By Paddy Regester
Three games to go, seven teams still mathematically in the hunt for a place in the finals and everything to play for.
It’s must-win time!
Saturday September 12 – West Coast Fever vs NSW Swifts, Nissan Arena, 1pm AEST
Round 12 kicks off with what must be considered the game of the weekend.
Not only are the Fever and Swifts both very good, there’s also a lot at stake here.
For the fourth placed Fever, a win would see them leapfrog both the Swifts and Lightning to move into second place on the ladder, at least until the Lightning play on Sunday. A loss would mean the GIANTS and Firebirds could be just one win behind them at the end of the weekend.
A win for the Swifts locks them into the finals for the second straight year.
When these two met in round two it was a 73 to 72 shootout thriller, decided by a Helen Housby goal on the siren after the Swifts erased a 12 point deficit.
Unfortunately, after suffering a concussion in Round 11, the Swifts announced they will be without their star shooter for this big clash with the league’s hottest team.
Since their Round 6 loss to the Firebirds, the Fever have racked up five wins and one draw in their last six matches.
Saturday September 12 – Collingwood Magpies vs Melbourne Vixens, Nissan Arena, 3pm AEST
The ladder leading Melbourne Vixens are looking every bit the premiership favourites and can lock-up the minor premiership with a win over the eighth placed Magpies.
They haven’t lost a game since Round 4, they have the best defence in the league, have scored the equal second most goals so far this season and welcome back their star Goal Keeper Emily Mannix.
The only concern coming into this game is that vice-captain and goal assists league leader Liz Watson will be rested for the weekend.
For the Magpies, this one is for nothing but pride. I’m sure they’d like nothing better than to play the role of party poopers for their cross-town rivals and delay them securing top spot for at least one more week.
Despite only winning one game so far and losing two of their best players in Madi and Kelsey Browne for the season due to retirement and injury, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for the Magpies.
Fans will be loving what they are seeing from new recruit Jodi-Ann Ward in defence and Molly Jovic’s play at Centre shows that the future is bright for the Magpies once they can shake the injury bug.
Sunday September 13 – Sunshine Coast Lightning vs Queensland Firebirds, USC Stadium, 1pm AEST
It wasn’t too long ago that the Firebirds were celebrating their first win in well over a year and just their second in 24 months.
Five rounds later and they are right in the thick of the battle for a spot in the top four and riding high after back-to-back wins.
But it’s going to take a massive effort to pull it off.
Essentially, if they drop one of the final three matches AND the West Coast Fever manage just one win or draw, it’s all over. It’s a big ask, especially considering they play the Vixens in Round 13 and Lightning on Sunday.
Not that it’s been all smooth sailing for the Lightning in the last couple of weeks.
The Lightning have looked shaky since their Round 7 loss to the Swifts, losing twice to the Fever by 20 and 24 points and surviving a thriller against the GIANTS in Round 10.
A win here against their state rivals would help steady the ship and set them up nicely for a fourth straight post-season run.
Sunday September 13 – Adelaide Thunderbirds vs GIANTS Netball, Priceline Stadium, 3pm ACST
No game in Round 12 has as much on the line as this one between the seventh placed Thunderbirds and fifth placed GIANTS.
For the Thunderbirds, who are two and a half games out of the top four, the plan is simple – win the last three games of the season and hope the Fever drop one so you can take their place in the finals.
The GIANTS, who are just two games out of finals contention, can afford just one slip up in the final three rounds, but then their fate may be determined by percentage… and we all know how that went for the GIANTS last year.
Like we said, the stakes are very high right here.
When these two met in round two, the Thunderbirds stunned a wasteful GIANTS team that shot at a putrid 63.2%.
Neither team’s recent run of form would suggest either fan base will be coming into the game full of confidence. But a win here both keeps the season alive and should give the winner plenty of momentum going into the final two rounds of the season.
