WEST COAST FEVER
Fever roared into uncharted waters in 2018 and have undoubtedly been the story of the season. Having made the finals just once since 1997 – dating back to the team’s national league origins as the Perth Orioles, the West Australian team announced itself as a title contender in Round 1 and never looked back. They snared the recruit of the year in Jhaniele Fowler, but the development of players such as Courtney Bruce, Jess Anstiss and Ingrid Colyer over the past two seasons has also underpinned the team’s rise. A loss to the Giants in the final round robbed them of the minor premiership, but they remain an excellent chance of hoisting their first premiership trophy.
GIANTS NETBALL
A team with unfinished business after a disappointing Suncorp Super Netball grand final in 2017, at their best the Giants have been scintillating this season. A stable line-up from last year was bolstered by the return of Kim Green, who’s been nothing short of sensational, and coach Julie Fitzgerald continues to demonstrate her ability to get the absolute most out of each of her players. Their performances have been all the more impressive considering they’re the only team without a holding goal shooter in their starting seven.
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS
After missing finals for the first time in five years in 2017, there was little doubt the Firebirds would bounce back in a big way in 2017. And bounce back they did, with the return of defender and club legend Laura Geitz helping to steer the Queensland side back into the finals series. Goal attack Gretel Tippett returned to career-best form, dominating in tandem with Romelda Aiken, with the team’s campaign gathering momentum as the season went on, winning the last four matches of the regular season.
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING
If the loss of 2017 premiership lynchpin Laura Langman was supposed to kill off the Lightning’s chances this season, someone forgot to tell the Lightning. A season that started slowly with a self-confessed Commonwealth Games “hangover” – and three losses in the first three rounds – quickly gathered steam as the Sunshine Coast outfit found their groove. With Karla Pretorius taking her game to a new level and defensive partner Geva Mentor continuing to set the competition standard, the team also weathered the absence of coach Noeline Taurau for multiple games after the death of her father, proving that adversity is no impediment to their success.
MELBOURNE VIXENS
A season that promised so much ended in disappointment for 2017 minor premiers the Vixens, who missed the finals for just the fourth time in 11 years. A 14-goal win at home against the West Coast Fever in Round 7 gave a glimpse at what the team might be capable of, but they were also stung hardest by the new bonus point system. Despite winning eight out of 14 games, the team won less than half of its quarters – limiting its bonus points – and when star goal shooter Mwai Kumwenda went down with a season-ending knee injury in Round 13, after already losing a pregnant Chloe Watson earlier in the season, their luck had run out.
NSW SWIFTS
If any team’s supporters have cause for the most optimism heading into 2019, it could be the NSW Swifts. The Swifts ran out of gas in the back half of the season as the experience of other franchises began to tell, but the young NSW outfit surprised many with its performances early in the year, knocking off the Firebirds in Round 1, the Giants in Round 3 and the Lightning in Round 7. Having already locked in young stars Maddy Proud, Paige Hadley and Maddy Turner for next season, the Swifts look to be building towards something big.
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES
It was a season that promised so much and yet never quite delivered for the Magpie army. After falling in the semi-finals last season many expected Collingwood, who recruited former Diamonds goal attack Erin Bell in the off-season, to be a major contender in 2018, but after winning just one of their first five games it was clear that this would not be their year. The constant pressure eventually told, with coach Kristy Keppich-Birrell announcing before the end of the season that she would not be returning, while the retirements of Bell and Sharni Layton leave gaping holes that will need to be filled.
ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS
The Thunderbirds entered the 2018 as something of a mystery. With an almost entirely new team assembled from across the globe, it was a boom or bust scenario for a team that won only one game last season. An ACL injury to Cat Tuivaiti shortly after she inked her contract rocked the inexperienced team, which struggled to gel consistently and endured a winless season that saw coach Dan Ryan told his contract would not be renewed, with Giants coach Tania Obst to take over in 2019. Among the positives were the emergence of young goal attack Charlee Hodges, who grabbed her opportunity with both hands, while the team got the jump in recruiting for next season, with young Jamaican defender Shamera Sterling already putting pen to paper for next year.
