Five things we learned: SSN Round 14

By Sophie Taylor

The home and away season is officially done.

We run through the five things we learned during a blockbuster final round of action.

 

IS THIS THE CLOSEST SEASON EVER?

The home and away season came down to the very last game of the round in a remarkable end to a thrilling season.

The battle for the wooden spoon was one for the ages, as the Swifts completed a narrow one-goal victory over the GIANTS to finish the season off with a bang.

The Swifts redeemed themselves after seven straight losses, leaping into sixth in the process, while the GIANTS will be rueing missed opportunities and a season they will hope to shake off quickly.

The Lightning and Mavericks were both in with a finals chance heading into the round before the Mavs’ Saturday loss confirmed Lightning’s chances, while the Firebirds drop to seventh after an improved back-half of the season.

Meanwhile, comprehensive wins to both the Fever and Vixens on Saturday evening made it crucial for the Thunderbirds to get a win over the Lightning on Sunday afternoon.

While they did eventually get that win, the Thunderbirds didn’t have it all their own way as the Lightning made them fight for minor premiership privileges.

The loss of Lauren Frew early disrupted the Thunderbirds’ flow, and while they remained on top of the Lightning through the midcourt, it required a little more intensity and reliance on their defensive transition than they would have liked.

Cleanliness in defence allowed the Thunderbirds to capitalise on some uncharacteristic close misses from the Lightning, but still the away side fought hard to come back within a solitary goal within the final minutes.

While it has come down to the final round in previous seasons, it has never been quite so close at the top with all three top sides on the same number of points.

And despite finishing the season with five fewer victories than the other top four teams, the Lightning could beat all three teams above them on any given day and could be a real challenger during the finals.

Watch this space, because the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball Finals will be huge.

 

REVOLVING GOALERS

The Thunderbirds had an injury scare on the weekend, losing goal attack Lauren Frew early to an ankle concern and forcing the change of Horjus into the goal circle.

Frew looked proppy throughout the match and didn’t return to the court, posing the question of whether she will pass the required fitness tests to play in the Major Semi Final on Saturday.

While Horjus is more than capable of playing a full game out in goal attack, it does prompt some thoughts about how the Thunderbirds could build their midcourt on the weekend.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, the absence of Reilley Batcheldor could well have been the difference between a win and their eventual loss over the weekend, with the side missing their additional long-range option during the Suncorp Super Shot period.

With Cara Koenen off court for a short time with an elbow concern, it came down to young talent Charli Bell up against Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, and the experience defender able to use her commanding presence to the Thunderbirds’ advantage.

The Fever don’t have issues in the traditional sense of the word but are still working out what is their most lethal combination.

Both Shanice Beckford and Olivia Wilkinson have shown some impressive form in goal attack throughout the season but aren’t quite having the intended scoreboard impact with Fowler-Nembhard well and truly under the pump to deliver.  

With Alice Teague-Neeld also putting on the goal attack bib over the weekend, the question remains whether the Fever can step up to the next level with just the one consistent shooting option during finals.

 

WHERE TO NEXT FOR THE BOTTOM FOUR

It has been an impressive and intriguing season, but may be one to forget for a few teams.

From reaching the heights of the grand final last year and Team Girls Cup Champions earlier this year, the Swifts laboured at the bottom of the ladder for much of the season.

With struggles both on and off the court, it has been a challenging season for the side and one they will hope to regroup and recover from quickly to go one better in 2025.

With much of their core group signed on multi-year deals, the off-season will be crucial to the Swifts’ success in the future.

The Firebirds’ woes have been well-documented this year, and are another side that will be hoping to regroup ahead of next year.

While they had a wealth of challenges through the middle stage of the season, the Firebirds began in an impressive manner and the whole competition could have looked very different if they had gotten some close wins early on.

Like the Swifts, the GIANTS signed a number of players to multi-year deals and will be hoping this season was just a blip on the radar with better form to come.

The Mavericks came into the season with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

They did just that, overcoming a challenging start to the season – and year – to only just miss out on finals by percentage in the final round of the season.

That being said, expect the Mavericks come out with something more to prove next year as they build for the future.

 

WHO STARTS FOR LIGHTNING DEFENCE

It is safe to say an ongoing issue for the Lightning this season has been their defensive end – for a great reason.

Young star Ash Ervin stepped up when Courtney Bruce was out with injury and has continued to remain consistent week on week.

She has started the last few matches while Bruce has been on managed minutes, but the question on everyone’s lips this week will almost certainly be: who starts in finals?

Coming up against the Fever on home turf in Perth, the Lightning will be up against it.

The last time these two sides met it was a close battle to the finish making for an intriguing one this time around.

The experience of Bruce – especially against former teammate Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard – could be the obvious choice.

However, with form and a bit of extra height working in her favour, Ervin could be crucial.

Expect Tara Hinchliffe to lock down that starting goal defence role, with her shutdown ability critical early in this match.

Of course, there’s always the potential to see the Bruce-Ervin partnership in action with Bruce out in goal defence and Ervin down back in goal keeper.

It makes for a couple of intriguing moves that Belinda Reynolds has up her sleeve, and it will be up to the coaching nous of Dan Ryan’s nous to stop that in its tracks.

STATS WRAP

Defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey helped earn her side the minor premiership over the weekend, closing out the home and away season with another eight gains to take her season tallies to 96 deflections and 44 intercepts.

She also takes out top spot for the defensive rebounds tally with 36, and teammate Romelda Aiken-George finished with 69 offensive rebounds.

Fellow Jamaican teammate and SSN finalist Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard finished her season as she started it, dominating the goals tally to finish with 813 goals from 846 attempts at an outstanding 96% accuracy.

She also finishes the season atop the Nissan Net Points tally with 1571.5 points to her name, marginally ahead of Sunshine Coast Lightning’s Liz Watson (1350) and Sterling-Humphrey (1292).

Ligthtning’s improved second half of the season kept Watson on top for goal assists (365) and centre pass receives (371), ahead of Fever wing attack Alice Teague-Neeld.

Helen Housby and Sophie Dwyer battled it out for Suncorp Super Shots all season, and Housby takes top spot for attempts and successful shots after the final round with 73 from 114 for the season (64%).