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Super Netball 2025, Round 3: Jhaniele Fowler’s return to the West Coast Fever secures their first win of the season over Melbourne Vixens by 57-67 at John Cain Arena

by Sports Benches

First of all, Jhaniele Fowler back on-court at the right time knowing what she does best – shooting goals inside the net and here goes the Fever’s first win of 2025.

Still long way to go of course having lost the first two when Jhaniele was closing in towards full fitness following a tough last few months with the miscarriage of her unborn child. But now as a whole Fever unit together, Jhaniele wants unfinished business closing into Top 4 at some point and play Finals with the hope of going one better past Prelims & go all in for the GF.

Then England International Fran Williams kept a great eye on the Vixens’ dangerous front two alongside GK Kadie-Ann Dehaney at Goal Defense. She’s also an excellent pivot at rebounds to her middies engine room such as the long bombs at the other end and that is key to playing Jhaniele’s best strengths up front.

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On that note, Kiera Austin did the best she could in and out of the circle after 60 odd minutes at Goal Attack for the Vixens – don’t know what went wrong other than some good late game momentum, particularly with super shots. It’s unfortunate they weren’t on the same page along with some misuse of their players & that’s by being on the back foot.

Other than Giants still winless as of a long weekend split Round 3, lots to play for from others with the Swifts on an unbeaten winning streak ahead of Round 4 next weekend. 

Could we see Fever with Jhaniele now back in the field continue making up lost time v the Sunshine Coast Lightning?

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There’s a Melbourne derby too at the same time next Sunday arvo at 2pm where Vixens could either bounce back as long as they get their structure right or else it’s the Mavericks turn this time?

There’s going to be lots more other big questions if you’re a Giants or Firebirds fan with their respective next opponents Thunderbirds and Swifts currently flying Top 2. But at the end of the day, fingers crossed – we’ll see when all players are being tested at the highest level of National League competition in Australia and this is going to be good as it gets.

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Oh going to be a nice Auckland reunion between Grace Nweke (Swifts, ex-Mystics) and coach Kiri Wills (Firebirds, ex-Stars) for that next Swifts v Firebirds contest albeit in Super Netball colours.

For now, Vixens not bad at playing catch-up including super shots time but Fever have the overall on-court dominance that Vixens couldn’t have in the end by 57-67.

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Super Netball 2025 as of a long Round 3: NSW Swifts unstoppable while lots more catch-up from the Giants

by Sports Benches

There may not be any two NSW/Sydney Super Netball teams in action this weekend but it’s still a split Round 3 that takes place across two long weekend windows in-between Easter and ANZAC Day.

So far, so good from the Swifts who are unbeaten 3 from 3 with thanks to their International powered goal shooting combo in England’s Helen Housby (Goal Attack) and Grace Nweke (Goal Shooter) from New Zealand that sends the message to the other seven teams in this competition.

But with the GWS Giants, not so much and they’re currently sitting second last that could turn out to be 8th and last spot if the West Coast Fever shockingly beat the Melbourne Vixens this Sunday afternoon.

They’ve got a good group of players with a mix of homegrown and experienced talent although Gina Crampton (also from NZ) is out only for this season due to maternity leave – sometimes they lack cohesion when it comes to their tactics and even selection.

Don’t know what to say when their head coach Julie Fitzgerald is still the only one out there since its inception back in 2017 having previously coached the Magic back in Waikato, NZ that included a young Jamie Lee-Price at the time before they’ve moved back to Sydney since then – not questioning their loyalty. But safe to say that Giants haven’t been firing for so long where solutions needs to be actioned sooner than later or else Giants might as well would want a whole new direction if they want to be like the Super Swifts again.

While it’s still early as it can be possible for the Giants to pick up the odd win here and there, every game will have to be traded as a big game with the champs Adelaide Thunderbirds next up first thing at home next Saturday from 5pm AEST.

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2025 Super Netball Round 2: Vixens dynamic on-court play beats down the Giants first quarter fast start by 61-55

by Sports Benches

Tough afternoon for the Giants to keep it up with the score but Vixens though have been superior right from the first centre pass by a five goal gap, 61-55.

It was a mere two-horse race when it comes to both teams’ front two shooters alone – no doubt about that, especially when the two-shot opportunities come around every last five mins of each Qtr.

Vixens have two experienced Diamonds of Kiera Austin (a former Giants product) and Sophie Garbin (also spent some time with the NSW Swifts in the past) while Giants got a few seasoned Internationals of their own like Sophie Dwyer (a Diamond), Jo Harten (played a lot for England) and first-team goal shooter Matisse Letherbarrow. 

1-2 things that Giants struggled to match though was their defense which they couldn’t find a way to trap Austin and Garbin and their mid-court engine room seems to be a hit and miss sometimes.

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Jo Weston who reached 150 National League caps and mid-court captain at Centre Kate Moloney were key to giving both Austin & Garbin with the best shooting supply feeds & there was no stopping that. For the Giants, Sophie Dwyer would be the safe pick at Goal Attack where she did all the hard yards on her own except when there were a lot of hesitancy + hit & misses right around her.

That’s my two cents there for the Giants to go to the drawing board before they will be back at John Cain Arena once again next Sunday. But this time it will be against another Melbourne-based team in the Mavericks as Mavericks also lost to Swifts too away at Ken Rosewall Arena last night and they’ve (Giants and Mavs) both yet to win a game going into Week 3 out of 15.

Plus, Vixens get the week-long off next week before they return in two weeks time against the West Coast Fever (also winless so far thanks to Firebirds earlier last night).

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And Queensland Firebirds making a huge statement too following a tough off-field 2024 as former Northern Stars coach Kiri Wills is sending a message right there to her rivals including former Mystics star Grace Nweke in that red Swifts dress. 

They’ve both been at it before many times in the ANZ Premiership including the 2023 grand final at World Cup year when Wills was at Stars as coach and Nweke being the star Mystics shooter where Mystics won but sure Wills will want to have the last laugh this time but only in Australia.

You never know what’s best for Auckland but again, that can make New Zealand Netball better. So the board need to help out star assets like Nweke continue holding eligibility for the Silver Ferns while getting tested at the highest level of comp which is by far with SSN and not ANZP.

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2025 Super Netball Round 1: West Coast Fever v NSW Swifts, Nweke and Housby are the stars of the Swifts 49-67 win in Perth

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, it was great to see the NSW Swifts begin their 2025 season with the win, especially when they went up against last year’s Preliminary Finalists West Coast Fever at Perth’s RAC Arena.

First of all, things may have been shaky off the back of a flying Fever start, especially when the Swifts back two seems to be a hit and miss at times. 

Although they got away with some good deflections/rebounds based on the Fever’s poor attacking output through luck.

What kept the Swifts marching above their weight was the world-class goal shooting duo they’ve built of England’s Helen Housby (Goal Attack) and new recruit from New Zealand via the Mystics & Silver Ferns in Grace Nweke (Goal Shooter).

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They both shot flawlessly into the net like rockets including restarts every time Fever struggle to put those pieces together and the progress was there to see.

Now it’s up to the mid-court engine room to keep up the ante in which they weren’t bad coupled with the added help of temporary replacement signing Verity Simmons who knows Perth all two well after Grace Whyte fell down when she was trying to mark the ball at Wing Attack. 

They got a few days of homework on their flight home at Netball Central before Swifts first home game of the year is on Saturday night at 7pm v Melbourne Mavericks.

And on Fever, it wasn’t the afternoon they wanted when their defense was rinsed by both Nweke & Housby while the shooters of their own had to do the heavy lifting. 

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One highlight though the Fever will always remember is the return of Mwai Kumwenda, who just got back on the court following some time away due to pregnancy, and she too now just racked up over 100 Super Netball Super Spots. 

They need to keep their head up especially when the opponents they face this season will be new-look squads and the Kiri Willis-led Queensland Firebirds is up next also next Saturday to Brisbane from 5pm. QLD also got away with the win too against the Giants earlier this afternoon here in Sydney where Kiri will want to make the most out of her time in Australia having recently been the coach of fellow Auckland ANZ Premiership side Northern Stars up until the end of 2024.

All in all, the Ferns players may not be able to leave home that could compromise their eligibility status with selection for the foreseeable future. But getting tested at the highest level is something no one else could provide that springboard other than Super Netball – only available in Australia.

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