By Paddy Regester
Round 7 marks the midway point of the 2021 Super Netball season and is our final chance to see how each team matches up on each other before they go head to head again.
It’s on to the race for a top four spot after this weekend, and all eight teams will want to put themselves in or within striking distance of that coming into the backend of the regular season.
GIANTS Netball vs Sunshine Coast Lightning – Saturday 1pm, AEST, Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney – Tickets
I seem to say this for every game involving the GIANTS, but their match against the third placed Sunshine Coast Lightning is probably the biggest of the weekend.
Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni taking on Jo Harten and Sophie Dwyer is can’t miss netball, a battle between some of Australia’s best midcourters should mean this one will be played at breakneck speed and how Steph Wood and Cara Koenen deal with the depth of this GIANTS defence could decide the match.
All that being said, both teams are coming off bad losses in Round 6 where they were thoroughly outplayed by their oppositions.
After starting the season with four straight wins, the GIANTS will now be fighting to avoid a third straight loss, after the Swifts battered them in the NSW derby last Sunday. They dropped all four quarters against their cross-town rivals, were held to less than 60-points for the first time this year and committed over 20 more penalties in the 51-63 loss.
It was a similar story for the Lightning, who were blown away early by the Firebirds in the Queensland Derby and could never fight their way back into the match. They committed 27 general play turnovers for the match, shot at just 81% and had the best seats in the house to the Kim Ravaillion and Gretel Bueta show.
Needless to say, both teams will be looking for a bounce back win in this one. So, who gets it?
It’s hard to see Harten and Dwyer shoot at less than 50% from Super Shot range, which has become a massive part of their offence, like they did in Round 6 so the Lightning are going to have to bring their A-game in attack to keep up.
Or shut them down, and that’s where I think this one will be won or lost.
The way Sophie Dwyer has stepped into the starting GA position after Kiera Austin went down has been one of the best storylines of the season so far, but she’ll have her work cut out for her against one of the best defenders on the planet in Karla Pretorius. Phumza Maweni and Jo Harten will be an arm wrestle all afternoon, but whoever gets the better of that GD vs GA matchup might just decide the match.
Collingwood Magpies vs Melbourne Vixens – Saturday, 5.30pm, AEST, Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney – Tickets
This is a massive game between two teams whose seasons have, in my opinion, entered must win territory.
The two and four Magpies are coming off their most disappointing performance of the season so far, a 23-point drubbing at the hands of the Fever. They’ll be keen to bounce back with a strong game against their biggest rivals and to stay in touch with the top four.
Round 6 was rough on the Vixens as well, who backed-up their morale boosting Round 5 win over Queensland with a tough six-point loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds last Sunday. If they want to have any chance to defend their 2020 title, they need to get hot quick.
With so much on the line in this match, it’s a bummer that the first Melbourne derby of 2021 will be played at Sydney Olympic Park’s Ken Rosewall Arena. Although, considering a ticket for the GIANTS vs Lightning game gets you into this one too, hopefully the great netball fans of NSW pick a side and hang around.
The biggest story coming into this match is that Emily Mannix is back for the Melbourne Vixens. But, with all due respect to the championship winning defender, it’s who has made way for her that has many netball fans talking.
For the first quarter of the season, the Vixens biggest weakness was their attack end, which had failed to score more than 54 points in a game through the first four matches. Enter Rahni Samason, who we all know was brought in to replace the injured Mannix, and her heroics alongside Mwai Kumwenda. She scored 50-points in her two matches and gave the Vixens a completely different look in attack.
She’ll now be watching this one courtside as the Vixens maximum amount of contracted players have been named. Hopefully Kaylia Stanton and Ruby Barkmeyer have been taking notes on the bench the last two weeks.
I’m excited to see if Kate Eddy can slow down assists leader Kelsey Browne in this one. Browne’s had the better of almost every WD she’s come against so far this season, averaging 21 assists and 32.3 feeds per game, and if she can force Simone McKinnis to roll someone else onto her that could open things up for a Magpies attack end that has struggled with consistency.
Adelaide Thunderbirds vs NSW Swifts – Saturday, 7.30pm, AEST, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide – Tickets
The Swifts 12-point win over the GIANTS last weekend was more than just four premiership points and the Carole Sykes Memorial Trophy, it was a statement. This Swifts team is here to do some damage in 2021.
Head Coach Briony Akle said that the performance was their most complete since the 2019 Grand Final, something that should send shivers down the collective spines of the other seven Super Netball clubs if they keep it up.
Sarah Klau is dominating teams at the moment and is in the top five for intercepts, deflections, defensive rebounds and gains through six rounds. Her partner in defensive crime, Maddy Turner, is also playing some of the best netball of her career and might even be playing her way back into Diamonds selection territory.
Sam Wallace can’t miss right now (she literally shot 58 straight last week), Helen Housby looks to be rounding into some good form and this midcourt is stacked when fully fit.
But win number five wont come easy against an Adelaide Thunderbirds side fresh off their first win of the season.
Georgie Horjus and Shamera Sterling starred in the six-point win over the Vixens at USC Stadium, and the club will be looking to build on that strong performance with consecutive wins for the first time since round four and five last year.
Disrupting this incredibly calm, accurate and efficient Swifts attack end will be key to doing just that for the Thunderbirds and I think Shadine van der Merwe will play a vital role in that plan.
Similar to Jhaniele Fowler, you can pretty much pencil Sam Wallace in for 40+ points for the day, so muddying up the service and forcing Housby and Sophie Garbin to settle for tough shots will be vital. If van der Merwe can get on top of these talented Swifts feeders, Potgieter and Horjus should be able to keep them within striking distance up the other end.
Queensland Firebirds vs West Coast Fever – Sunday, 1pm, AEST, Nissan Arena, Brisbane – Tickets
Round 7 closes with a bang, with the undefeated West Coast Fever travelling to Brisbane to take on the frisky Queensland Firebirds. And they’ve got Sunday all to themselves!
This should be a great game, with both teams playing really exciting brands of netball at the moment.
The home side should be feeling confident that they can hand this Fever juggernaut their first loss of the 2021 season, after their impressive win over the Lightning last week at Sippy Downs. They came out and stunned the Sunshine Coast in the opening half, riding a 14-point halftime lead home, something they could replicate this weekend against a Fever team that has been slow starters this year.
Well, except for last weekend! The Fever scored 44 of their eventual 78-points in the opening half of their 23-point win over the Magpies in Round 6 and will hope that signals an end to their slow starts.
Not that they’ve matter all that much, but when a team is undefeated, leading the scoring and allows the second fewest points per game you have to ding them for something.
Expect plenty of points to be score in this one too, considering the Firebirds actually hold the title for the second most potent attack end in the competition through six rounds.
Gretel Bueta has settled back into the starting GA role she left behind in 2019 with great aplomb, Romelda Aiken just continues to score and Tippah Dwan might be the best scorer sitting on the bench in the world right now, not that her services were required last week.
But they’ll have to get it all right - against an incredible defence led by Courtney Bruce playing some of the best netball of her career - to keep up with this unbelievable Fever attack end.
Jhaniele Fowler is doing what she always does, averaging a league leading 56.6 points a game, but it’s the secondary scoring option of Sasha Glasgow that makes defending this attack an even more terrifying proposition than ever.
She has developed a knack for hitting important shots exactly when her side needs them and has the confidence to back herself, even when the three-time MVP is firing. No longer can defenders double team Jhaniele, you need to respect Glasgow.
Her matchup on Kim Jenner could prove to be the difference in this one. These two young Aussie guns should be pushing for a shot at Diamonds glory with the Commonwealth Games just a year away and will no doubt want to star in-front of the national team coach on Sunday.
