By Matt Fotia
The Melbourne Vixens are through to another Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final, after squeezing home by one goal against the West Coast Fever in a thrilling Preliminary Final.
The Vixens led by as many as 12 goals late in the final quarter before the Fever charged home to force a nervous finish for the hosts.
This Saturday will be the Vixens third Grand Final in five years, and their fifth Grand Final appearance under the tenure of long-term coach Simone McKinnis.
McKinnis, in her 13th season as Vixens coach, was grateful to reach yet another season decider.
“Every team starts pre-season wanting to win the premiership,” McKinnis said.
“It’s so hard to get there, and we’ve taken the long route as well.
“It’s an opportunity we’re not going to let go.”
Captain Kate Moloney echoed the thoughts of her long-time mentor, expressing pride in her teammates’ performance, as they bounced back from a disappointing loss in the Major Semi Final against the Thunderbirds last weekend.
“It means everything to be back and have this opportunity,” Moloney said.
“Thunderbirds put out a great performance against us last week, they’re a great opposition.
“But I’m super proud of the effort from the girls. Really disappointing last week but the fight we showed today was great.
“We took a lot of lessons from last week, we’ll do our homework and make sure we’re ready to go.”
McKinnis said the 25-goal loss to the Thunderbirds was a major wake up call for the Vixens, who had lost three of their past four games heading into Saturday’s Preliminary Final.
The Thunderbirds smashed the Vixens in the Major Semi Final“It was a reminder of how hard it is (finals netball),” McKinnis stated.
“We had a really good week, just having that intensity and competitiveness about what we do.
“It was important for us to play to go out and play the netball, win lose or draw, we’re proud of.”
The Thunderbirds are undefeated at home this season and have harnessed the power of the vocal Adelaide Entertainment Centre crowd, but McKinnis believes the Vixens are better prepared after two trips to Adelaide in the last month.
“We were there a week ago, we know what it feels like,” McKinnis said.
“They have great support, they’ve had full stadiums and great atmosphere.
“We’re excited about it, and we want to take different netball than what we took over there last time.”
Moloney said she and her teammates were ready for whatever the Thunderbirds throw their way.
“We know the Thunderbirds are going to bring it from the start and we want to bring a new level of netball that we haven’t seen all year,” Moloney said.
“It’s going to be tough, but we’re looking forward to it.”
