Cover Image:
Writers: Jenny Sinclair, Katrina Nissen, Ian Harkin, Andrew Kennedy
Photographers: Kylie de Souza, Clinton Bradbury, May Bailey
Results
Adelaide Thunderbirds 62 def Queensland Firebirds 53
West Coast Fever 78 def Melbourne Mavericks 61
Sunshine Coast Lightning 74 def GIANTS Netball 56
NSW Swifts 59 def Melbourne Vixens 51
Melbourne Vixens celebrated 200 games as national league coach for Simone McKinnis. Image by May Bailey | Clusterpix
Milestones
A huge congratulations to Simone McKinnis, who coached her 200th national league game in round five against Swifts. It’s fitting that she should bring up the milestone in that match as her name is on the trophy that Vixens and Swifts play for each year – the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup. Formerly one of the Diamonds grittiest wing defences and a Victorian pathway product, McKinnis has been at the helm of the Vixens since 2013, having worked as a specialist defensive coach for them prior to this time. From her 200 games in charge, McKinnis’s National League record reads 113 wins (56.5%), 84 losses, 3 draws. She coached Vixens to four grand finals, and two premiership wins in 2014 and 2020.
Hannah Petty (Thunderbirds) – 100 games
Ruby Bakewell-Doran (Firebirds – 50 games
Ruby Bakewell-Doran celebrated her milestone with family. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
Injuries
Tilly McDonnell (Giants) – calf injury. Out for 6 weeks
Tippah Dwan (Firebirds) – knee
Amy Parmenter (Mavericks) – ankle
LET’S TALK ABOUT:
News of the Week
On a recent Instagram post, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey revealed that she’s been tired, hungry and emotional during the first trimester of her pregnancy. Now back in Jamaica with her husband, Sterling-Humphrey paid tribute to the Thunderbirds and specifically coaches Tania Obst and Cathy Fellows who went to every appointment with her and were vital support in the absence of her family. As in the case of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard’s recent tragedy, it’s brilliant to hear when clubs go the distance to support their athletes.
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey got candid on social media regarding playing during her first trimester.
A measured but emotionally charged Instagram post by Remi Kamo explained more of the mental anguish she experienced during her time at the Firebirds and since lodging a formal complaint about bullying and an unsafe working environment to Netball Australia. To Kamo’s disappointment, she believes that key witnesses regarding her complaint weren’t spoken to by the independent investigator, who found that Kamo’s situation couldn’t be “substantiated.” She wrote, “I believed all relevant witnesses to my complaint would be interviewed. They were not. Some people who saw and felt what I did were not even contacted, despite being available to help the investigation.”
One of Kamo’s frustrations includes the lack of transparency of the process, stating, “I have repeatedly asked for further details of the investigation – a breakdown of the response to each allegation, whether allegations had merit or not and on what basis. I have received none of these details. Just platitudes and hollow assurances.”
As testament to Kamo’s courage in coming forwards and her goodwill towards the sport, she also included a message to netball administrators in how she believes they can better support players to either avoid such adverse situations, or deal with them if necessary.
The Australian Netball Players Association and others within the netball community continue to provide Kamo with support for the stance she has taken. Included in the ANPA’s statement was, “Through Remi’s bravery, others have also shared their stories of similar poor treatment, making it critical and urgent for Netball Australia to improve the way it responds to complaints.
“Players need to have trust and confidence that Netball Australia’s complaint-handling policies and processes will treat them fairly.”
As has happened several times over the past few years, the athletes have shown they will stand beside each other when they believe it’s warranted. Netball Australia will need to respond to the ANPA with genuine purpose and intent if they wish to address an issue that has the potential to shred the sport at its seams.
The round five game in Brisbane between Firebirds and Thunderbirds, coincided with a reunion of former Firebirds and Queensland greats. Members of the 2015 ANZ Championship winning team attended the match to celebrate 10 years on from that success. Included in the Thunderbirds team on Saturday was Romelda Aiken-George, who was a big part of that victorious 2015 team. The toss was conducted by the winning coach in 2015, Roselee Jencke, and the winning captain Laura Geitz carried the ball to the centre for the first centre pass.
Five years after its introduction in Suncorp Super Netball, the Super Shot has spread to other leagues. Although the rules are different in each case, it is now a part of the UK’s Netball Super League, New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership, and South Africa’s Telkom Netball League. While the use of the two-point shot can lead to thrilling finishes, it can also lead to confusion. Last weekend’s NSL clash between the Birmingham Panthers and Leeds Rhinos was a case in point. The match came to an exciting conclusion, with Panthers eventually winning in sudden death extra time, but that was only after a controversial incident late in the fourth quarter.
A shot from Rhinos’ shooter Joyce Mvula was signalled as a one-pointer when Rhinos believed it was a two-point super shot. Adding to the problems is that the stadium scoreboard did in fact add two points on to Rhinos’ score at the time instead of one, and the players played out the remaining time wrongly assuming that score to be correct. After losing the match, a disappointed Rhinos team lodged an appeal, but under NSL regulations, the umpires’ decisions are final, and the result stands. With netball looking to become more professional, hopefully this incident brings about changes in procedure to try to prevent a similar occurrence in future.
Gabi Simpson debuted for the Pulse in the ANZP. Image: Adrian Watkins
The ANZ Premiership began in New Zealand this weekend, and this year, there is a lot of Australian interest. Gabi Simpson played her first elite level game in two years as she turned out for Pulse. As she is a replacement player, it’s unsure how much game time she will get this season, but she was certainly impressive in round one in her less familiar position of centre. Donnell Wallam shot 52/57 in a winning Mystics team, up against Remi Kamo, who played solidly for Stars. Also in the Stars line-up was Australian shooter Charlie Bell. She shot 41 goals before having to leave the court late with a rolled ankle. Hopefully, it is not a serious injury.
The Super Netball Reserves continued this week. After two weeks of play, Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures lead the competition on 12 points. The competition runs until Round 10 of the Suncorp Super Netball League and features the best of Australia’s young netball talent. Tickets are free for matches happening not consecutively with SSN matches. You can find more information here and see the full home and away fixture here. Be sure to head to social media to check out the full team lists.
Results:
Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures 68 def Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts 42
Queensland Firebirds Futures 64 def GIANTS Netball Reserves 38
West Coast Fever Reserves 43 def Melbourne Mavericks Reserves 40
Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts 68 def GIANTS Netball Reserves 41
Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures 61 def Queensland Firebirds Futures 50
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This week’s guest was Sophie Dwyer.
Stat of the week
This week saw the first game of the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup for 2025. The annual competition which began in 2008, is decided on the total score from the two regular season matches between Swifts & Vixens for the year. Swifts have won the cup 10 times, and Vixens seven. Since Simone McKinniss began coaching Vixens, the tally is 6-6, and Vixens are the current holders.
There’s one interesting fact that caught our attention. Over the past seven seasons, starting in 2018, the two teams have taken it in turns not only to win the Cup, but to dominate and win both matches for the year. This is quite remarkable. If the trend continues, it’s Swifts’ turn to beat Vixens twice and take out the Cup this year. They’re already halfway there after the weekend.
2018: Vixens 2-0 (63-61 and 65-58)
2019: Swifts 2-0 (60-50 and 57-51) *
2020: Vixens 2-0 (63-60 and 62-55)
2021: Swifts 2-0 (55-43 and 62-48)
2022: Vixens 2-0 (53-48 and 59-53)
2023: Swifts 2-0 (67-66 and 70-62)
2024: Vixens 2-0 (61-59 and 69-49)
* Swifts also beat Vixens in a final in 2019
Jo Weston puts Helen Housby under pressure. Image: May Bailey | Clusterpix
Five rounds down now. That’s a big enough sample size that we can take a look at which teams are doing best in each quarter. First thing to note is that Lightning is the only team so far which has won all four quarters in a game. And they’ve done it twice. Despite winning all five games, Swifts haven’t yet managed to do it yet, although they did come very close in round one.
In recent years, Firebirds have consistently been good starters, before unfortunately dropping off for the rest of the game. And so it is again, with Firebirds outscoring their opponents by 13 goals in the opening quarter so far, but being in the negative for the rest of the game. Other than Firebirds in the first quarter, Swifts, Thunderbirds, and Lightning dominate these rankings. Swifts are the only team in the positive for all four quarters.
1st Quarter:
Firebirds +13, Lightning +9, Thunderbirds +2, Swifts +1, Vixens -2, Fever -6, Giants -6, Mavericks -11
2nd Quarter:
Thunderbirds +16, Lightning +10, Swifts +10, Fever +0, Vixens -5, Firebirds -9, Giants -10, Mavericks -12
3rd Quarter:
Swifts +24, Lightning +17, Fever +0, Thunderbirds -4, Vixens -4, Mavericks -6, Firebirds -7, Giants -20
4th Quarter:
Thunderbirds +14, Swifts +13, Fever +4, Mavericks +3, Vixens -6, Giants -7, Firebirds -10, Lightning -11
MATCH WRAPS:
Firebirds v Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds finished their fortnight on the road with an up-and-down win in Brisbane. Player of the Match, Latanya Wilson, stood out once again with 10 gains, topping off a polished complete team defence from the Thunderbirds that repeatedly squashed any inkling of Firebirds momentum.
Wilson and Matilda Garrett flashed across the court with their trademark footwork to show up in the right place time after time to force their opponents to re-offer and take risks. Lauren Frew had a magnificent showing, shooting at 96%, and balancing the front end superbly when Georgie Horjus had her usual space taken away between first and second phases.
The Firebirds put out a confident performance in the first quarter, but the second and third quarters saw them make disappointing starts and have to play catch up. Early in the last quarter, Firebirds closed to within one goal, but small lapses of concentration saw dropped passes and feeds drop short at pivotal moments.
Coach Kiri Wills lamented the substandard centre pass conversion rate (71%) and pointed out the frustration at low conversion of possession gains. At the back Isabelle Shearer had a fine performance, cunningly switching up where she attacked the ball to capitalise on the pressure out front. Macy Gardner continues to play well in the midcourt, sending well-placed high balls to Mary Cholhok.
MVP Latanya Wilson got a tidy 10 gains. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
Mary Cholhok goes for the layup. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
Isabelle Shearer was strong in defence for the Firebirds. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
Fever v Mavericks
West Coast Fever produced a crisp display of attacking netball to dominate the Melbourne Mavericks in a classy 17 point win, despite letting through four late two-pointers which could have made the margin even larger.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard dominated under the post with 60/62, despite being buffeted from all sides, in a way which should have umpires assessing whether shooters need more protection when they are in the air. Despite her strength, Fowler-Nembhard ended up on the floor a few times, after being bumped from two different directions at the height of her jump. Despite that, the Jamaican was superbly fed by both Alice Teague-Neeld from on-circle and Jordan Cransberg off circle, with such speed that the Mavericks defence had minimal opportunities to turn over ball.
Shimona Jok was the best performed Maverick with 40/42, but her ball supply was limited by errors at critical times. The midcourt coughed up the ball on 13 of the team’s 20 turnovers, and the gains to goal rate was a woeful 17%. Credit goes to the Fever defenders, and particularly joint MVP Jess Anstiss for the pressure they applied to create those opportunities.
For the Mavericks, ball security and a lack of consistency from their attacking options remains a huge work on.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard came in for a lot of physical attention. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Jordan Cransberg had her best game in green, in an entertaining tussle with Molly Jovic. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Olivia Wilkinson had a strong cameo at goal attack. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Lightning v Giants
In a consummate attacking masterclass, Sunshine Coast romped to an 18-goal win, which is their biggest ever victory over Giants. Player of the Match Cara Koenen was mesmerising, gliding effortlessly into any space, benefitting from confident feeds from all over the court. Wiith her eight rebounds Coenen was effectively worth more than 100% shooting once again.
Basic tactics of rotating leads and clearing space were executed flawlessly, making the match seem like a training run, with Liz Watson, Leesa Mi Mi, and Steph Fretwell flying down the court and racking up spectacular goal assists.
Leading by nine at half time, the magic of Lightning kept building, their defensive hands forcing countless errors from the Giants, with Courtney Bruce piling on five gains in only 38 minutes.
After a competitive first quarter, numerous positional changes and tactical timeouts failed to fix the Giants’ woes. In attack there was a lack of precision and decisiveness, and in defence the tracking of opponents.
However, proving they would not lay down, Erin O’Brien managed four gains, and Matisse Letherbarrow an impressive 6/8 supershots, with most of these highlights in the dying minutes. Youngster Monika ‘Otai put up a pleasing 6/6 shots in her 12 minute cameo. Giants were able to win the last quarter, but by that stage, the damage had been done.
Swifts v Vixens
It will be back to the training track this week for both teams after a match that was littered with errors. Each side had 23 turnovers apiece, with just over half of them unforced errors such as bad hands or poor passes. Team statistics were also patchy in places – for example, the Vixens converted just 59% of their centre passes, while the Swifts transitioned just 64% of their gains to goals.
With the Swifts looking so dominant this season, it was a missed opportunity for the Vixens after leading for much of the first half of the game. That’s to take nothing away from the Swifts however, who were able to scrap their way over the line. That was done on the back of close to a career best performance from Sarah Klau. For her full stats see our players of the round, but she had the better of the three opponents she faced, and created tremendous doubt in the minds of the feeders.
While the Vixens had to work the ball close to post – and often lost it in doing so – the Swifts were well served by their get out of jail card in Grace Nweke. She was once again rock solid under the post with 47/50, latching onto a number of very misplaced feeds into her. The experience of Helen Housby and Paige Hadley provided a more streamlined approach to goal than the Vixens had, while for them, six of their team were able to come up with gains in a determined full court defence. Kate Moloney once again led from the front, while Rudi Ellis and Kiera Austin each claimed 3 gains.
Grace Nweke’s extraordinary elevation. Image: May Bailey | Clusterpix
Kate Eddy gets fingertips to a ball. Image: May Bailey | Clusterpix
Simone McKinnis coaching her 200th national league game in the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup. Image: May Bailey | Clusterpix
Players of the Round
Lauren Frew (Thunderbirds)
Frew is having a terrific start to her second season. In a team with some big name players, she is largely unheralded. She just goes about her business every week, and does it with a minimum of fuss or fanfare. Frew has an impressive turn of speed, and the game-smarts to mix up her circle entry and timing to balance the front court beautifully – all combined with sparkling feeds to her target shooter. Against Firebirds, Frew finished with 22/23, 13 assists, 14 centre pass receives, and three pickups. She scored four super shots from five attempts to go with the 7/11 last week. She’s currently one of the best two-point shooters in the league.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard (Fever)
What more needs to be said at this point? Since her comeback to the team, Fowler-Nembhard is seemingly playing as well as she ever has. No matter what they tried, Mavericks had no answer to her strength, positioning, and composure for the duration of the game. She combined beautifully with both Shanice Beckford and Olivia Wilkinson, despite their varying styles of play at goal attack. A dominant Fowler-Nembhard ended the match with 60/62, two deflections, three rebounds, one pickup, and just one turnover.
Jordan Cransberg (Fever)
While the attacking accolades more commonly go to fellow midcourter Alice Teague-Neeld, Cransberg had perhaps her best game in green. She used her blistering speed through the midcourt to supply 29 feeds into the circle and 11 second phase receives. More importantly, she balanced the midcourt perfectly, giving space to her fellow attackers to weave their magic, and punching quickly into attack or defence. While Cransberg was tidy with just five penalties, her next work on will be lowering her turnover count, which sat at a slightly higher than preferred four.
Cara Koenen (Lightning)
While it might seem like we have a focus on the shooting circle this week, Cara Koenen certainly deserves her choccies. Koenen has been playing some inspired netball in recent weeks, and in Round 5 she nailed 56/62 (90% accuracy) in 51 minutes, pulled in 6 rebounds and was busy outside the circle with a game-high 16 second phase receives. 56 goals is her highest-ever total in Super Netball. Her form would be welcomed by Stacey Marinkovich, as it’s essential for the best international teams these days to have a high volume shooter. Koenen got the memo in Round 5.
Erin O’Brien (Giants)
While the Giants are struggling at the moment, it’s not for lack of effort. O’Brien, in just her second season, exemplifies some of the team’s individual efforts that unfortunately just aren’t gelling into wins. In today’s match, O’Brien played out of position at goal defence for half of the game, tasked with defending one of the smartest athletes in the game in Steph Fretwell. O’Brien was then moved back against Cara Koenen, who was having a blinder, and finished the match with 5 gains for 14 penalties, and some valuable experience in opposing some of the world’s finest talent.
Sarah Klau (Swifts)
Klau turned in a massive performance, coming up with nine gains, including five intercepts, 13 deflections, two rebounds and three pickups, all for just 10 penalties. And of her haul, most of it was against the experience of Diamonds’ shooters. The combination of her presence in the circle and eyes up approach made the Vixens life a nightmare – both for the shooters and the middies trying to feed them. Of the Vixens 23 turnovers, 22 of them were committed by the front four on court, and much of that pressure was created by Klau. It was one of her finest ever performances in the red, and she thoroughly deserved her MVP.
Sarah Klau pulling in one of her 9 gains. Image: May Bailey | Clusterpix
Ladder
Team / Pts / %
Swifts . 20 . 117%
Thunderbirds . 12 . 110%
Lightning . 12 . 109%
Fever . 12 . 99%
–
Firebirds . 8 . 96%
Vixens. 8. 94%
Mavericks . 4 . 92%
Giants . 4 . 87%
Next Week
(Round 6)
Sat, May 17
5pm – MAVERICKS v FIREBIRDS
7pm – THUNDERBIRDS v FEVER (6:30pm local time)
Sun, May 18
2pm – GIANTS v SWIFTS
4pm – VIXENS v LIGHTNING
A sweet moment between former teammates Romela Aiken-George and Caitlyn Strachan. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
Round 5 was also a chance to celebrate the 2015 premiership winning team for the Firebirds. Image: Kylie de Souza | Captured by Kylie
