By Matt Fotia
The SSN season is a marathon, not a sprint.
And deep down all fans will tell themselves not to overreact to one win, one loss, one quarter or even one moment.
Basically, don’t ride the rollercoaster.
Thursday Takes flies in the face of that logic.
Each week you’ll find our raw, unfiltered views on your club and what the weekend’s performance means for them going forward.
Check it out below.
GIANTS
The wheel is starting to turn.
The week off may have come at the perfect time for the GIANTS, who arrived at Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday ready to play.
Their defensive end clicked, as it has threatened to do all season, with Amy Sligar, Erin O’Brien and Jodi-Ann Ward combining for nine deflections and eight gains in their drought breaking win against the Thunderbirds.
Just as importantly, the GIANTS conceded only 53 penalties against the Thunderbirds, well down on the 70 they gave away against the Mavericks.
They have set the benchmark now, the next step is meeting it week in, week out.
ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS
You are allowed one.
We will mark this loss down as a bump in the road for the Thunderbirds, who finished the game with more gains and a better goal-from-gain rate than their opponents, despite never taking the lead against the GIANTS.
That being said, it is two losses on the trot for the Thunderbirds, who will no doubt take a week or two to adjust to have Sanmarie Visser in goal keeper, so let’s watch this space.
Is this just a bump in the road for the Thunderbirds?WEST COAST FEVER
Is Kadie-Ann Dehaney underrated?
At club level the enigmatic defender is often jostling for headlines with hometown hero Sunday Aryang and England Rose Fran Williams, while on the international stage she understandably takes a seat behind the likes of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latayna Wilson.
But year in, year out Dehaney puts up strong numbers in the world’s best netball league and 2025 is no exception.
This year Dehaney has had 19 deflections (4th most in the SSN), 18 gains (3rd) 10 defensive rebounds (2nd) and is number one in the competition for blocks.
On Saturday she rose to the occasion, claiming six gains and six deflections in a nail-biting clash against her former side the Lightning, and continues to be a key driver behind the Fever’s early season turnaround.
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING
The one that got away.
With 7:20 left on the clock in the last quarter, the Lightning were four goals in front, had just put on a run of five consecutive goals and were staring a statement win in the face.
Alas, the Fever were able to wrestle back the momentum and ride the wave home to win an all-time classic by just two goals.
And while there were plenty of positives for the Lightning to take away from their performance, they are still searching for ‘that big win’, and the fact they let a four-goal advantage slip away would have stung on the long flight home.
The Lightning could be left to rue their late fade out.MELBOURNE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks won a lot of ball on Sunday. Unfortunately, they gave away even more.
Tracey Neville’s side lead the competition for intercepts (28) and are ranked third for deflections (59) and showed why on Sunday, when they collected 12 gains and eight intercepts, significantly more than the Vixens who managed just six gains and two intercepts.
However, the Mavericks had 19 unforced turnovers compared to the Vixens eight.
In all three of their losses this season the Mavericks have been well and truly in the game.
And in all three of their losses the Mavericks have had more turnovers than their opposition.
It’s time to tidy up.
MELBOURNE VIXENS
Some Mundy Magic to get them back on track.
The Vixens came into the third Melbourne Derby needing a win to steady themselves after a shaky start to the 2025 season, and they delivered in spades, thanks to performances from Sophie Garbin, Kate Eddy, Jo Weston, and Hannah Mundy.
Mundy finished the game with a season-high 40 feeds, 26 centre-pass receives, 23 assists, 11 second phase receives and a game-high 93.5 net points, with her movement, pace, and agility too much to handle for the Mavericks midcourt.
Expect her to be the Vixens barometer for weeks to come.
Hannah Mundy was at her brilliant best on Sunday.NSW SWIFTS
15 minutes is all they need.
Blink and you’ll miss it.
It was another masterclass of momentum from the NSW Swifts on Sunday, as they surged away from the Firebirds in a scintillating third quarter on their way to a fourth straight victory.
The sides headed into the half-time break level at 32 apiece and when they came together at three quarter time the Swifts were 10 goals ahead, 55-45.
They had 128 net points in the third quarter, the Firebirds had 33.
Grace Nweke shot 19 goals while Helen Housby chimed in with two supershots to boot.
Allie Smith made the most of her time on court with nine feeds, complemented by Paige Hadley and Housby, who both had eight, while defensively they picked up two intercepts and caused eight turnovers from the Firebirds, who were unable to register one gain for the entire quarter.
Pure dominance.
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS
It’s the little things that count.
The Firebirds have made some major improvements this season, but the closer you get to the top of the table it’s the little things that make the big differences.
Under Kiri Wills the Firebirds have become a more physical side, a fitter side and are much harder to play against than they were last season, but like the Mavericks, they can be sloppy with ball in hand and at times can obsess with long feeds to Mary Cholhok.
Shorter, sharper ball movement will create cleaner opportunities going forward and is just one of the little things that can make a big difference.
