Writers: Jenny Sinclair, Katrina Nissen, Andrew Kennedy, Ian Harkin
Photographers: Danny Dalton, Tash Rudd, Hannah Howard, Jodie Dent, May Bailey
Cover image: May Bailey/Clusterpix
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Stats courtesy of Champion Data
RESULTS
Melbourne Vixens 66 def NSW Swifts 59
Adelaide Thunderbirds 56 def Giants Netball 54
Melbourne Mavericks 62 def Sunshine Coast Lightning 53
West Coast Fever 58 def Queensland Firebirds 54
Kate Moloney is pumped. Image Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Sports
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Congratulations to Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and family on the birth of their son and brother, Joshua.
The Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (AMMNA) Championships have taken place in Perth over the last week. Congratulations to Victoria, who took out the Open Men’s title over South Australia 60-46. Despite the loss, the Dragons should be proud of their tournament, having come from fourth to contest the final.
Results:
Men’s Open – Vic 60 def SA 46
Men’s Open As – NSW 43 def WA 36
Mixed Open – SA 73 def NSW 72
23s – Vic 66 def WA 30
20s – SA 47 def NSW 41
17s – Vic 70 def Qld 58
Congratulations to two rising stars, who showed their calibre across the week. Tom Gorman (WA) was named tournament MVP, while Zac Mobilia (Vic) was the grand final MVP.
The inaugural Jerome Gillbard medal – in recognition of a talented male netballer who creates opportunities for others – was awarded to Allen Griechen. The medal is a fitting tribute to Gillbard’s legacy, as he’s played at both state and national level, is an A Grade badged umpire, and has played a pivotal role in establishing the men’s competition and pathways in Western Australia. During the Championships, Gillbard made his 100th appearance for West Coast Thunder. You can read Jenny Sinclair’s profile of Jerome Gilbard here
Mavericks’ coach Gerard Murphy has clocked up the frequent flyer points this weekend. After coaching Victoria to gold at the AMMNA Championships, he jumped on a plane to Brisbane, travelled up to the Sunshine Coast for their Sunday match, then headed back to Melbourne.
All Australian athletes selected to compete at the Commonwealth Games will receive a $5000 grant from via the Green2Gold2Great programme.
Guest speaker on Sky Sports Off the Court podcast, former New Zealand men’s captain Kruze Tangira revealed that he is heading to the UK to play for London Knights, after the ANZ season is finished.
And in news that will disappoint many netball fans, a conversation that he had with Gretel Bueta at Fire5 revealed that she won’t be returning to international netball.
Former Firebirds Gabi Simpson and Katie Walker spent the week in Florida, commenting and socialising at the International Netball Classic. The Classic featured junior and senior teams from the Caribbean, the US, Africa and more.
The ANZ Premiership kicked off this weekend. With the influx of New Zealand players taking to SSN courts, more spots in ANZP teams were up for grabs, giving a few lucky young Aussies valuable experience against international players.
Former SSN athletes Charlie Bell and Ash Barnett made their debuts at the opposite ends of the court for the Tactix. Bell shot 41/51, while Barnett took a mammoth 12 gains (4 intercepts, 7 rebounds and 1 deflection).
ANZ Premiership – Round 1
Pulse 53 def Magic 45
Tactix 44 def Steel 42
Stars 63 def Mystics 59
Jodie-Ann Ward gets some incredible elevation over Elmere van der Berg. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
NEWS OF THE ROUND
Injuries & Milestones
One of netball’s all time greats, Romelda Aiken-George, played her 250th national league game on Sunday. That’s the most capped of any current player, and Aiken-George is breathing down all time record holder Cath Cox’s tally of 254 games. Aiken-George made her national league debut in Australia back in 2008, and has spent a remarkable 18 years playing at this level. The Jamaican has also notched up 90 test caps for her nation, and her daughter Gigi made an adorable ball carrier to start the match.
Aiken-George’s daughter Gigi made an adorable ball carrier before the game. Image: May Bailey/Clusterpix
In tough news for the Swifts, Helen Housby has been sidelined indefinitely with a back complaint. There’s no timeframe on Housby’s return, other than that she will hopefully be back later in the season. Housby is a crucial part of the Swifts set up, as well as the English Roses who will also be sweating on her recovery. Housby will be replaced this week by recent debutant Nicola Barge.
Retired Silver Fern and Swifts premiership winning player from 2019, Katrina Rore, was called in for a one-game cameo for the Swifts in Saturday’s match against the Vixens. Rore was a temporary replacement for Sarah Klau, who is still recovering from a quad injury. Before round 5, Swifts coach Briony Akle advised commentary that Klau will be out for a few more weeks.
The injury news keeps coming with Giants Netball confirming that Jane Watson will be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks after sustaining a torn MCL in her left knee and a medium-grade calf strain to her right leg. Academy athlete, Dakota Thomas was elevated, in her stead, to the Round 5 squad. It is unclear if she is Watson’s permanent replacement.
Meanwhile, Alice Teague-Neeld (back) Sasha Glasgow (undisclosed) and Imogen Allison (achilles) all had to leave the court during the Fever-Firebirds clash, with Allison returning during the final quarter.
With Paige Hadley, Helen Housby and Sarah Klau all sidelined, it’s a lot of experience out for the Swifts. Image: Tash Rudd Photography
Congratulations to umpire Tamara Buriani-Gennai, who officiated in her 50th national league game on the weekend.
Congratulations also go to Charlotte Sexton who made her SSN debut this week. Sexton is Tara Hinchliffe’s injury replacement at Mavericks.
Charlotte Sexton made her debut for Mavericks. Image: Jodie Dent/Decadent Design
And finally, Swifts celebrated their 30th year in the competition with Heritage Round. A gala dinner was followed by many of the former Swifts attending their match. The opening centre pass ball was delivered by Swift number 1 and former Diamond goal attack Catriona Wagg.
Swift number one, and former Diamond goal attack, Catriona Wagg. Image: Tash Rudd Photography
Matches
Vixens 66 def Swifts 59 (MVP: Kate Moloney)
Vixens kept their unbeaten status intact with a patient and consistent champions’ game, building momentum to break a 48-all deadlock at three quarter time. They were supercharged by the reliably brilliant timing, accuracy, and rebounding of Sophie Garbin and the steady hand of their ever-reliable captain Kate Moloney at centre. Kiera Austin had a mixed game; costly with six turnovers, but her five super shots proved valuable.
Despite being badly hit by injury, the pumped up Swifts were competitive all game, blurring the passing options and flying out to unsettle their opposition. In attack, Grace Nweke had an excellent game with 49 goals at 94%, forcing the defence onto her back and authoritatively pulling in lob after lob even when double-teamed. She was ably serviced by Grace Whyte who showed excellent judgement on the feed, with a game-high 31 goal assists. Maddy Proud played her biggest role so far this year – 57 minutes at centre without a turnover.
Midway through the third quarter, Swifts held sway, leading by six goals, but the reigning premiers started to regather structure and timing. They remained sharp in transition, dominating the gains-to-goal rate and their winning mentality and experience under pressure held them in good stead as they swept the final quarter to the tune of 18-11. The final margin of seven goals is perhaps flattering to Vixens who were under great pressure for most of the match.
Grace Whyte in action. Image Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Sports
Rudi Ellis gives Grace Nweke a good contest in the air. Image Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Sports
Thunderbirds 56 def Giants 54 (MVP: Georgie Horjus)
Thunderbirds remain undefeated in 2026. But only just. It’s fair to say that this scoreline would not have been predicted by many. The mixture of an out-of-sorts home team and a refreshingly composed Giants, saw the competition leaders in danger of losing until the final seconds. It was only the hot hand of Georgie Horjus late in the match which stopped the Giants pulling off an incredible win.
Unfortunately Thunderbirds connections weren’t there at the start and they scored only 22 goals in the first half. Meanwhile, at the other end, it was a different story. Sophie Dwyer and Matisse Letherbarrow started strongly and confidently. And they continued in that vein for the entire 60 minutes which kept the formidable Thunderbirds’ defence at bay. With Casey Adamson going from strength to strength at centre, the Giants kept the pressure on throughout.
Tania Obst made numerous changes, but late in the third quarter Giants still led by seven goals and the upset loomed as a very real possibility. That’s when Tayla Williams and Kate Heffernan began to take control of the midcourt. Williams was outstanding in her 45 minutes on court. Thunderbirds chipped away at the margin, but they still trailed with just two minutes to go in the game. Enter Horjus who became the match winner with three straight super shots under pressure.
Kate Heffernan was influential at centre, while Whitney Souness had her best game of the season. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
Casey Adamson has been a revelation since starting at the Giants. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
Mavericks 62 def Lightning 53 (MVP: Kim Brown)
In the biggest win of the round, Mavericks were too strong for Lightning and have leapfrogged them into fourth place on the ladder. Mavericks bookends were on song, with Shimona Jok finishing with 56/61, and the defensive duo of Jessie Grenvold and Kim Brown doing a number on their opponents to finish with 9 gains. Jamie-Lee Price was also effective, with 36 feeds and 2 gains. Pleasingly, the team combined for 16 gains, with everyone getting in on the action except for the shooters, indicative of their whole court defensive pressure.
Lightning largely stayed in the game through the defensive efforts of Ash Ervin and Courtney Bruce, who combined for 9 gains. But the team’s centre pass conversion was woeful, with just the third quarter (86%) pushing their other three quarters (50, 50 and 57%) to a game average of 61%. Turnovers by the attacking line were all too frequent, with every attacker on court guilty of multiple errors. Things just aren’t clicking for the Lightning at the moment, and they’re running out of time to fix it.
Jamie Lee-Price and Mahalia Cassidy get down for the ball. Image: Jodie Dent/Decadent Design
Ash Ervin relished her rare court time, and finished with 4 gains against Shimona Nelson. Image: Jodie Dent/Decadent Design
Fever 58 def Firebirds 54 (MVP: Zoe Cransberg)
The Firebirds absolutely took it to the Fever, outmuscling and outbustling them in a high intensity first half. 250 gamer Romelda Aiken-George didn’t relish the close physical attention from Kelly Jackson, who finished with six gains despite just returning from a broken nose. All over court, Firebirds were first to loose balls, and came through with some screaming intercepts. Fever lost Alice Teague-Neeld to an ongoing back injury early on, while Sasha Glasgow had to be subbed off in the second.
Enter two of Fever’s young guns, both on the return from injury. Zoe Cransberg took control of the midcourt, while Olivia Wilkinson put on a fine display of clutch shooting. An 18-9 point run in the third quarter looked to have put the game beyond doubt. However, Firebirds didn’t follow the narrative and came out swinging in the fourth. A fine cameo by Elsa Sif Sandholt brought the game back to within three points, but her side ran out of time and Fever ran out four point winners despite having just eight fit players.
Romelda Aiken-George pulls in a ball over Kelly Jackson. Image: May Bailey/Clusterpix
Zoe Cransberg played her best game in green. Image: May Bailey/Clusterpix
PLAYERS THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE
Sharni Lambden had a blinder in a beaten side, with three intercepts in round five doubling her tally for the season. The Swifts wing defence partnered exceptionally with Maddy Proud to clog up space and come off to cleanly attack the ball. Lambden slowed down the normally commanding Hannah Mundy, forcing her to make extra dodges and half-hearted leads and then be ignored. The Swifts’ vision-blurring defensive pattern was tight and organised, raising the defensive stops in terms of gains won and turnovers forced to 24, their second best for the year.
Hannah Mundy pulls in a mid air ball. Image Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Sports
The performance of the Giants’ shooting combination of Sophie Dwyer and Matisse Letherbarrow, had their team on the verge of an incredible upset against Thunderbirds. Ultimately, they fell two goals short, but if they can reproduce this form in future matches, they should find a win in 2026. Firstly, there was the accuracy; 51/54 at 94%. They didn’t miss a one-point attempt all night. They did miss three of their six two-point attempts, but rebounded all three, leaving the Thunderbirds without a single defensive rebound in the game. Then there was the patience, the composure, the use of short, safe passes, another ploy that kept the normally dominant Thunderbirds defence from having a huge impact on the game.
Matisse Letherbarrow and Sophie Dwyer stood up to be counted against the Thunderbirds. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
Kim Brown can often be heavily penalised, but she had a superb game for Mavericks, using just the right amount of physical contest to largely stay in play. Brown finished with 5 gains for a very tidy 10 penalties, and somehow managed to pluck 3 rebounds from her much taller opponents.
Cara Koenen slots one from range, despite MVP Kim Brown’s best efforts. Image: Jodie Dent/Decadent Design
When Fever’s game was on the line, it was two of their youngest players who stood up when it counted. Zoe Cransberg and Olivia Wilkinson were both on the return from injury, but took charge of the game. In her finest game for Fever to date, Cransberg nailed the centre bib, finishing with 38 feeds, 2 gains and 1 pickup. Wilkinson faced a tough task against Ruby Bakewell-Doran, but shot 14/20 including four key supershots that got her side over the line.
Olivia Wilkinson put up some crucial two pointers. Image: May Bailey/Clusterpix
STAT CHAT
Coming into this round, Thunderbirds and Vixens had won their first four matches to start the season. Here’s a quirky stat about that which seems hard to believe, but it’s true. In Super Netball, there have been nine previous occasions when a team has started the season with four or more straight wins and… not one of those sides went on to win the title (five seconds, four thirds). Yes, that’s right. No team that has won their first four matches, has gone on to win. Is this the year that either Thunderbirds or Vixens finally break that hoodoo?
Heading into round five, Vixens and Thunderbirds were also the only teams with a positive for and against in the fourth quarter this season. With a strong finish against the Lightning, Mavericks have now joined them. But the top two teams stand out clearly ahead of the rest, winning all five last quarters. One real surprise is the Fever who, despite being third on the ladder, have only won one fourth quarter this season.
2026 Goal difference in fourth quarters
Vixens: +27
Thunderbirds: +24
Mavericks: +2
Giants: -6
Firebirds: -7
Lightning: -11
Swifts: -11
Fever: -18
In the first match of the round, Swifts and Vixens finished with identical stats when it came to centre pass to goal. Both teams converted 71% of their centre passes. One big difference however was converting gains. Swifts finished the match with 10 gains, which was better than their season average. But they converted just 6 of them (60%). Compare that to their opponents. Vixens had 12 gains, and converted 11 (92%) of them to goals. In what was otherwise a tight match, that was a telling statistic.
Katrina Rore made a welcome return for the Swifts, but Kiera Austin was still able to shoot long over her arms. Image Danny Dalton/Tah Dah Sports
Coming into this week, Georgie Horjus had put up just one successful super shot attempt for the year. That was in round one. In truth, the Thunderbirds had been so dominant, two-pointers hadn’t been required. But they were needed against the Giants. With less than two minutes remaining, the Thunderbirds were still down. Step up Horjus and she proceeded to sink three super shots in a row that never looked like missing. She finished the match with 4/4, so Georgie Horjus now has 5/5 super shots for the season.
Mavericks climbed into the top 4 with a nine-goal win over Lightning on the Sunshine Coast. Mavericks had the better centre pass to goal rate of the two sides, but neither team would have been overly happy with that part of their game. The big difference was this… Mavericks converted 23/27 (85%) of the possessions they got from gains and turnovers. That is the sort of efficiency that any team would be delighted with. By contrast, Lightning converted 15/22 at 68%.
The round finished in Perth with Fever defeating Firebirds 58-54. There were a couple of statistics that stood out in this game. One was the deflection count. Firebirds finished the game with 18 deflections to Fever’s 11. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Only two of Firebirds’ 18 deflections (11%) resulted in a gain. Compare that to their opponents. Four of Fever’s 11 deflections (36%) resulted in a gain. Then there was the pickup stat. Fever were able to pounce on 12 loose balls during the game to just five for the Firebirds. That’s a big advantage.
Liz Ellis delivering the ball for the second term. Image: Tash Rudd Photography
LADDER
Team / Pts / %
1 Thunderbirds . 20 . 127.1%
2 Vixens . 20 . 115.9%
3 Fever . 16 . 111.3%
4 Mavericks . 8 . 103.0%
–
5 Lightning . 8 . 93.6%
6 Firebirds . 4 . 93.5%
7 Swifts . 4 . 86.7%
8 Giants . 0 . 79.2%
NEXT ROUND
Sat, Apr 18
5pm AEST – FIREBIRDS v SWIFTS
7pm AEST – VIXENS v THUNDERBIRDS
Sun, Apr 12
2pm AEST – MAVERICKS v FEVER
4pm AEST – GIANTS v LIGHTNING
