Crunch time

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 

Round 4 is here and the pressure’s starting to build as the contenders separate themselves from the competition. 

Only one side remains undefeated after the split round. 
 
But there’s still plenty of netball left to play out. 
 
Even the GIANTS who haven’t snagged a win yet are still in with a shot to play finals. 

As are Fever who looked revitalised in Round 3 with the return of superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. 
 
But fail to start building momentum and teams could find themselves too off the pace to catch up. 
 
This week, the green machine return home to take on the Lightning. 

The Sunny Coast outfit will head west with confidence having defeated the Firebirds by 14 goals over the weekend. 

But in recent years it’s been the Fever who have come out on top between the two sides, winning the last eight of their SSN clashes.  

With Fowler-Nembhard back pressure will be on the Lightning defenders to stay off the body and spring into action. 

Ash Ervin is coming off a strong game against the Firebirds, having cleaned up with 11 gains and four intercepts.  
 
While Fever’s defensive unit also kicked into gear in the absence of the Aryang sisters last week with Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney combining for 14 gains. 
 
The Lightning midcourters were dominant against the Firebirds and will be hard for Fever to halt this weekend with the experience of Liz Watson leading the charge. 

Watson’s dishing out more goal assists than anyone in the league right now, if Fever want to keep the scoreboard under control, they’ll need to limit her impact. 

Lightning haven’t lost a first quarter this season so expect them to come out firing, while Fever are yet to win one, a trend they’ll look to overturn this weekend.

The winner of this match up will be in good stead heading into Round 5 while the loser will be at risk of falling down the ladder. 

But first on Saturday night the pressure cooker is reaching boiling point for the GIANTS.  
 
Still chasing their first win, the side has shown flashes of solid play and lots of belief, but their game plan hasn’t quite come together on court.  

And this week will be no easy feat against the reigning premiers. 

The Thunderbirds will be ruing their loss to the Swifts a few weeks ago and will charge full throttle.  

Last year’s top and bottom teams going head-to-head on paper sounds like a certain victory for the Thunderbirds, but it would be foolish to underestimate the GIANTS who’s best is bubbling under the surface, due to explode sooner rather than later. 

Then on Sunday, it’s the match Victoria has been waiting for, the Melbourne derby.  
 
The Vixens and Mavericks both sit outside the top four on one win a-piece. The Mavericks got a taste of victory in Round 3 and will be chasing back-to-back victories to build momentum. 

While the Vixens will be looking to bounce back from their 10-goal loss last weekend. 

With a few stars in the mix to return for the Mavericks, Sunday’s game has the potential to be a big occasion if Lauren Parkinson is given the green light to make her return from an ACL injury and Sasha Glasgow comes back into the side after missing Round 3. 

Efficiency will be key in this clash with the Vixens converting just 56 per cent of turnovers into goals last weekend, while the Mavs converted 74 per cent. 
 
Both teams will need to capitalise on every opportunity to get the win.  

Then to close out the round it’s a battle between the Swifts and Firebirds. 

Sitting on top of the ladder, the Swifts have the best attacking record so far this season averaging 67 goals per match. 
 
They’ve kept it simple in the goal circle too with Grace Nweke and Helen Housby playing every minute this season. Making them the only team which hasn’t rotated their goalers. 

Setting the Firebirds defence up with a big task. 

But the Firebirds will go into this match with nothing to lose. 

Eight of the side’s last 16 meetings have been decided by four-goals or less so expect both to not give each other an inch.