By Paddy Regester
The new year means a fresh start with new goals, ambitions and obstacles to overcome.
And the same is true for the eight Suncorp Super Netball teams, who all enter the new decade with vastly different circumstances surrounding their playing and coaching groups.
Let’s kick off 2020 with a look at all eight teams’ New Year’s Resolutions for 2020.
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Collingwood Magpies – “...have more fun.”
Geva Mentor. Kelsey Browne. Madi Browne. Nat Medhurst. Shimona Nelson. Ash Brazill. Sounds like a pretty great party, right?
So why did 2019 seem like such a slog for the team in black and white?
Injuries played a big part in the Magpies early and mid-season struggles, but they must put all that behind them and focus on living up to the team’s potential.
When healthy, this is the most talented roster in the league, they just all need to get on the court at the same time.
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GIANTS Netball - “...learn to move on.”
Since the inception of GIANTS Netball three years ago, three things have remained constant; GIANTS is always in uppercase, Julie Fitzgerald is the coach and Kim Green is the captain.
Even in her injury shortened 2018 season, Kim Green played a massive role, supporting her teammates from the sidelines and helping develop the team’s young stars.
But now that Green has called an end to her incredible career, who will pull on the wing attack bib in 2020?
Jamie-Lee Price and Rebel Rising Star winner Amy Parmenter have the starting centre and wing defence jobs locked up which leaves Kiera Austin and Maddie Hay as the two most likely to fill the role, something neither player would call a natural fit.
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West Coast Fever – “...ask for more help.”
2019 MVP Jhaniele Fowler shot a league-high 709 goals last season. Her fellow shooters managed just 112.
While it’s spectacular that Fowler averaged 50 goals per game and led the league in scoring for a second straight season, it meant the Fever had one of the most one dimensional and easy to defend attack ends in the competition.
The Fever desperately need a consistent second avenue to goal to take some of the pressure off Fowler and help them get closer to the 60+ goals per game average (they averaged 59 in 2019) that the top teams have.
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Melbourne Vixens – “...see things through.”
If you count last year’s loss in the Grand Final of the Suncorp #TeamGirls Cup, the Vixens have made five finals appearances since 2017 and managed just one win.
It’s an alarming stat, particularly when you consider that the Vixens have won a third-best 28 games over the past three seasons.
This incredibly talented group needs to recapture some of that killer instinct that Melbourne teams of the past had in spades if they want to bring a title back to the Garden State.
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Queensland Firebirds – “...clean up our act.”
Save for Gretel Tippett’s remarkable Liz Ellis Diamond winning season, 2019 was not a year to remember for the Firebirds.
They managed just one win, their worst win/loss record since 2005. Lost six games by ten or more goals. Had two heartbreaking draws. And were plagued by injuries to key players all year.
Maybe the most alarming stat for the Firebirds is the jaw-dropping 1,012 penalties they committed last season, 161 more than the next most penalised team.
Score as many goals and rip down as many interceptions as you want, if you’re committing an average of 72 penalties a game, you’re going to struggle to win games.
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Adelaide Thunderbirds – “...achieve our (score more) goals.”
There’s a lot to like about the Thunderbirds coming into the 2020 season.
Shamera Sterling, Kate Shimmin and Layla Guscoth represent one of the most exciting defensive trios in the sport. And the midcourt combination of Chelsea Pitman, Shadine Van Der Merwe and Hannah Petty should be able to mix it with the best.
The one question mark is their attack end, which enters the 2020 season looking vastly different following the departures of Maria Folau, Emma Ryde and Cody Lange and the injury to Sasha Glasgow.
Which might not be a bad thing, considering they scored a league-low 708 goals through 14 games.
Whoever is wearing the GA and GS bibs in 2020 need to do a better job of keeping the scoreboard ticking over, and the addition of Lenize Potgieter is certainly a step in the right direction.
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Sunshine Coast Lightning – “...learn new things.”
For the first time in club history, the Lightning enter the 2020 season without one of the best coaches in the world at the helm, after Noeline Taurua stepped away from the club after their Grand Final loss.
While much of the player group remains the same and Taurua’s replacement, Kylee Byrne, has served as the Lightning assistant coach since the club’s inaugural season, replacing Taurua is going to be impossible.
There’s going to be a lot to learn for the Sunshine Coast Lightning players this off season and it’s going to be exciting to see how they respond to their new coach’s style and game plan. |
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NSW Swifts – “...keep the pedal to the metal.”
Who would have thought the NSW Swifts, after losing Maddy Proud and Kate Eddy before the World Cup break and being without Helen Housby for much of the second half of the season, would win the 2019 Grand Final?
It was an incredible accomplishment by the Swifts and a credit to the depth, resiliency and talent of the playing group and all the staff supporting it.
And, with a squad with an average age of 25, all the Swifts should be focussing on is establishing themselves as the powerhouse of the Suncorp Super Netball league for the next decade.
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