By Paddy Regester
As we prepare for the 2022 Grand Final on Sunday July 3 in Perth, we thought this is the perfect time to look back at the previous Suncorp Super Netball Finals series, starting right here in 2017.
The 2017 Top Four
1st – Melbourne Vixens (11 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses)
2nd – Sunshine Coast Lightning (11 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses)
3rd – GIANTS Netball (10 wins, 4 losses)
4th – Collingwood Magpies (9 wins, 5 losses)
The Lightning strikes first
After a strong season led by Team of the Year members Mwai Kumwenda, Tegan Philip, Liz Watson and Jo Weston, the young-gun minor premier Melbourne Vixens were bullish about winning their third premiership since 2009.
Their Major Semi Final matchup with the Sunshine Coast Lightning at Margaret Court Arena is looked back on as one of the best post-season matches in the league’s history.
Caitlin Bassett and Steph Wood put together a perfect final quarter of shooting as the Lightning did just enough to hold off a late Kumwenda barrage to book their spot in the first Super Netball Grand Final with a 56-55 win.
Not to be outdone, the other two expansion sides also played out a thriller at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, with the GIANTS winning 52-51 thanks to a Kristina Brice goal after the siren.
This setup a Preliminary Final matchup between one of the most storied franchises in the history of the sport and one of the newest at John Cain Arena (then Hisense Arena).
The GIANTS dominated the home side, leading by as much as 16-goals midway through the final quarter, going on to win 65-57 over the shell-shocked Vixens.
And so the Grand Final would be played out between two of the three new sides of the competition, Noelene Taurua’s Lightning and Julie Fitzgerald’s GIANTS.
Despite a strong start from the GIANTS, who took a two-goal lead into the first break, this one was not the instant classic fans were hoping for. The Sunshine Coast outscored the GIANTS 52 to 33 in the final 45 minutes of this one, taking home their first premiership trophy with a 65-48 win at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
South African superstar defender Karla Pretorius was named the Player of the Match, finishing with five gains, three intercepts and three deflections in her shutdown roll on the potent GIANTS attack end.
Flash forward five seasons later and three of the 2017 top four are preparing to play finals, with the 2017 (and 2022) Minor Premier Melbourne Vixens hosting the West Coast Fever in Saturday's Major Semi Final and the 2017 runner-ups GIANTS Netball taking on the Collingwood Magpies in the Minor Semi Final on Sunday.
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