By Paddy Regester
It’s hard to believe that when the final siren sounds at John Cain Arena on Sunday, the first four weeks of the 2021 Super Netball season will be behind us.
And what a strange three, soon to be four, weeks it has been.
Maybe it’s the fact that the 2020 Champion Melbourne Vixens are still winless after three rounds? Or maybe it’s that we have an undefeated team sitting at sixth? Or maybe it’s the GIANTS and Firebirds, two teams that haven’t played finals since 2018, sitting in the top four right now that has me scratching my head?
Let’s try and get to the bottom of what’s going on in the SSN right now in the Round 4 preview.
Collingwood Magpies vs Queensland Firebirds – Saturday, 3pm AEST, Silverdome, Launceston – Tickets
The last time the Magpies played at Launceston’s mighty Silverdome was in Round 13 of 2019. On that day, they came away with a massive win over the eventual champion Swifts, their second of a late season three-win run that would inevitably secure them a spot in the top four.
644 days later, while where we are in the season might be different, the importance of a three-game winning streak for the Magpies may be more important than ever.
Fresh off breaking a 13-game losing streak, a win against the Queensland Firebirds in Tasmania might be just the thing to spark this Collingwood outfit into a season defining winning streak.
But that’s easier said than done, I’m afraid. These are not the same Firebirds they knocked off in Round 3 a season ago.
Head Coach Megan Anderson has this team playing some of the most exciting netball in the competition since taking over. Fast, free-flowing and high-scoring, there has been a lot to like about the Firebirds, despite the 1-2 record to start the season.
They were right in last week’s big clash against the GIANTS at the midway point of the second quarter, when Jo Harten stepped up and ripped the game away from them. And, despite a strong finish, they could never dig their way out of the seven point hole they found themselves in at halftime.
And they will be disappointed with that. They would have come into that game looking to prove themselves as a real contender in 2021, instead coming away looking like a working in progress.
It will be interesting to see if Collingwood shooter Shimona Nelson can back-up her strong Round 3 performance against Tara Hinchliffe and this physical Firebirds defensive end.
Likewise, whether Kelsey Browne, Ash Brazill and Molly Jovic can match the pace this Firebirds midcourt sets every week. Browne in particular has been impressive so far this season, leading the team in feeds and assists, but will have her work cut out for her against a red-hot Gabi Simpson.
But the key matchup here will be how Geva Mentor and Jodi-Ann Ward, fresh off her Nissan Player of the Match performance, can go shutting down Gretel Bueta, Romelda Aiken and Tippah Dwan.
Adelaide Thunderbirds vs West Coast Fever – Saturday, 7pm AEST, Netball SA Stadium, Adelaide – Tickets
It’s incredible to think that, after just three weeks and after playing the other three sides they shared the top four with in 2020, The Fever are just one win from being in the top four.
While a win this Saturday night against the Thunderbirds won’t see the Fever in the top four, no matter what happens in the other three matches, it would see them notch their first premiership points of the 2021 season.
But they’ll be heading back to Perth still on 0 if the Thunderbirds have anything to do with it. And how well timed would a big upset be for the winless Adelaide Thunderbirds be?
They’ll be disappointed not to come away from their match against the Magpies with a win last weekend, considering they led the match with just over three-minutes remaining. It all came down to a few bad late turnovers, a problem they’ve had all year considering they lead the league in general play turnovers, and some cold-blooded Collingwood shooting.
Funnily enough, they’ll be trying to clean up their ball movement against the team with the fewest general play turnovers. And that really has been the key to the Fever’s success in the first three rounds.
There is a constant pressure to score against the Fever because they are just so clean and efficient when they have possession. They have the second most accurate shooting circle with a shooting percentage of 88.4% so far this season, score off their centre pass 73.7% of the time and score after gains 82.9% of the time, both league highs. When they have the ball, they score.
All that being said, the Thunderbirds can boast that they got the better of the Fever when these two last met, with Adelaide coming away with a one-point win in Round 17 last year.
Georgie Horjus shot the lights out in that game, dropping eight Super Shots on her way to 26 points in the victory, something she has struggled to do so far this season. In fact, teammate Sam Gooden has had more success from two-point land, hitting a league high 15-Super Shots this year.
If one of those two (or both!) can get hot, then they should be able to stay with the Fever and push for their first win of the year.
Sunshine Coast Lightning vs NSW Swifts – Sunday, 1pm AEST, USC Stadium, Sunshine Coast – Tickets
Set your alarms and clear out the loungerooms because this should be our game of the weekend right here. These two teams are just so evenly matched!
Both teams come into this one with two wins and one loss (both to the Fever) and split seven point victories against each other the two times they met in 2020. The Swifts have scored two more points (179) than the Lightning so far this season and have allowed just four less (172).
The Lightning will be hurting after last week’s shocking loss to the Fever in their home-opener. Having a nine point quarter time lead turn into a 15 point loss is something this Lightning team doesn’t do often, so I would expect them to come into this one with a point to prove.
But the Swifts are not going to go down easy and resemble the premiership winning 2019 squad more than the brittle Swifts of 2020. Their Round 1 overtime win against the Firebirds in hostile territory proved that, and their strong performances in a tough Round 2 loss to the Fever and bounce back win against the Vixens last week should have their fans liking what they are seeing.
And they’ll have one more fan cheering them on from the sidelines at USC Stadium in Co-captain Maddy Proud, who will miss the big match with a foot injury. Losing a leader in the midcourt is never an easy thing, but I can’t help but feel the Swifts are well setup to cover a loss like this.
Having someone as experienced and flat-out good as Nat Haythornthwaite on the bench who can slot straight into the WA position is such a blessing. She is a clever player and one of the craftiest feeders in the comp, if not the world. From there Briony Akle will happily rotate Paige Hadley and Tayla Fraser through Centre and Lauren Moore through WD.
But no matter how deep your stocks are, coming up against this midcourt without your best line-up is going to be a tough ask.
Mahalia Cassidy has to be the front runner for recruit of the year, Laura Scherian continues to play the Wing Attack position better than almost anyone in the competition and Maddy McAuliffe’s strong transition play is crucial to the success of this team defensively.
This one is going to be a hard-fought slog that hopefully lives up to the hype it promises in theory.
Melbourne Vixens vs GIANTS Netball – Sunday, 3pm AEST, John Cain Arena, Melbourne – Tickets
If you had of told me, as I watched Mwai Kumwenda do confetti-angels on the Nissan Arena court on Grand Final day last year, that the Melbourne Vixens would be 0-3 and have the fewest points scored coming into Round 4 I would have thought you had spent the last four seasons under a rock.
This Vixens team? With a defensive end that learned to walk while learning how to defend the baseline together? The same Vixens coached by one of the most decorated players and coaches in netball history? You’re going to tell me that a Vixens attack end, led by Grand Final MVP Kumwenda, is averaging 48 points a game?
And I hear you about Liz Watson. In my opinion, Liz Watson is the best netballer on the planet. Losing her, along with Caitlin Thwaites and Tegan Philip was always going to hurt, but I wasn’t prepared for it to hurt them so much.
I said in my Round Wrap earlier in the week that this team is hard to watch when they are in attack. Kumwenda can only do so much, Kaylia Stanton is struggling in navy and pink just as much as she did in green and Ruby Barkmeyer is being asked to do too much for where she is in her development right now.
Meanwhile for the GIANTS, they are the complete opposite in attack and lead the league in scoring. Jo Harten is playing at an MVP-like level and 19-year-old Sophie Dwyer has filled the hole left by injured Diamonds goaler Kiera Austin.
Jamie-Lee Price is playing the best netball of her young career and leads all players in feeds and goal assists, Amy Parmenter has developed into the best WD in the competition and Maddy Hay has taken another step this year at WA.
And that defence will welcome back team Vice-captain Kristiana Manu’a for the first time in 2021, which is a scary proposition considering they’ve allowed the second least points per game this season with 55.
If the Vixens are to come away with the win in this one, it’s going to start in defence. Kadie-Ann Dehaney has played well off the bench so far this season and should be pushing for that starting GK spot, with number one choice Emily Mannix seeming to have lost the confidence of her coach. And Jo Weston is as steady as ever, proving why many consider her to be the best GD in the business.
If they can slow down the league’s best attack and get something going up forward, I can see the Vixens breaking the losing streak and handing the GIANTS their first loss of the season. But that’s a big if.
