Are Adelaide Facing a Shooting Shortage?

By Paddy Regester - UPDATED

As if goals weren't already hard to come by for the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who scored a league low 708 goals during the 2019 season, the team will enter the 2020 season without their top four scorers from a year ago.  

The club will be reeling following news that shooter Cody Lange will step away from netball in 2020. 

This comes off the back of a rough run for Thunderbirds shooters with Sasha Glasgow's ACL tear in Round 13, Maria Folau announcing her retirement before Christmas and Emma Ryde switching to the Magpies during the trade period. 
 

So, who's going to score enough goals to keep the Thunderbirds in games?

Most focus will be on the team's newest recruit, South African shooter Lenize Potgieter who joins the Thunderbirds after a strong showing in her eight games with the Firebirds as an injury replacement. She's a true centre piece of an attack end and has proven she can shoulder the workload at both the domestic and international levels. 

In her five on court appearances with the Firebirds, Potgieter shot 107 from 120 at an impressive 89% accuracy. That's good for 21.4 goals per game, including a five-minute Round 10 appearance where she managed just four goals, which is precisely what the Thunderbirds need. 

But history shows how difficult it is to win a game with only one true scoring threat (just ask the 2019 West Coast Fever). All signs point towards Glasgow returning sometime in the second half of the season, but who will step up in her absence?

After a strong 2019 season with the Northern Stars in the ANZ Championship, 22-year-old South Australian native Charlee Hodges seems ready to take the next step in her development.

She shot a healthy 120 goals from 161 attempts at 74.5% in her 15 matches for the Stars, but it's her ability to present at the centre pass (131 centre pass receives) and feed her fellow shooters (131 feeds) that should have Adelaide fans excited.    

The team has confirmed that they will be signing a replacement shooter to cover the loss of Lange and whoever it is that joins the Thunderbirds will have a huge role to play.

Will they opt to go for an overseas talent to fill the goal shooting void? Potgieter’s silky skilled Spar Protea teammate Lefebre Rademan was impressive against England in their recent three game series and would be a great fit for the team. 

Or will they keep it local and lock up a young local gun like Asha Thurlow, who lead the Southern Force in scoring last season with 256 goals, or try to lure Canberra GIANTS stud Georgia Marshall who poured in 480 goals in her 16 games? 

There’s plenty to like about this Thunderbirds list, with Shamera Sterling, Kate Shimmin and Layla Guscoth in defence and a midcourt of international stars Chelsea Pitman and Shadine Van Der Merwe as well as Aussie up-and-comers Hannah Petty and Maisie Nankivell.

But if they can’t trouble the scorers, how do they expect to trouble the other seven clubs?