By Damien Stannard
It was a round for the defenders to savour as the West Coast Fever, Queensland Firebirds, Giants Netball and Sunshine Coast Lightning notched crucial victories.
Netty in a nutshell
Fever captain Courtney Bruce’s humility after her star performance in the side’s win against the NSW Swifts was admirable.
She tried to deflect the attention onto circle partner Sunday Aryang but no one bought it.
Aryang had a fine game but the sheer intimidation factor of Bruce’s five intercepts, four deflections and six rebounds spoke for itself.
She was one of several defenders who made telling impacts over the Easter weekend.
The Lightning’s Mahalia Cassidy, Firebird Gabi Simpson and Giant Amy Parmenter rolled up their sleeves while Teigan O’Shanassy and Shamera Sterling were beacons in defeated teams.
Statistics often fail to do defenders justice. Intercepts are terrific but there should be a stat for the times a feeder changes her mind when faced with a Bruce or a Sterling.
The Firebirds’ defence shared the load evenly in their success against the Thunderbirds.
Simpson and Ruby Bakewell-Doran have a nice little thing happening. And import Eboni Usoro-Brown has not attracted as much fanfare as others but the way she dug under the skin of Lenize Potgieter was straight from the goal keeper’s manual.
Eyecatcher
The Sunshine Coast Lightning’s sensational defensive performance against the Melbourne Vixens would have warmed the heart of Karla Pretorius who was absent on parental leave.
So persistent – coach Kylee Byrne cracked the whip during the week as she urged a more consistent effort from her players – and committed were they to the shutdown, it was near impossible to single one player out.
Steph Wood cutting hard and often to draw defenders’ attention, regardless of whether she received the ball, was the embodiment of leading by example.
Kate Walsh produced her best game as a Lightning player, and arguably of her 116-game career, with four intercepts.
What really sparkled was the midcourt defence from Maddie Hinchliffe and Mahalia Cassidy.
The pair was officially credited with a combined four gains, but the reality was likely more because the pressure they applied created ball-winning opportunities elsewhere.
That they outplayed two of the best in the business – Liz Watson and Kate Moloney – was a highlight reel game that should immediately be played on a continuous loop at Lightning headquarters.
“It was about building pressure,” Byrne told Fox Netball. “Last couple of matches we’ve released a bit too early and today we had to make sure we sustained that.
“It was the guys out front who did the work – Mahalia Cassidy, Maddie Hinchliffe, Kate Walsh – it meant we had the ability to gain ball.”
Long bomb
Two teams with something to prove face off in Melbourne on Saturday when the Vixens host the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
For the Vixens, it will be a chance to shake off their horror night at the Sunshine Coast and show just how uncharacteristic that performance was.
You’ll face a long wait before you again see Mwai Kumwenda and Kate Eddy on the bench while Liz Watson, Kate Moloney and Jo Weston fight to make impacts away from their pet positions.
One of those outcomes, sure, it happens. But all of them?
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst could do a lot worse than give Shamera Sterling a week off while the rest of the team return to basics.
Sterling leads the competition for intercepts, defensive rebounds and gains but she can not be expected to do it all herself as the side strives to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat.
Every combination must rediscover some form after an error-ridden performance against the Firebirds.
And more will be asked of Lenize Potgieter whose average of less than 28 goals is not the expected output from an import shooter.
Cracking stat – 48
Giants captain Jo Harten reveled in the COVID-19 absence of her England Roses teammate Geva Mentor, firing a perfect 48-from-48 shooting performance against the Magpies.
