By Sophie Taylor
One round of finals down, two to go.
Suncorp Super Netball fans were treated to a massive weekend of action with two thrilling Semi Finals matchups showcasing the very best of the sport.
We said goodbye to the Sunshine Coast Lightning on Sunday, and bid a brief see you later to the Adelaide Thunderbirds who earned themselves a fast pass to the Grand Final on August 3.
The Melbourne Vixens and West Coast Fever will go head-to-head for the second Grand Final spot this weekend and there will be no second chances from there.
These are the three things we learned during the weekend.
FINALS DEBUTANTS STAND TALL
SSN’s bright young talent has shone this season, and it was no different this week under the pressure of finals.
Lauren Frew was a standout for the Thunderbirds, earning her first Player of the Match award off the back of a 17-goal game.
The young goal attack showed no signs of the ankle injury which kept her off the court for much of the Thunderbirds’ Round 14 win and was outstanding from the starting whistle on Saturday night.
Frew’s footwork and smarts to open space for teammate Romelda Aiken-George was crucial to the Thunderbirds’ success, piling on the pressure up against much more experienced opposition.
Her form forced changes aplenty from the Vixens defence coming up against Emily Mannix, Jo Weston and Kate Eddy throughout the encounter and coming out on top each time.
Lily Graham had another solid outing for the Vixens, showing her development throughout the season with her ability to take the game on and thrive under pressure.
Her smooth, sweeping movements allowed Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin to find freedom in the second half of a challenging clash.
Leesa Mi Mi impressed during her SSN finals debut.While the Fever relied on their experienced talent in the minor semi-final, Lightning’s young stars put on phenomenal performances that they can be proud of despite the eventual loss.
The second half of midcourter Leesa Mi Mi’s season has been very impressive, and the Minor Semi Final was no different.
The young centre finished the match with 19 goal assists and an intercept, drawing attention away from the experienced Liz Watson to open up space on circle edge.
Ash Ervin, Reilley Batcheldor and Ava Black all piled on the pressure and showcased the exciting next generation of Lightning stars.
CAN THE THUNDERBIRDS DEFENCE BE NULLIFIED?
Despite every effort from the Vixens, the Thunderbirds had it all their way on Saturday night – and rightly so with the form their defensive unit is in at the moment.
Even when she’s not getting hands to ball, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey has a way of applying pressure that stops players in their tracks.
While she picked off a handy four gains in the first half, her perceived pressure to stop balls being lobbed overhead was paramount to the Thunderbirds’ runaway first half against the Vixens during the Major Semi Final.
Add the long arm brigade of Latanya Wilson (three intercepts, four deflections) and Tilly Garrett (three deflections, one intercept) and smothering one-on-one pressure of Tayla Williams (two gains) and the Thunderbirds have well and truly found their recipe to success.
Sterling-Humphrey really came alive in an enormous second half, finishing with 14 gains (five intercepts) and picking up a record 300th intercept in the process as the Vixens rued their mistake of giving Sterling-Humphrey’s vertical leap too much credit in the opening half.
The Vixens will be up against it if they win their way through to a second battle with the Thunderbirds in the Grand Final, while the Fever were well and truly beaten at their own game when they met the Thunderbirds back in Round 9, losing by a whopping 18 goals.
The Melbourne Vixens will have a second chance to make the Grand Final this week when they take on the Fever.THE ART OF THE THIRD FEEDER
While the Thunderbirds’ defence is their continuously evolving weapon, the Fever’s weaponry has been well-documented over a number of years and continues to be their get out of jail free card.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
The post-up goal shooter is the greatest in the world for a reason, demanding the ball and piling on enormous individual tallies to the Fever’s advantage week on week.
That could be an issue for many other teams, but Fowler-Nembhard’s dominance is credit to her ability to continuously evolve her game to counter opposition demands.
While past seasons have had many questioning the Fever’s reliance on their tall timber, this season – and particularly during Sunday’s Minor Semi Final against the Lightning – the Fever have proved they can more than cope without a heavy lift from their goal attack.
But most importantly, while the Fever don’t always require the assistance of their goal attack, both their long-range shooting options are more than capable of taking control when they need to.
That being said, if anyone can get the job done over the Fever, it will be the Vixens.
The Lightning’s smothering pressure kept the Fever quiet in a tight first half during Sunday’s clash and that work rate will have been noted by the Vixens – who claimed an 11-goal win over the side back in Round 7 and fell by just one goal in Round 13.
The Fever will need to adjust their game plan slightly for the Preliminary Final with a very different defensive group to take on, but expect a similar output to Fowler-Nembhard’s 67 straight goals and utter domination under the post.
