By Paddy Regester
The Super Shot is here and some players out there are custom built to take advantage of it, and we don’t mean just those who can swish a shot from circle edge nine times out of ten.
We’re talking defenders who do their best work on the perimeter of the shooting circle, towering goal shooters that eat one-on-one defence for breakfast and those crafty shooters who use the whole circle to their advantage.
Here’s the one player from each club we believe will be loving the Super Shot.
Adelaide Thunderbirds – Shamera Sterling
With so many question marks in attack, it’s hard to say which of these Thunderbird shooters will really flourish in those final five minutes of each quarter.
But Shamera Sterling could go off in defence when the two-goal shot comes into effect.
Sterling is an outrageous athlete and reads the ball unlike any defender in the league right now. She’ll be able to respect the perimeter while holding the deep shooter and her length and speed could make for some game changing intercepts and deflections.
Last year was big for the talented Jamaican. This year she could redefine what it means to be a Goal Keeper.
Collingwood Magpies – Gabrielle Sinclair
The Magpies, like the Thunderbirds, have some big questions up forward without Nat Medhurst.
Shimona Nelson is one of the most exciting young shooters in the world and will certainly enjoy the option to shoot for two.
But the person who may play the most critical role for the Magpies shooting circle could be Gabrielle Sinclair, who should be the starting Goal Attack in Medhurst’s absence.
Sinclair was super dangerous from deep when playing for the Tasmanian Magpies and her ability to work with a premier scorer like Nelson in what could be a frenetic final five minutes of every quarter, could make or break the Magpies.
GIANTS Netball – Caitlin Bassett
Caitlin Bassett is the perfect example of how a holding shooter can take advantage of the new rule without even attempting a Super Shot.
Jo Harten proved in the Bushfire Relief match that she is dangerous from anywhere in the circle. And every defender is going to come rushing when she receives a feed in Super Shot territory.
This should leave plenty of space for Bassett to operate one-on-one and rack up the goals in the late stages of the quarter.
Julie Fitzgerald may be tempted to sub on Kiera Austin and go with an all-out two-goal barrage, but don’t be surprised to see CBass fill up the score sheet with singles.
Melbourne Vixens – Caitlin Thwaites
Caitlin Thwaites, one of the most well-rounded scorers the country has ever produced, could have her most prolific season yet with this new rule.
Thwaites has that uncanny ability to make big shots, from anywhere, whenever her team needs it and we can picture her drilling some clutch Super Shots.
She’s also surrounded by some of the most creative attacking players in the league in Tegan Philip, Liz Watson, Mwai Kumwenda and Kate Moloney. Defences aren’t going to make it easy to score two, so it’s going to take some crafty spacing, slick passing and steady shooting to catch them out.
Look for Thwaites’ name at the top of the Super Shots made list come the end of the season.
NSW Swifts – Helen Housby
We really didn’t want to take the easy route in this one, but sometimes you just have to.
Helen Housby is arguably the best pure shooter in the league, if not the world, and should be at the top of every teams must stop list when the super shot comes into effect.
It also helps that her partners in crime, Sam Wallace and Sophie Garbin, can hit them from deep as well. Teams are going to be tearing their hair out trying to slow this already high-octane shooting circle down.
Queensland Firebirds – Gretel Bueta
Gretel Bueta already signifies a shift in what the future of shooters looks like: fast, athletic, mobile, creative and confident.
She’s already stretching defences with her ability to lay the ball in from the circle edge and her ability to take a high pass and come down in almost the splits. Bueta can turn almost anything into a shot from right underneath the rim.
But one thing that has also really developed over the last couple of years, and was evident during the Bushfire Relief match, is her incredibly accurate shooting from all points of the circle.
Gretel shot 100-straight goals last year, many from what is now Super Shot territory. Imagine if some of those shots were worth double?
Sunshine Coast Lightning – Steph Wood
Tempted to go with Karla Pretorius here, who thrives on the chaos of the final minutes of each quarter, but I had to go with the cool, calm and collected Steph Wood.
Not only is Wood deadly from range with her difficult to defend step-back style shot, she also uses the attacking third better than almost any other shooter in the league. She just always seems to find herself wide open in the shooting circle when the Lightning need her most.
It’s this ability that should see Wood shine in the final five minutes of each quarter, draining Super Shots and finding un-defended teammates with her sharp passing.
West Coast Fever – Courtney Bruce
Tough one here as we know Jhaniele Fowler can score with ease, no matter how many defenders she has draped over her, and that the Fever have some consistency issues at Goal Attack.
So we’ve gone with one of the best ball-hawks in the business in Courtney Bruce, who’s natural aggressive style of defence should suit this more open style of attack.
Bruce is a freakish athlete, with enough strength and height to hold her own against the taller shooters and the speed and reactions to cut off those more ambitious feeds and cross-circle passes that we are sure to see once the Super Shot is live.
