But Round 4 showed that defence could be what wins this year’s championship, with the physicality of the league’s best defenders and countless aerial highlights a feature throughout the four games.
Here’s your quick wrap of a huge weekend of action.
Fever Juggernaut Rolls On
It was more of the same from the West Coast Fever in Round 4, as they returned home to notch up more than 60 goals for the third time in four games.
Jhaniele Fowler was dominant again with 53/59 from the field against the NSW Swifts, while Nat Medhurst was named Nissan MVP for her work in getting the ball to the Jamaican superstar. In the backcourt Australian Diamond Courtney Bruce shone with six intercepts and three rebounds.
Top Four Fight Heats Up
The Fever’s win puts them seven competition points clear at the top of the table, but there is plenty of competition for spots in the Rebel Sport top four.
Adelaide remains the only side yet to win a game in 2018, but there are just three competition points separating fourth spot from seventh, meaning one good game could see a team jump into finals contention.
Vixens Clinical In Dispatching Thunderbirds
The Melbourne Vixens got the job done against Adelaide, 72-50, but while the scoreline suggests it was a hammering, Adelaide had plenty of possession and opportunities – the Vixens’ defence was just too strong.
The Vixens now have a tough two-game road trip, with games against the Giants and Sunshine Coast Lightning, which will give a true indication of where last year’s minor premiers are at.
Lightning Finally Strikes
Defending champions the Lightning had yet to notch a win in 2018, and travelled to Melbourne to take on an equally desperate Collingwood Magpies outfit that tasted victory just once this year.
It was another low-scoring, defence-orientated thriller won by the Lightning, but not before they had to withstand a furious Magpies comeback. Collingwood held the Sunshine Coast to just nine goals in the final term, cutting the lead from eight goals to two, but couldn’t quite nail back those last couple of goals.
Giants Deliver The Goods At The Death
The round opened with GIANTS Netball hosting an in-form Queensland Firebirds at Quaycentre in western Sydney, with both sides fighting tooth and nail each other in a battle between two of the competition’s form sides.
In the end it was Giants goal keeper Sam Poolman who secured the critical intercept inside the last 90 seconds and won her team the game.
