Giants star Jamie-Lee Price has become the first player sent-off under Super Netball’s new no-warning suspension rules in her side’s 76-52 loss to NSW rivals the Swifts on Sunday.
The Giants co-captain lasted just eight minutes before being sent from the court for dangerous play, leaving her team a woman down for two minutes.
The incident in question – a brush with Allie Smith for a 50-50 ball – appeared largely unavoidable, as Price leapt for an intercept then tried to protect herself as Smith came down with the ball on top of her head.
Under new rules introduced this season, there are no warnings for dangerous play before a suspension. Head or neck contact is automatically considered dangerous, yet players and team officials on both sides were left confused.
“I actually didn’t see what happened or hear the umpires say how long the suspension was for. That’s probably a lesson in terms of the communication to both sides. Super Netball is throwing these challenges at us every week that we haven’t had before,” Swifts coach Briony Akle said.
The Giants were left reeling as the Swifts got out to a six-goal lead, stifling momentum and forcing Julie Fitzgerald’s side to play catch up for the rest of the game. Frustration took over and the Giants visibly let the game go in the second half.
“To have a suspension so early in the game, it is tough to get your head around … I do think scenarios like that do take it out of you later on,” Giants’ co-captain Jo Harten said.
The NSW Swifts have claimed the Carole Sykes trophy 11 times in 17 match ups with their cross-town rivals, but rarely with such dominance. Before Sunday’s clash, no win in the past 10 games with the Giants had come with a margin of more than four points.
Tall ask
After a wobbly performance two weeks ago, Swifts shooter and English international Helen Housby was back to her in-form best. She shot 17 from 18 goals, drained 7 Super Shots and added 11 assists.
Giants’ defensive duo Tilly McDonell and Jodi-Ann Ward were working overtime but failed to gain rebounds from much-taller Housby and Sam Wallace-Joseph.
“Those one per centres, those tips and those touches really fell our way today. Housby was back at her best, she was an absolute menace out there,” said Swifts’ captain Paige Hadley.
Chippy contest
Halfway through the third quarter, Maddy Turner crash-tackled Sophie Dwyer with an attempted intercept on the edge of the circle. The contact earned a penalty, but Giants players appeared to be asking for the same suspension Price received.
The umpire reversed her decision when Giants shooter Jo Harten voiced an opinion, instead slapping Harten with a warning.
When the Swifts’ Amy Sligar went flying across court for an intercept moments later, taking bodies in her path in the third quarter, the ball was gifted to the Swifts again.
“It’s always going to be really hotly contested in a derby. There was a lot of 50-50 ball tonight and we wanted to contest early on in the game, then as the game opened up for them, they did run away with it a bit,” Harten said.
MAVS NAB SECOND WIN
Queensland has become the lucky state for the Melbourne Mavericks, as Super Netball’s newest team took its second win of the season in the Sunshine State.
Their seven-point victory sunk the spirits of the Queensland Firebirds, who have now won just one game in the last six rounds.
The 69-62 win was bolstered by the return of shooter Eleanor Cardwell, but the star of the show and match MVP was her partner in the circle, Shimona Jok, who tested every inch of Remi Kamo’s aerial ability.
The experienced Jamaican finished with 52 from 57 and took bragging rights by out-rebounding and outmanoeuvring Kamo at nearly every opportunity. In doing so, Jok became the second-highest goal scorer in Super Netball history.
“Her experience at this level is really important to us. This week she said to the team, ‘I am here and I am available’. I told her to give more presence and she did that and she was exceptional in the way she did it,” Mavericks coach Tracey Neville said.
The Mavericks came out of the blocks firing with superior ball speed and minimal ball handling errors. Despite a series of changes in the second quarter, the Firebirds were unable to stem the flow of goals falling the Mavericks way who pushed out to a 10-goal lead by half time.
“You never get confident in this league, but I’m happy with how we applied ourselves,” Neville said during the contest.
Donnell Wallam was benched in the third quarter as she struggled with shooting volume, but matters went from bad to worse for the Firebirds as their opponents forged further ahead. Emily Moore and Tippah Dwan eventually found their super shot groove, sinking four to keep the score from blowing too far out of reach.
The Firebirds had a mini-surge in the fourth, winning the quarter. But it was too little, too late, as the dejected-looking side now face the prospect of falling to last on the ladder.
Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion started for the first time in 2024 after rehabbing from spinal surgery in the off-season. She was in the thick of the action straight away, getting her hand to a deflection off the first centre pass. In her 42 minutes, across wing defence and centre, she had eight goal assists, one gain and only one turnover.
Coach Compassion
Firebirds head coach Bec Bulley was a late withdrawal from Round 6 due to family bereavement. Assistant coach Lauren Brown stepped up in what was her first appearance as head coach of a national league side. It was a tough day at the office for Brown against the minds on the Mavericks bench, who collectively have over 13 years of national and international coaching experience.
Conversion Conundrum
The Firebirds defenders gave their side almost twice as many gains as the Mavericks had (12-7), but fell behind in most other metrics. Mavericks sat at 79 and 71 per cent for their centre pass and gain conversion rates respectively, with the Firebirds dropping to 68 per cent (centre pass conversion) and 58 per cent (gain conversion). It’s back to the drawing board for the Firebirds, who need to find a way to safely transition their passes to goal.
WATSON RETURNS WITH GREAT SUCCESS
If Liz Watson was nervous about returning to John Cain Arena, it didn’t show as she led her new team, Sunshine Coast Lightning, to a bittersweet 64-57 victory over her former side, the Melbourne Vixens.
It was the first loss of the season for the Vixens, who haven’t shown any chinks in their armour until now, and they could potentially drop to third on the ladder pending results later this round.
Speaking after the match, Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds said the win was a relief after last week’s disastrous extra-time loss.
“It’s a relief. I really wanted the girls to get the win to really put the last week behind us. They had fire in the belly from the get-go,” she said.
The Vixens were without the rangy arms and hard tagging style of Kate Eddy, who was forced out of Round 6 due to a lower leg complaint. Eddy’s absence was immediately felt as the Lightning got out to the best start possible, keeping the Vixens scoreless for over
three minutes, while they piled on five goals.
Despite clawing back the lead in the first quarter, the Vixens then dropped the second to find themselves in unfamiliar chase mode at half time.
Staring down the barrel of their first loss of the season, Vixens called a time out with 10 minutes to go. Captain Kate Moloney was very vocal about her displeasure with their performance, saying, “This is not good enough. We go back to doing what we do best, and
fight to the very end.”
It was an untidy game for the Vixens. The usually clinical side conceded 23 turnovers, despite their season average being just 18. Kiera Austin and Hannah Mundy were two of the chief offenders, combining for 14 between them.
Emily Mannix was the best on the court for the home side, continuing some career-best form and collecting a mammoth 10 gains, including four intercepts and three rebounds.
The normally accurate Cara Koenen had a messy day for the Lightning, missing four early goals, and was given a breather on the bench to recover. While she eventually lifted her stats, she never really looked comfortable with the attention being paid to her by Mannix, and finished with 37 from 46 at 80 per cent, well below her best.
MVP Lessa MiMi had her best performance for the season feeding Lightning’s circle 30 times and contributing two intercepts, while rising star Ash Ervin finished on three each of intercepts, rebounds and pick-ups.
Shooting Surprise
Vixens might be sitting comfortably in the top two, but it’s based on volume rather than accuracy in the circle. The Diamonds shooting end of Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin are scoring just 82.3 per cent for the season – the second worst efficiency of all teams. If they can lift their ability to find the net, they could be close to unstoppable.
Diamond Mannix?
Could this be the season Emily Mannix returns to the Diamonds squad? If the numbers indicate anything, she could. As of Round 5, she is the top-performing Australian goal keeper with 27 gains, including 12 intercepts and has only conceded an impressively tidy four
turnovers. By comparison, the current Diamonds goal keepers Courtney Bruce and Sarah Klau, have 19 and 18 gains, respectively, while also giving up equally tidy turnovers.
FEVER STAY UNBEATEN
In what was a Jamaican showdown, West Coast Fever have finally broken their drought against the Adelaide Thunderbirds in a gritty, come-from-behind one-point victory in Perth.
The hard-fought 57-56 win was Fever’s first against the reigning premiers since 2022, with their six-game winning streak and a massive percentage keeping them comfortably perched on top of the Super Netball ladder.
All eyes were on the Sunshine Girls, with six members of their national team taking to the court in the shooting and defensive circles. The superstars didn’t disappoint, with the matchup between the world’s best shooter and defender, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, particularly spicy. Fowler-Nembhard top scored with 50 from 51, but didn’t have it all her own way with Sterling-Humphrey finishing on two intercepts. The normally composed Fowler-Nembhard looked rattled at times, as she made six uncharacteristic errors, rolled her eyes at a few of the umpire’s calls, and sucked in giant breaths on penalty shots.
In her career-best game, MVP Kadie-Ann Dehaney played a pivotal defensive role against Romelda Aiken-George at the opposite end of the court, finishing with four gains. Speaking post match, Dehaney said, “Jamaicans are very competitive. We didn’t expect to walk away with it, but to come away with a one goal win, we are grateful.”
Aiken-George’s frustration at the close attention ended up showing, as she had a massive penalty advanced against her for retaliating against Dehaney and delaying play.
The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early lead as Fever found it difficult to penetrate their attacking third, with the speed of the still injured Kelsey Browne a particular loss. Showing uncharacteristic hesitancy, Fever’s usually clinically centre pass conversion dropped well below their season average of 87 per cent, to just 72 per cent.
Both coaches were quick to ring the changes to find a winning edge, using the depth of their squads in an attempt to find a tactical edge. A frustrated Dan Ryan told broadcast that his team was well below their best.
“We need to be prepared to grind and chase a deficit because not every game will be a 34 goal win,” Ryan said.
With scores level at the final break, both teams hit the court with ferocious intent, but Fever were able to grind out the game. Thunderbird Georgie Horjus proved an absolute headache for her opponents, with the pocket rocket swinging between wing attack and goal attack as she continues to press her Diamonds’ selection claims.
Soft Tissue Shocker
17 players across seven clubs have so far missed at least one game due to soft tissue injuries in the past five rounds, raising questions about what role the shortened pre-season could have had. Clubs had two to three months less training due to the Collective Player Agreement stand-off, which may have impacted their strength and conditioning phase and led to the unprecedented injury rate.
Jamaican Juggernaut
With a record eight Jamaicans competing in the Super Netball league, it could be just a matter of time before the Sunshine Girls break through for their inaugural title on the world’s stage. They’ve gone agonisingly close, winning silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and bronze at last year’s World Cup, but a lack of funding and resources at home has previously stymied their chances. The six Jamaicans ended up having a post match dance off, to the delight of the huge crowd.
Source Agencies
