Cover Image: Clinton Bradbury
Writers: Jenny Sinclair, Ian Harkin, Katrina Nissen, Georgia Doyle
Photographers: Clinton Bradbury, Sharnee Jones
RESULTS
Minor Semi-Final: Melbourne Vixens 58 def Adelaide Thunderbirds 56
Major Semi-Final: West Coast Fever 77 def NSW Swifts 45
The contrasting emotions after the final buzzer. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
MILESTONES
Matilda Garrett (Thunderbirds) celebrated her 100th national league match
INJURIES & OMISSIONS
Minor semi-final
Hannah Mundy (Vixens) – foot injury
Emily Mannix (Vixens) – maternity leave
Shamera Sterling-Humphry (Thunderbirds) – maternity leave
Rudi Ellis (Vixens) copped an elbow to the eyebrow from teammate Jo Weston during the team’s warmup. The swollen and bruised eyebrow did not keep her off court though.
Matilda Garrett (Thunderbirds) was forced from the court with five minutes left in the match with what appeared to be a foot/ankle injury. She did not return to the court
Major semi-final
Ruth Aryang (Fever) – Achilles rupture
Paige Hadley (Swifts) – foot injury
Teigan O’Shannassy (Swifts) – back injury
Verity Simmons (Swifts) – rolled her ankle during the match but was able to return to the court.
LET’S TALK ABOUT:
News of the Week
Two very different semi-finals were played out on Sunday, with Vixens scraping home 58-56 in a thriller against Thunderbirds, and Fever demolishing Swifts 77-45. The end result is that a very strong Fever team are through to the Grand Final in two weeks time, while Swifts will have to regroup to host a revitalised Vixens next week in the Preliminary Final.
Julie Fitzgerald has announced that she’s coached her last game for the Giants. After 27 seasons and 418 games as the head coach of the Sydney Swifts and NSW Swifts – which included five premierships – the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and then the Giants, Fitzgerald is Australia’s longest standing elite coach. Fitzgerald’s time has also included roles at the Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian Diamonds and the Kelpies, mentoring hundreds of young athletes along the way.
Julie Fitzgerald steps down from the Giants as Australia’s most long standing elite coach. Image by: May Bailey-Ireland
Congratulations to photographer May Bailey-Ireland, who this week was awarded the Female Athlete Project People’s Choice Award in the Women in Sport Photography Australia Awards. Her photograph of Sarah Klau and Mary Cholhok received more than 20% of the vote, and is a wonderful accolade for her dedication to promoting the sport of netball.
May Bailey-Ireland and her winning photo. Image supplied by May Bailey-Ireland
Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich has revealed the 2025/26 Diamonds’ squad. Made up of 18 squad members and 4 invitees, the group sees Alice Teague-Neeld promoted, while they invitees include Amy Sligar and Teigan O’Shannassy, along with Lucy Austin and Donnell Wallam. Erin O’Brien will join the invitees as cover for O’Shannassy while she recovers from a back injury.
The squad size is limited by the most recent CPA, with Netball Australia exploring options for rising stars to gain more international experience. The Diamonds will have two camps in September, before facing the South African Proteas and New Zealand Silver Ferns in October. For a deep dive into the squad selection, follow this link.
Rumours continue to swirl about the future of the Giants, with its owners Netball NSW and the Mounties Group in discussions about a change of hands. Preliminary discussions have been held with the Netball Australia board, which would need to approve any license transfer. The Giants aren’t under financial pressure to change ownership, but the Mounties invest heavily in women’s sport and owning an elite club would add to their presence.
It’s a turbulent time for the Giants, with Julie Fitzgerald making her recent announcement to step down as coach, the retirement of co-captain Jo Harten, and the rumoured move south of their other co-captain Jamie-Lee Price. With such instability at the top, particularly with the contracting period opening soon, a decision on both the ownership and the future coach will be a priority for Netball NSW.
Congratulations go to Maddy Colebrook (nee McAuliffe), formerly a foundation player at Sunshine Coast Lightning, who was recently appointed as an Independent Director on the board of the Australian Netball Players Association. Colebrook is a former ANPA vice-president who was an integral part of the 2022 CPA, and who holds a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business, and should bring a wealth of both business and personal experience to the role.
Netball in New Zealand is currently mired in a world of uncertainty, with no broadcast deal locked in for next season, and players reported to be facing a pay cut of up to 50%. A free-to-air deal is being considered between Netball New Zealand and TVNZ, but it would have to be funded by the financially struggling parent body, while the digital Netball Pass run by World Netball is also being looked at.
With such challenges ahead, players are rumoured to be exploring options overseas, with six high profile players looking at the Australian league. According to Sport Nation, four athletes have been offered deals to play in Suncorp Super Netball. New Zealand would prefer to strengthen its broadcast position by keeping its stars at home, and backing this up is their current ineligibility to play for the Silver Ferns unless they play locally. The full article from Sport Nation can be read here.
Meanwhile, the Netball New Zealand board have determined that players can now formally apply for exemption to play overseas – no such policy has existed until now. While it will still be a subjective decision, it’s one step closer to allowing athletes their own agency.
Grace Nweke is one of the key players who could benefit from the change. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
At the conclusion of the home and away season, the Netball Scoop writers voted on their MVP from the Suncorp Super Netball season to date, as well as their breakout player of the year. To find out who came out on top, go here.
2026 SSN Signings
The 2026 signing window opens in just two weeks. Between now and the day after the grand final, clubs can only sign their existing athletes. This week, we only saw one re-signing with the Mavericks locking in Shimona Jok for 2026. Here are the current confirmed playing squads, as we know them, for next season:
Thunderbirds: Matilda Garrett, Georgie Horjus, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, Tayla Williams, Latanya Wilson
Giants: Sophie Dwyer, Erin O’Brien, Jamie-Lee Price, Jodi-Ann Ward*,
Mavericks: Kim Brown, Shimona Jok, Amy Parmenter
Swifts: Paige Hadley, Helen Housby, Sarah Klau, Maddy Proud, Maddy Turner
Firebirds: Imogen Allison, Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Mary Cholhok, Macy Gardner
Lightning: Courtney Bruce, Cara Koenen, Liz Watson
Fever: Jess Anstiss, Sunday Aryang, Jordan Cransberg, Alice Teague-Neeld, Olivia Wilkinson
Vixens: Unknown
*injured but will still be in the contracted ten with an injury replacement player likely to be added
Stay in the conversation with the Netball Scoop Forum.
Catch up with The Sporting Scoop podcast on Spotify and Youtube.
This week’s episode was a season review and finals preview with Georgia Doyle and Tobey Keddy
Gutted Thunderbirds players after just missing out on a semi final win. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
STATS OF THE WEEK
It’s the Kiera Austin effect. Goal attack Austin put in an incredible performance in the minor semi final to get Vixens over the line in a thriller against Thunderbirds. It has often been said that Austin’s form is a barometer of her team’s chances. When she has a great game, her team invariably wins or goes close. In the minor semi, Austin scored 114 Net Points, an indicator of just how good she was in that game. Over the course of Super Netball, Kiera Austin has scored over 85 Net Points on 15 separate occasions. Her team has won every single time!
After the nailbiter in Adelaide, it was off to Perth for the major semi final. Swifts were poor, but Fever put in an almost complete winning performance. A number of records fell in this game. Among them, Fever’s 77 was the biggest score in a final, the 32 goal win was the biggest margin in a final, and it was the Swifts’ biggest loss against anyone in SSN. Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard’s 67 points equalled her own record for a finals match. This season, we’ve talked about certain match stats which lead to wins, and Fever’s dominant performance in Perth was a perfect example of each of them. These are the four winning stats to look out for:
A centre pass to goal rate of 80%+ – At half time, Fever’s CP to goal rate was 94%. It’s not surprising that it didn’t stay there, but it did finish at 81%, while Swifts were down at 60%. Tick.
At least 5 more goals from gains – Fever notched up 13 goals from gains, while Swifts could only manage three. Tick.
At least 5 more goals from turnovers – Fever notched up 15 goals from turnovers, while Swifts had just two. Tick.
At least 5 fewer possession changes – Fever finished on 18 total turnovers which was a whopping 19 less than Swifts’ 37! Tick!
Diamonds teammates, Matilda Garrett and Kiera Austin battle for space. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
This week, let’s dive into some of the stats which perhaps don’t receive as much attention as others. Firstly, let’s look at feeds with an attempt. As opposed to the total number of feeds, this is the number of feeds that actually result in an attempt at goal. Liz Watson has dominated this stat during Super Netball, but Alice Teague-Neeld will finish on top this year.
Feed with an attempt
(During SSN)
3,111 – Liz Watson
2,330 – Alice Teague-Neeld
2,097 – Jamie-Lee Price
2,078 – Maddy Proud
2,067 – Verity Simmons
(This season)
390 – Alice Teague-Neeld
363 – Liz Watson
299 – Helen Housby
292 – Macy Gardner
276 – Molly Jovic
Next, we move on to deflections with gain. This is when a player not only gets a hand to the ball, but their deflection results in a possession gain for their team. Courtney Bruce leads this statistic over the course of SSN, while Latanya Wilson and Kadie-Ann Dehaney share the top spot this year.
Deflection with gain
(During SSN)
195 – Courtney Bruce
175 – Sarah Klau
148 – Geva Mentor
128 – Shamera Sterling-Humphrey
103 – Emily Mannix
(This season)
17 – Latanya Wilson
17 – Kadie-Ann Dehaney
16 – Courtney Bruce
16 – Matilda Garrett
14 – Sarah Klau
Who has been the bin chicken queen over the course of Super Netball, getting more loose ball pickups than anyone else? It’s Kate Moloney. And she’s up the top of the list again in 2025.
Pickups
(During SSN)
302 – Kate Moloney
263 – Paige Hadley
246 – Jo Weston
230 – Jess Anstiss
223 – Maddy Proud
(This season)
26 – Kate Moloney
24 – Molly Jovic
24 – Liz Watson
24 – Jo Weston
23 – Paige Hadley
Lastly, we’ll finish with a quirky one. Which player is penalised for going offside more than anyone else? It’s Hannah Petty, and it’s not even close. She totally dominates this stat!
Offside
(During SSN)
118 – Hannah Petty
70 – Maddy Proud
69 – Amy Parmenter
59 – Jamie-Lee Price
59 – Kate Moloney
(This season)
18 – Hannah Petty
12 – Sharni Lambden
10 – Kate Moloney
9 – Amy Parmenter
7 – Jamie-Lee Price
Hannah Petty with a big offside. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
MATCH WRAPS:
Minor Semi-Final – Thunderbirds v Vixens
Vixens move on to the Preliminary Final next week after a 58-56 win in Adelaide. In the minor semi-final, they put in a controlled, composed performance for 60 minutes, defeating Thunderbirds for the first time in six clashes. In some previous matches, the Thunderbirds defence was able to get on top early and rattle the Vixens shooters, but there was none of that in this match. Vixens were so assured with ball in hand, that Thunderbirds could only end up with four possession gains for the whole game, the fewest gains they’ve ever had in an SSN match.
Kiera Austin was the star of the show, using her impeccable timing to glide around the court and keep Latanya Wilson occupied and away from the ball. She finished with 14/18, including 5/5 super shots, one gain and zero turnovers. Sophie Garbin relished the lack of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey in the circle, and used her strong hold and smart repositioning to maneuver around Matilda Garrett and force a number of contacts from the Thunderbirds. Zara Walters was efficient with the ball, she had minimal hesitation when looking into the shooters and went through three opposition wing defences in the process. Kate Eddy led the game for gains, an unusual feat when sharing the court with Latanya Wilson. Two of those gains came in the first quarter, which set the tone and gave Vixens the slight edge that they carried for the rest of the game.
For the Thunderbirds, it was a game of small margins. They finished with a tidy 15 turnovers, and 75% gain to goal rate but they just didn’t win enough ball to peg back anything on the scoreboard. Wilson only had two gains and two deflections, while Garrett had one gain and three deflections. The pair combined for 35 penalties, despite a season average of 25.8 per game.
Georgie Horjus continues to be the side’s best wing attack and goal attack, but her impact was significantly quelled by Eddy. While the court did seem to free up when she shifted into goals, Kayla Graham’s 34 minutes at wing attack produced only five goal assists from 24 feeds and left lots of the attacking load to Horjus and Tayla Williams and Sophie Casey. Horjus’s long range radar was firing, but her 6/9 super shots unfortunately weren’t enough to get them over the line as they just didn’t win enough ball back to edge ahead on the scoreboard when it mattered.
Tayla Williams goes for a fly. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
A happy Vixens back line. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
Sophie Casey gets the tip. Image: Sharnee Jones | Picture It Sports Photography
Major Semi-Final – Fever v Swifts
West Coast Fever were comprehensive 32 point victors over the NSW Swifts, who, said coach Briony Akle, just didn’t turn up on the day. Fever played one of the most clinical first halves ever seen, and particularly during the second quarter when they went on a 26-9 blitz with a 100% centre pass conversion accuracy. Across the board their statistics were super impressive, with Swifts trailing in every department. Fever’s 18 gains, compared to the Swifts 7, and 15 turnovers to the Swifts 30, were just two of the outstanding numbers, as Fever racked up the highest ever winning margin in an SSN final, and the equal third biggest margin of the competition.
The game started badly for Swifts with Grace Nweke giving up two contact penalties as the occasion got the better of her. She finished with 23/28 (82%) accuracy in her 39 minutes, and was expensive with 6 turnovers. Nweke simply didn’t have enough volume with her side giving away cheap ball, and Akle was left with no choice but to bench her in order to chase the supershots.
Unfortunately that was of limited benefit, with Fever’s swarming defence shutting down Helen Housby and Sophie Fawns. With seven Fever players picking off intercepts, they were able to both force the ball where it shouldn’t go, and smother the shooters. Housby finished with just 8/9 as she was well held, and Fawns wasn’t much better at 9/13. Sunday Aryang was simply inspirational, finishing with 7 gains, while Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Fran Williams finished with 4 and 3 respectively.
And if Fever’s defensive work was outstanding, their attacking work was sublime. With their GA, WA and C all acting in concert to feed Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, the Swifts defenders struggled to see where the ball was coming from next. Shanice Beckford was electric in attack, Alice Teague-Neeld composed in working the ball to the circle, while Jordan Cransberg put up some pinpoint, bullet like passes. Fowler-Nembhard was in full game mode, missing just the first and last shot of the game on her way to a haul of 66/68.
While the Swifts did manage 7 gains when the match became a little scrappy, they were also heavily penalised with 76 offences. Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner in particular looked frustrated with 24 and 16 respectively.
With so many injuries, the Swifts got finals time into some of their newer athletes including Freddie Schneiderman, Sharni Lambden and Grace Whyte, who will all be better for the experience. Nevertheless they have an enormous amount of work to do in a few days if they want to beat the Vixens, who are running into form at the right end of the season.
Zoe Cransberg comes under pressure form Sharni Lambden. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard pulls in a ball under pressure from Sarah Klau. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney hug post match. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
PLAYERS OF THE ROUND
Kiera Austin (Vixens)
Austin proved once again that when she is on song, she can prove almost unstoppable, no matter who she’s up against. For the majority of the minor semi-final, Austin was opposed to Latanya Wilson, the defender who is leading almost every defensive stat this season. But such was Austin’s nerveless effectiveness, Wilson wasn’t given the chance to get into the game. Austin combined beautifully with fellow Diamonds shooter Sophie Garbin as they remained composed for the full 60 minutes. As well as landing five crucial super shots without a miss, she also had 20 assists, 20 centre pass receives, one gain, two pickups, and zero turnovers.
Jess Anstiss (Fever)
We could happily name most of the Fever team as every athlete won their position on court, but for once we are going to give some of the chocolates to a wing defence. Their quietly spoken captain Jess Anstiss has welded a disparate group of athletes from three different nations into a tightly knit group who are connected both on and off court. While she doesn’t pick up a lot of stats, she does a terrific shut down job on most opponents, and is always available as an attacking option. Anstiss finished today’s game with 1 intercept, 3 deflections, 1 pickup and 13 centre pass or second phase receives, showing that a player’s worth isn’t always reflected in the statistics.
QUOTES CORNER
Simone McKinnis
On what impressed her most about the team’s performance
“The way they attacked the game, they were fearless and they took it on, they backed themselves. There was a calmness and a freedom about what they were doing. But the composure was brilliant. In different times different people stood up and they were strong. It’s a really noisy crowd, but it was like they were in their own little bubble. It was just them, they had the eye contact, they had the connection and it didn’t matter what was happening outside of that”
On the attacking unit of Sophie Garbin & Kiera Austin
“I’m proud of them. I’m proud of them every week, you know, and I know that there’s people that like to comment on their ups and downs, but I’m proud of them every week because they get out there every week and do it. And that’s part of elite sport, you have your ups and downs, but they’re champions. They’re world champions, actually. And they stood up, super proud of them and I’d have them in my team any day of the week”
On the positional switch between Kate Eddy & Jo Weston
“I think that they’re both very good in both positions and I thought that Kate had a bit of the rhythm of Georgie and her play and I think that worked well for us, that switch to keep Kate on her. Georgie is an incredible player and smart, it can take a while to get used to her pattern of play, to keep Kate on her from that first half was able to slide across really well.
Kate Moloney
On the performance of Kate Eddy
“I thought especially in that first quarter, you know, Kate and I had a bit of a plan. I wish I was getting the intercepts that she was getting, but she just won us ball early and I think especially against a team like Thunderbirds, that’s really important. You want to try and get on top early and really make an impact, but she doesn’t stop. Simone touched on it before the game. She works so hard out there on court. She doesn’t always get the rewards, but she’s one of the most reliable players, that I’ve ever played with. So I love playing alongside her and I’ll always be a hype girl, that’s for sure.”
Tania Obst
Initial thoughts on the game
“A bit of a lost opportunity, I think. We didn’t probably play moments well and we’ve perhaps been a little bit guilty of that throughout the whole season but we were able to hang in there. I think any lesser teams would have, let that slip but we hung on and even managed to get ahead right at the end, but we just couldn’t finish it”
On the performance of young squad members Sophie Casey & Kayla Graham
We know internally that Kayla is a very smart, skilled player, and I think she’s very good with ball in hand. I thought her composure for most of the time was really, really good. She’ll get so much out of that game. We were tossing up with her to swing her across to goal attack or not, we know she can shoot as well. Her finish off with Sophie in centre and Kayla at wing attack, I think it just shows what our programme can do and we back them in and they will grow from that game, that opportunity”
Reflecting on the season as a whole
“I did really take a moment when we won last week, to just sit back and reflect and enjoy that we actually finished third after the minor round. And I think if you’d told me that, when we knew things were happening with Shamera, I would have been really happy with that. But I think that that shows the real strength of this team and the grit and determination that will never give up, will always go to the end. But yeah, maybe we have just missed an opportunity today.
On Lucy Austin’s Diamond Invitee call up
“Stacey sort of said she has a different skill set. Australia doesn’t necessarily have that tall holding shooter, which Lucy has that skill set. She’s obviously performed in their camp in January. And we’ve been in constant communication with the Diamonds, not just about Lucy, but with everyone else as well. She has been getting court time, even if not with us. We were able to do that through Super Netball Reserves which has been fantastic for her as well as through Premier League so she’s not just sitting on the bench warming a seat all the time. So we are really happy for Lucy that that has happened in what has been probably not a year that she was hoping for”
Georgie Horjus
On keeping the fun vibes in the team even with a finals game approaching
“I think it’s so important. Just to keep the fun around training and knowing that we had probably lots of nerves going into this week and a few players that hadn’t played finals. So doing that little fun dress up was really good for us. And I think that’s something we’ve done really well over the last couple of years and I feel like it’s made us more connected and enjoy finals a lot more. It was good for us, but it didn’t help in the end, I guess”
Fever thank the crowd post match. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Briony Akle
How to pick yourself up for the next game.
“It’s easy, that’s not even a question for me. We have no choice. I don’t coach just for the highs and turn up for the wins, it’s knuckling down and believing in my team.”
On Fever’s game
“Fever were outstanding, there’s nothing else I can say. They played a beautiful game of netball, I just sat back at moments and went, ‘wow’. They deserve to be in that grand final.”
On their own performance
“I don’t take any excuses. I feel like the players out there should have done their job and didn’t, and hopefully will rectify that next week.”
Dan Ryan
On today’s game
“That second quarter of netball was potentially the best quarter of netball I’ve seen West Coast Fever ever play. The numbers were insane, the intensity and the focus and the skill was off the charts as well.”
On Alice Teague-Neeld’s call up to the Diamonds’ squad
“I’m so proud of Alice. She’s a great example of persistence. She’s only had four seasons playing wing attack in her entire life, and she’s now arguably one of the best wing attacks in the world…It’s a great reward for consistency which is something I think is undervalued at times.”
On Shanice Beckford, who dropped off at the back of last season but has been impressive all of 2025.
“She came in with a lot of expectation in her first year and it was a massive reality shock of how hard it is in a daily training environment, all the travel and the amount of minutes she was playing. By half way through the season she was on survival mode and pretty bloody tired…We’ve managed her well this year….She was great today and when she’s on top of her game, no one can stop her.”
NEXT WEEK
Preliminary Final
Sun, Jul 26 – 2pm AEST: SWIFTS v VIXENS
