By Stephanie Smarrelli
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Officially in the second half of the season, the clock is ticking for teams outside of the top four.
They’re in a race against time with finals on the horizon and opportunities to stake their claim passing week by week.
Every team is still a chance to play finals, but the odds are getting slimmer each week for teams struggling to find wins as the top four pulls away.
According to Champion Data’s ladder predictor the Vixens in fifth (four points away from the top four) only have a 24 per cent chance of making finals highlighting the challenge ahead for the ladder’s cellar dwellers.
The Firebirds are another team feeling the heat, after back-to-back wins to start the season, they’ve dropped off a cliff.
Their opponents this weekend, Fever have done the opposite, turning around a 0-2 start to sit second on the ladder.
Fever are on a roll having climbed the ladder into second.
The last time the two teams went head-to-head was in Round 2, the Firebirds pulling off a commanding 13-goal win in front of their home crowd.
But they did so against a Fever outfit missing bookend Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard who is back and at her best.
The Firebirds will take confidence into the match knowing even with Fowler-Nembhard they’ve been able to defeat Fever in the past, winning in Round 11 last year by eight goals.
It will take their best this weekend though.
Last week the Firebirds were outclassed by the Vixens who were clinical when it mattered most.
The Firebirds converted 75 per cent of their gains when they last went up against the Fever but since have an average of only 61 per cent.
The Firebirds will need to rely on cross court defence to upset Fever this weekend, and they’ll have a vocal Perth crowd adding to the pressure cooker.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran had a strong outing against the Vixens last week and will be key to the side halting feeds into Fowler-Nembhard.
Down the other end of the arena, the battle between Mary Cholhok and the Fever defenders will be just as significant.
Between them Bakewell-Doran and Cholhok lead the league for offensive and defensive rebounds, a stat Fever will need to nullify this weekend.
Ruth Aryang had a monster quarter against Cholhok last time the teams went head-to-head but with Aryang out for the season the task falls back onto her teammates Sunday Aryang, Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney.
REST OF THE ROUND
The Lightning and Mavericks both slipped down the ladder last weekend.
This week is their chance for redemption, to stay among the top four Lightning will need to notch another win while the Mavericks need a win to stay in touch with the pack.
The Mavericks need a win to keep up with the top teams.The Lightning will have the upper hand at UniSC Arena but the Mavericks will back themselves.
UniSC Arena is where they made history recording their first win in 2024 and they’ll be determined to make it two from two on the Sunny Coast with a win this weekend.
Then the reigning premiers travel to Sydney to take on the Swifts.
Fresh off a win against the Mavericks, the Thunderbirds will be raring to go.
When they last met the Swifts, they lost by eight goals but that won’t phase them this week.
They know their best can defeat any opponent and if they want to claim a threepeat at season’s end they need to make the most of their opportunity against the frontrunners.
The Swifts will be looking to keep their unblemished season intact and what better challenge than the reigning premiers on the hunt?
The Swifts are yet to lose a match this season.Then on Sunday, it really is now or never for the GIANTS.
The Champion Data ladder predictor has them at a less than one per cent chance to play finals but Round 8 could be a fresh start for the team.
It’ll be a challenge against the Vixens who are fighting for a spot among the top teams and the odds are stacked against them with confirmation of an ACL injury to Jodi-Ann Ward, Maddie Hay coming off injured in Round 7 and Tilly McDonell not expected to return for some weeks.
