The key takeaways from the prelim final

With a coveted spot in the Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final on the line, Saturday night’s preliminary final was a battle for the ages. 

The West Coast Fever and NSW Swifts fought tooth and nail to be the winning team with plenty of fire across the court.  

However, it was the NSW Swifts who rose to the occasion in the dying minutes of the clash to steal victory from the Fever who led throughout most of the match. 

SPECTACULAR FAWNS 

When momentum looked to be in control of the Fever, 19-year-old Sophie Fawns was ready to take on the challenge. 

Fresh off a heartbreaking loss in the major semi final, Fawns was not about to let history repeat itself. 

In the final Power Five of the match Fawns slotted three Suncorp Super Shots to push the Swifts ahead alongside teammate Helen Housby who sunk one.  

Known for her shooting prowess Fawns showed why she’s one of the best young shooters in the league by absorbing the pressure when the heat was on. 

But it was her match-winning deflection that really raised the roof at Quods Bank Arena allowing the Swifts to control possession to win the match.  

The importance of the Super Shot was highlighted throughout the match with Fever only scoring two from five attempts compared to the Swifts 10 from 20 attempts.  
 
Although the accuracy may have only been 50 per cent, those shots that went through proved influential in deciding the match with the Fever failing to put the Swifts away early.  

BRUCE ALMIGHTY  

Asides from the Super Shot, the Fever looked strong on paper throughout the match, leading at each quarter-time break and dominating the Nissan Net Points 469 to 335.  

They were also much cleaner in defence only tallying 50 penalties compared to the Swifts 78 and their gains were high with 17 to the Swifts’ six. 

Fever captain Courtney Bruce was prolific finishing with 12 gains and three intercepts. 

In the final quarter alone she tallied four gains and two intercepts and it looked like she was going to spur the Fever onto victory.  

Though the Fever were unable to capitalise with the defensive pressure from Swifts Sarah Klau and Teigan O’Shannassy preventing long range shots and the Fever comfortable to take the one-goal shots in a tight match. 

BEST IS YET TO COME 

The biggest takeaway from the preliminary final is that the Swifts did not play their best netball on Saturday night. 

There’s room for them to improve before the grand final. Their long-range shooting may have won them the game but they’ll now be confident they’re capable of slotting those shots at a better accuracy. 

Defensively their pressure was strong and their plan to double team the long ranger shooter worked well but they’ll need to remain in play more to go intercept hunting in the grand final up against the Thunderbirds.  

The Swifts won the second and fourth quarters against the Fever but if they’re able to pull together a four-quarter performance against the Thunderbirds in the big dance they may find themselves Suncorp Super Netball Premiers for a third time.  

The grand final will take place at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena on Saturday night. You can watch it free and live on Kayo Freebies.