The unmissable finals blockbusters

By Stephanie Smarrelli

We’ve finally reached the pointy end of the season and it all starts right here, right now, for the four Suncorp Super Netball finalists. 

For one side, it will be lights out on their race to premiership glory. For another they could fast-track themselves straight to netball’s big dance. 

It will be deja vu for the NSW Swifts and Adelaide Thunderbirds who will go head-to-head for the second week in a row. But this time, there’s a little more on the line. 

For the winner, they’ll earn themselves a one-way ticket to the 2023 Grand Final. For the other, they’ll need to back it up the following week against the winner of the minor semi between the West Coast Fever and Melbourne Vixens. 

As reigning premiers, the Fever have the belief that they can do it again but will the experience of the Vixens outfit be the key to success? 
 
The Swifts will be red hot favourites after claiming the minor premiership while the Thunderbirds will be vying to end their decade-long grand final drought.  

Then there’s the Thunderbirds breaking their finals drought, 10 years after their last premiership win. 

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the SSN finals campaign. 
 

DEJA VU 

The first spot in the grand final is up for grabs on Saturday night and the Swifts and Thunderbirds will pull out all the stops to win. 

The two sides met less than a week ago with the Thunderbirds putting an end to the minor premiers’ winning streak.  

But sometimes you need to lose a battle to win the war and the Swifts will be confident in their ability to bounce back having performed under the pressure of finals before. 

While finals for the Thunderbirds are an unknown beast, with this year being the first time they’ve made it to finals in Suncorp Super Netball.  

Only three goals separated the teams last weekend, a number small enough that the major semi final really is anyone’s game. 

The defenders stole the show in Round 14 with Thunderbirds duo Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling combining for a massive 18 gains.  

While for the Swifts it was Sarah Klau who was influential in defence with eight gains of her own. 

The Thunderbirds scored seven of the last 10 goals when the teams met on Saturday, something the Swifts will be looking to rectify this weekend. 

The Swifts have all the pieces in the puzzle to bounce back in front of their home crowd with Maddy Proud capable of another 40-feed performance, Helen Housby a proven match-winner under pressure and a defensive unit that knows each other inside and out.  

The Thunderbirds although less experienced in finals have proved they can beat the best and with the talent of Eleanor Cardwell in attack, calm leadership of Hannah Petty in the midcourt and arguably the league’s best defensive duo it will come down to which team can nail the basics and absorb the pressure. 

THE RIVALRY CONTINUES 

There’s no tomorrow for the loser of Sunday’s minor semi final.  

Every Fever and Vixens player will feel the pressure with each mistake capable of being the one to send the team out of the premiership race while every victory could be the one to seal the win. 

Last year’s grand finalists once again find themselves going head-to-head in what is sure to be a fiercely competitive match. 

Both sides have won against the other this year with each encounter coming down to the wire and being decided by a single goal. 

Their last meeting in Round 8 resulted in a Vixens win with their strong start and finish securing them the victory while in Round 1 it was the Fever who got the jump early to go on and win. 

Hosting the minor semi final in front of a vocal green army the Fever will carry a slight advantage into the match with the Vixens’ last win in Perth in Round 10 of 2022.  

However, the Vixens will be spurred on knowing what awaits them if they can fight their way to Grand Final day in Melbourne. 

The Super Shot was the deciding factor when the teams last met and if the match is as close as their previous two encounters this year then it’s likely to be the deciding factor again. 

The Fever’s Sasha Glasgow has slotted 70 Super Shots this season while Kiera Austin for the Vixens has been able to nail them in the dying seconds of multiple matches.  

Kate Eddy was a workhorse in defence for the Vixens in Round 8 with her ability to read the play resulting in three gains and two intercepts from the wing defence. Eddy will have her work cut out for her up against Alice Teague-Neeld who is having another strong season for the Fever. 

Courtney Bruce and Sunday Aryang will have the challenge of preventing the Vixens attack line from moving fluidly and scoring while the challenge of preventing the ball from reaching Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler will fall to either Vixen Olivia Lewis or Emily Mannix.