Vixens chasing five-straight wins

When: Sunday 15 July 3.00pm
Where: Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Broadcast: Telstra TV and the Netball Live app
Tickets: here

Last time they met in Round 4:

Vixens (72) defeated Thunderbirds (50)

Mwai Kumwenda had a big game for the Melbourne team the last time these two met, shooting 47/47, resulting in the Vixens winning by a massive 22 goals.

Game talking points:

• Vixens will be aiming for all eight premiership points in this game to keep them in a strong position to make finals.
• The Thunderbirds are still looking for their maiden win, and the players will want to impress their newly announced Head Coach for next season, Tania Obst, who will sure to be keeping an eye on their games.
• The Vixens mid court has been talked about a lot recently, and rightly so, with Liz Watson in particular performing at the highest level. She will be looking to put in another spectacular display today with an array of assists.

If Vixens want to win…

The Vixens will need to continue playing the way they have the past few weeks. They have used home crowd to their advantage all season, and I am sure the Melbourne faithful will be doing what they can to stop the team switching off. If Kate Moloney and Renae Ingles can continue playing in a way to allow Liz Watson freedom to attack the circle, then they will be fancying their chances of big points here.

If Thunderbirds want to win…

Thunderbirds will have to work hard quarter by quarter for small wins in the game, accumulating as many bonus points as they can as a starting point. Once again, they will have to focus on their defence and when in possession of the ball try to avoid intercepts. Concentration is clearly a weakness for this Adelaide side, with their ties often being lost due to small periods of games where they switch off and teams punish them.

Key match-ups:

The Thunderbirds will be focusing on ways to stop Liz Watson feeding the circle, as most of the Vixens attacking play goes through her – if they can stop her performing they might just steal an unlikely win in Melbourne.