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.
FIREBIRDS
Isabelle Shearer is making a sneaky play for Diamonds selection.
The 22-year-old defender has been one of the Firebirds better players this season and was by far their best on the weekend, wearing Romelda Aiken-George like a glove in the Firebirds 53-62 loss on Saturday.
Shearer nabbed six gains, four deflections, three intercepts and two rebounds in yet another exciting performance for Queensland and Australian netball fans alike. Even more impressively was her tidiness with ball in hand, one of just two Firebirds to not record a general play turnover against the Thunderbirds.
The rangy goal keeper has shown maturity beyond her years in just her second season, sitting in the top ten league wide for gains, intercepts, and deflections, and will be a key figure in the Firebirds battle with the Mavericks this weekend.
Could Isabelle Shearer be an unlikely Diamonds squad member?THUNDERBIRDS
Latanya Wilson is ready to be leader of the pack.
The fact Wilson is one of the best players in the world is old news of course. For years she has been terrorising attackers across the netballing world, with her ability to explode in any direction, at any moment, making her one of the biggest weapons in the Thunderbirds arsenal.
Wilson has never been the big dog at the Thunderbirds.
That honour has rightfully been bestowed on Shamera Sterling-Humphrey. But with Sterling-Humphrey sitting out the rest of the 2025 season, the time has come for Wilson to take ownership of the Thunderbirds defensive end.
In the two games since Sterling-Humphrey's last game, Wilson has gathered 14 gains, 13 deflections and nine intercepts and has spent more time back in goal defence, creating havoc for shooters league wide.
FEVER
Olivia Wilkinson could be the key to the Fever’s premiership push.
The return of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard may have single handedly turned the Fever from a middling side in transition into a genuine premiership contender, but it is her young shooting partner, Olivia Wilkinson, that could take them a couple of steps further in 2025.
The knock on the Fever across the last two seasons has been their reliance on Fowler-Nembhard to shoot a winning score, particularly in the finals. The better sides, with better systems and better talent can double team Fowler-Nembhard and quell her influence enough to influence the result.
But with the emergence of Wilkinson as a genuine scoring threat and as Fever’s best exponent of the super shot, there could be a solution to that problem in 2025.
Shanice Beckford will continue to get the nod as the Fever’s starting goal attack. Her speed and ability to play as an extra feeder is crucial in setting the tone early for Dan Ryan’s side but expect Wilkinson to play a bigger role coming off the bench as the season unfolds and the Fever look to push passed the preliminary final hurdle again.
MAVERICKS
The Mavericks do not know their best seven.
Having depth and versatility amongst your squad is undoubtedly a good thing in any sport, but it’s still important for a coach, and their side, to know who their go-to players are for the big moments, and currently the Mavericks couldn't tell you.
The Mavericks have just two players in the top 25 for minutes played in 2025. Kim Brown and Shimona Jok, both ranked 25th with 266 minutes.
Four other Mavericks, Maisie Nankivell (242), Amy Parmenter (240), Tayla Fraser (231) and Olivia Lewis (227) have played more than 200 minutes, while Sasha Glasgow, Molly Jovic, Uneeq Palavi, Jessie Grenvold and Zoe Davies have all played less than 200.
Albeit the Mavericks have been riddled with injuries this season, but still, it remains clear the competition’s newest side is still searching for the right combination on court.
Constant change makes it hard for players to create connections, and if connections aren’t strong, players are less predictable to each other and in turn make more mistakes.
All of this makes it hard to win.
The Mavericks need to settle on their best seven.LIGHTNING
Can win it all.
At their best, Belinda Reynolds’ side are scintillating.
They shot out of the blocks against the GIANTS on Sunday, scoring the first five goals of the game, before putting the foot down before half time with another eight-goal run.
Diamonds shooter Cara Koenen is back, knocking down 56 goals, while Courtney Bruce is edging ever closer to her brilliant best with five gains, four rebounds and two deflections in just 39 minutes of netball.
Ash Ervin is a handy player to have as a point of difference off the bench, while Tara Hinchliffe is having an underrated season and Liz Watson of all people is flying under the radar.
The sky is the limit.
GIANTS
Simply must stick with Matisse.
Starting to sound like a bit of a broken record about this, but the GIANTS just have to lock Matisse Letherbarrow in as their starting goal shooter for the rest of the season.
Yes, Jo Harten was massive in their win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds, but for the sake of continuity, on court connections and the future of the GIANTS, Letherbarrow must start every game from now on.
Letherbarrow is the number one rated player in the competition for super shots and the club will reap the benefits of getting crucial minutes into her and her connection with Sophie Dwyer, Hope White and others on court now, when in two or three years they are ready to challenge for the title again.
The GIANTS must look to the future.SWIFTS
Sarah Klau just dropped the performance of the season.
The Diamonds defender was at the peak of powers on Sunday afternoon, making the most of a scrappy affair against the Vixens.
Klau finished the game with 13 deflections, nine gains, five intercepts, three pick-ups, two rebounds and 148.5 net points in the highest rated individual game of the season so far.
Four of Klau’s five intercepts came in the second quarter where she helped swing the game back in the Swifts favour and made sure they remained two games clear on top of the SSN ladder.
VIXENS
Will be rueing a missed opportunity.
The Vixens came to Ken Rosewall Arena ready to play on Sunday and were on top of the ladder leading Swifts in the opening stages but failed to press home their advantage.
Simone McKinnis’ crew held multiple three-goal leads in the first quarter and enjoyed the same buffer late in the second quarter before the Swifts swung the momentum back in their favour during the Power Five.
Despite leading for majority of the first quarter, the Vixens were running a woeful centre pass-to-goal rate, scoring from just 43 percent of their centre passes. They improved in this area as the game wore on, but finished with just 32 goals from centre pass, eight less than the Swifts.
The overall margin?
Eight goals.
