2024 season review: Firebirds

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 

There’s no denying it has been a turbulent season for the Queensland Firebirds. 

Off court, the club has dealt with several disruptions which no doubt contributed to below par on-court performances.  

While they did strengthen some connections on court, with wins against the Adelaide Thunderbirds and West Coast Fever, the lack of continuity was a real problem.  

It was a revolving door at the club with two coaches departing  the Firebirds’ midway through the season including head coach Rebecca Bulley. 

The coaching baton eventually passed to Katie Walker, who supported by former Firebirds head coach Roselee Jencke, led the side to their first consecutive wins for the year. 

Despite the players doing their best to focus on the task at hand they were unable to find form during the season. 

As a result, the Firebirds finished seventh on the ladder with four wins and 10 losses, a position they found themselves in a year earlier. 

But with new coach Kiri Wills at the helm for 2025, the only way can be up for the Firebirds as they aim to cement themselves as a dominate team once more. 
 

Best Win 

Undoubtedly the side’s best performance during 2024 was Round 8 against the Adelaide Thunderbirds. 

The Firebirds became one of only three sides to successfully register a win against the reigning premiers. 

But most impressively they defeated the Thunderbirds by the largest margin of any side in 2024, with 10 goals separating the two at the final whistle. 

In front of their home crowd the Firebirds stepped up to the challenge converting 64 per cent of their gains compared to 31 per cent the Thunderbirds scored from. 

Donnell Wallam and Emily Moore dominated the goal circle despite immense pressure from the Thunderbirds premiership-winning defensive unit. 

Down the other end of the court, Remi Kamo and Ruby Bakewell-Doran combined for 12 gains to keep the Thunderbirds at bay while Hulita Veve shut down the premiers’ midcourt. 

It was a four-quarter effort from the Firebirds who won the first three quarters of the match and drew the last to send a shocked Thunderbirds outfit on a flight home. 

MVP 

Having ended 2023 with a broken wrist and unable to capitalise on the momentum she was building in the midcourt Macy Gardner returned to SSN in 2024 stronger than ever. 

The 24-year-old held her own stepping out from the shadows of Firebirds legend and good friend Kim Ravaillion to put her hand up to lead the midcourt.  

Gardner finished the season with 976 Nissan Net Points, 364 feeds and 211 goal assists.   

Her consistent efforts to drive to the circle edge enabled her to feed the ball into the goalers with ease. 

Gardner was a key player in the side’s one-goal win over the Swifts in Round 12 with 40 feeds and 22 goal assists.  
 

Focus Area 

The Firebirds will need to focus on two c’s ahead of 2025, connection and consistency. 

Off the back of the 2024 season the club made some tough decisions to part ways with Remi Kamo, Donnell Wallam and Ali Miller. And the retirement of Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion leaves the club with quite a few gaps to fill. 

The Firebirds have turned their heads internationally for at least two recruits with Mary Cholhok and Imogen Allison but the number of changes on the roster means connections will need to be rebuilt across the court. 

The addition of Cholhok is likely to solve one issue for the Firebirds though, their consistency in the goal circle. 

In 2024, the Firebirds recorded the lowest shooting percentage of any SSN team while Cholhok dominated the UK SuperLeague scoring the most goals for the season at an accuracy of 87 per cent. 

Another consistency concern for the Firebirds, backing up one good quarter with the next. 

Only across four matches were the Firebirds able to win consecutive quarters. 

This will be an area incoming coach Wills will need to address if the Firebirds hope to climb the ladder in 2025.