When: Saturday 14 July 3.00pm AESTWhere: University of the Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sippy DownsBroadcast: Channel 9
Last time they met in Round 4:
Lightning (52) defeated Magpies (50)
MATCH-UP
Magpies
Lightning
Mins in Possession
30
29
Gain
13
20
Intercepts
6
11
Deflections
8
10
Goal Shooting %
81
88
Lightning claimed their first win of the season in Round 4 against the Magpies and subjected the Melbourne team to their third loss in the opening four games. Lightning won the first three quarters comfortably and if it wasn’t for a last quarter comeback by the Magpies, the winning margin could have been a lot more than two.
VIDEO
Game talking points:
The Magpies will be feeling a little more confident going into this Saturday’s game after their 10-goal win against the Thunderbirds last weekend.
Lightning will know that the Queensland Firebirds have a tough fixture against the Giants Netball on Sunday – and a strong win here could see them leapfrog their state rivals into the top four.
A loss for the Magpies will theoretically end their hopes of reaching finals, having said that the other two teams above them (alongside Lighting), in the Swifts and Firebirds, have tough fixtures against the top two teams in the league this weekend – so a win for the Pies could actually put them right back in the mixer.
If Lightning want to win…
They will have full confidence that their strong defenders in Geva Mentor and Karla Pretorius will have the skills to shut down the Magpies goalers, so their success in this game will come down to the performance of their attacking end. Their GS, Caitlin Bassett, is the league’s second top goalscorer of all-time and is just 25 goals away from joining the Suncorp Super Netball 1,000 goal club, for the games that she has played this season and last. If she turns up in this match and produces her glittering best, they could wrap the win up pretty early in this game.
If Magpies want to win…
The Collingwood side will need to dig deep and find some fight, determination and self-belief if they want to take on the defending champions and come out victorious. They will be focusing on shutting down their opponent’s movement across the court and will have to gain some intercepts at key moments to put the pressure on the Lightning.
Key match-ups:
As always, all eyes will be looking towards the goal rings, specifically the Geva Mentor (Lightning) and Caitlin Thwaites (Magpies) battle. Both have been strong competitors this season and are considered to be one of the leading players in their respective positions globally, therefore will be buzzing to try and get one over on each other.
