot, but they’ve recently faltered with three losses from their last four games. That left the door open for Swifts, on the back of a nine game winning streak, to take over at the top and claim the minor premiership. The Thunderbirds’ form slump has seen them fall back to third on the ladder, and they could end up in fourth with another loss in this game.

Purely on form, that is what you would expect. Swifts are playing incredibly at this stage of the season, and a lot of that is down to Helen Housby. She has strung together six straight games of over 100 Nissan Net Points and her combination with Romelda Aiken-George is working beautifully. The match up between this Swifts’ shooting combination and the Thunderbirds’ defence will be crucial. Shamera Sterling, Matilda Garrett and Latanya Wilson will have to be at their absolute best to slow down the Swifts’ attack end.

Thunderbirds then have to somehow convert their opportunities in attack, something they have consistently struggled to do. The midcourt will have to lift, but they face a tough test here against the experience of Swifts. The head-to-head record between these two teams is stacked heavily in favour of Swifts. Thunderbirds have recorded just one solitary win in round seven of 2021. There have been two draws, and Swifts have won ten times. They will be favoured to make that 11 wins here.

SWIFTS
Shooters – Romelda Aiken-George, Helen Housby, Sophie Fawns
Midcourt – Paige Hadley, Maddy Proud, Tayla Fraser, Lili Gorman-Brown
Defence – Maddy Turner, Sarah Klau, Kelea Iongi

THUNDERBIRDS
Shooters – Eleanor Cardwell, Tippah Dwan, Lucy Austin
Midcourt – Georgie Horjus, Tayla Williams, Maisie Nankivell, Hannah Petty
Defence – Latanya Wilson, Shamera Sterling, Matilda Garrett

 

Molly Jovic has to miss the Magpies’ final game after this tumble in round 13. Image Aliesha Vicars.

COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES V WEST COAST FEVER

Silverdome, Saturday, Jun 17, 7pm
(9pm NZ, 6:30pm SA, 5pm WA, 10am UK)
Umpires: Rachael Stebbings and Josh Bowring

So here it is. The Collingwood Magpies’ 101st and final game in Suncorp Super Netball, and it will be played in their second home of Launceston. From their 100 matches to date, Magpies have had 35 wins, 3 draws and 62 losses. If they want to go out with a win in their last game, Fever is certainly not an easy opponent to do it against. From 13 previous clashes, the head-to-head record stands at 10 wins to Fever and just 3 for Magpies.

These two teams last met in round three in Perth. Coach Nicole Richardson didn’t use the centre-pass controversy against Vixens the week before as an excuse, but it must have been at least a factor as Magpies lost 80-53, suffering their heaviest defeat of the year. So dominant was Fever that Jhaniele Fowler and Courtney Bruce were even given a rest in the last quarter.

Fever comes into this game after a comfortable win over GIANTS in Perth where their defensive combination of Bruce and Sunday Aryang put on a show, coming up with 13 possession gains, five intercepts, and 14 deflections. Fever will be favoured to win well here too, and seal second spot on the ladder. But how far can emotion take Collingwood? They have generally played quite well since the news came out that this was their last year in the competition.

If Magpies are to win, they’ll have to do it without centre Molly Jovic in the lineup after she suffered a fractured forearm in last week’s loss to Vixens. They will surely be spurred on by some of the players who have performed consistently for them, like Geva Mentor, Jodi-Ann Ward, Shimona Nelson, and Ash Brazill. This will be the final Super Netball game for Brazill, but will it be her final game in elite netball altogether or will she get a farewell in Cape Town?

MAGPIES
Shooters – Shimona Nelson, Sophie Garbin, Kelly Singleton
Midcourt – Kelsey Browne, Ash Brazill, Maddie Hinchliffe, Montana Holmes
Defence – Jodi-Ann Ward, Geva Mentor, Jacqui Newton

FEVER
Shooters – Jhaniele Fowler, Sasha Glasgow, Emma Cosh
Midcourt – Alice Teague-Neeld, Verity Simmons, Jess Anstiss
Defence – Sunday Aryang, Courtney Bruce, Kim Jenner, Rudi Ellis

 

Ash Brazill to play her final Super Netball game. Image: Aliesha Vicars

 

Friends to Foes - Ash Ervin debuts against her former teammate. Image: Simon Leonard

Friends to Foes – Ash Ervin debuted against her former teammate in round two. Image: Simon Leonard

SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING v QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS

UniSC Arena, Sunday, Jun 18, 2pm AEST
(4pm NZ, 3:30pm SA, 2pm WA, 5am UK)
Umpires: Bronwen Adams and Nathan Begley

This match has no bearing on the playoffs, but don’t let that fool you. Both teams will be desperate to win the Battle of the Bruce. These teams have met 13 times before and Lightning has a comfortable lead in the head-to-head with nine wins to Firebirds’ four. And it was a comfortable win when they last met too. In round two, Lightning won by 10 goals (65-55) after leading by as much as 18 goals at halftime.

Quite a bit has changed since that time. After starting the season with two straight wins and being on top of the ladder, Lightning has only managed to win three of their next 11 matches. Meanwhile, Firebirds have won four games in the same period. Although neither team will play finals, there are some promising signs for the future for both, with some young players making their mark.

In that round two match, former Firebirds training partner Ash Ervin made her super Netball debut. In recent times, she’s been joined in the Lightning team by Ava Black, while Firebirds have introduced Leesa Mi Mi, younger sister of former Firebird Jemma. All three have shown themselves to be players of the future. Goal keeper Ervin in particular looks to have a big career ahead of her.

Ervin and Karla Pretorius will be up against Firebirds’ shooters Donnell Wallam and Emily Moore. Wallam has had a big season and is comfortably sitting in second place on the goal scorers ladder behind only perennial winner Jhaniele Fowler. Meanwhile, at the other end, it will be a great battle between the Diamonds’ duo of Cara Koenen and Steph Wood, and the Firebirds’ defensive combination of Remi Kamo and Ruby Bakewell-Doran. This should be an exciting game, with Lightning just favoured to take the points on their home court.

LIGHTNING
Shooters – Cara Koenen, Steph Wood, Charlie Bell
Midcourt – Laura Scherian, Mahalia Cassidy, Annie Miller, Ava Black
Defence – Karla Pretorius, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Ash Ervin

FIREBIRDS
Shooters – Donnell Wallam, Mia Stower, Emily Moore
Midcourt – Lara Dunkley, Kim Ravaillion, Gabi Simpson, Leesa Mi Mi
Defence – Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Remi Kamo, Ash Unie

 

April Brandley will play her final match. Image: Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Images

GIANTS NETBALL v MELBOURNE VIXENS

Ken Rosewall Arena, Sunday, Jun 18, 4pm AEST
(6pm NZ, 3:30pm SA, 2pm WA, 7am UK)
Umpires: Tara Warner and Kate Wright

By Saturday night, we will know just how crucial this game is going to be. If Swifts happen to win the opening game of the round, Melbourne Vixens can win here and take third place on the ladder and a home final, dropping Thunderbirds down to fourth. If Thunderbirds win on Saturday, this game won’t have nearly the same importance for the visitors. But GIANTS will want to win their last match of the season at home, no matter what.

GIANTS wouldn’t be happy with how their season has turned out, especially considering they’ve finished second and third in the past two seasons. They were on the wrong end of a string of close games early on and quickly found themselves in a ladder position that didn’t really match their talent. It’s been a real struggle from then on. They’ve also been hampered by the recurring knee problems of captain Jo Harten.

In all, these two teams have played each other on 15 previous occasions and the head-to-head record is 9-6 in favour of Vixens. When they met in round three, Vixens had a five goal win after scores were level at three-quarter time. It’s always a big battle in the midcourt between these teams and it was in that match. For GIANTS, it was the regular combination of Maddie Hay at wing attack, Jamie-Lee Price at centre, and Amy Parmenter at wing defence. For Vixens, they had Liz Watson, Kate Moloney, and Kate Eddy.

Since that time, the exciting Hannah Mundy has been given regular court time at wing attack for Vixens, so it will be interesting to see if that’s the case again here. If so, that will mean a battle between Watson and Price at centre which will be a real highlight. For GIANTS, April Brandley will play her final match after a terrific 13 year career representing five different clubs.

GIANTS
Shooters – Sophie Dwyer, Matisse Letherbarrow, Jo Harten
Midcourt – Maddie Hay, Jamie-Lee Price, Amy Parmenter, Amy Sligar
Defence – April Brandley, Matilda McDonell, Lauren Moore

VIXENS
Shooters – Mwai Kumwenda, Kiera Austin, Kim Borger
Midcourt – Liz Watson, Kate Moloney, Kate Eddy, Hannah Mundy
Defence – Jo Weston, Emily Mannix, Olivia Lewis

Jamie-Lee Price duelled with Kate Moloney in round three. Image: Aliesha Vicars.

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