1 week Ago
The third round of the Super Netball season is in the books after four riveting matches were split across the Easter and Anzac Day long weekends. All eyes were on the return of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and she did not miss a beat as the West Coast Fever pulled off their first win of the season, upsetting the Vixens in Melbourne on Sunday. The Sunshine Coast Lightning claimed Queensland bragging rights as they handed the Firebirds their first loss of the season on Saturday.
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The NSW Swifts are the only unbeaten team remaining after they stunned reigning premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds on their home court on Easter Sunday, while earlier that day the Melbourne Mavericks claimed their first victory, defeating the winless Giants at home. Here are the big talking points from all four Round 3 matches, and analysis from Fox Netball’s experts that was delivered on Pivot on Sunday night. ‘IN FULL ADMIRATION OF HER’: FOWLER-NEMBHARD’S EMPHATIC RETURN The wait for Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard’s return featured in every previous addition of talking points this year, and the Jamaican superstar kicks things off once again as she stepped onto the court for the first time this season.
The Fever welcomed her back with open arms as they defeated the Vixens 67-57 to lift themselves off the bottom the ladder, and gain some revenge for last year’s one-point preliminary final loss at John Cain Arena. Fever coach Dan Ryan said post-match that it was the best performance he has seen in his time at the Fever. Fowler-Nembhard looked like she never left, shooting 59 goals from 60 attempts.
She teamed up beautifully with national teammate Shanice Beckford in the goal circle, and Diamonds legend Catherine Cox could not believe how smooth her transition back into the Fever team was. “I thought it might take her a little while to find some of the connection,” Cox said. Swifts assistant coach Dylan Nexhip was less surprised, however, saying that he was in awe of her comeback performance.
“I think Fowler-Nembhard showed the dominant player that she is and the superstar status she has absolutely earned over her career,” Nexhip said. “For her to be able to come back into the mix and put a performance like that, that’s incredible. “It’s a testament to her and the work she’s been able to do to get herself back in the position.
“Hat off to her, in full admiration of her.” Fowler-Nembhard was initially going to sit the 2025 season out due to pregnancy, but earlier this year she sadly lost the baby. Teammate Fran Williams said post-match that everyone at the Fever was so proud of their superstar shooter for working hard to return to the court after experiencing such grief.
“Firstly, I think we can be pleased about seeing ‘J’ back on court, being her dominant self. So proud of her and the journey she’s been on,” the defender said. “So rewarding for her to get her first win with us this season.
” Also making the Fever’s win impressive was that they missed rising star Ruth Aryang at the other end of the court. The 21-year-old defender ruptured her Achilles in training, and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. She was set to represent Australia at the Youth World Cup, but Nexhip believes she was in the mix for the senior team too.
“I honestly think she was in Diamonds contention at the end of the year with the way she was playing,” he said. ‘THEY’RE MISSING SOMETHING’: VIXENS’ SHOOTING MIX QUESTIONED The Melbourne Vixens would be disappointed with their second loss from three games to start the season. It is far from panic stations for Simone McKinnis’ side after dropping matches to the Fever and the Thunderbirds in Adelaide, but last year’s runners-up are yet to click into gear.
Captain Kate Moloney led the charge from centre on Sunday with 11 goal assists, 24 feeds and six pick-ups as she was rated the second-best player on court behind Fowler-Nembhard. But despite boasting a star-studded line-up with plenty of international experience, Diamonds great Kim Green feels like Moloney is not receiving enough support at present. “There’s that little bit of spark that’s missing around her,” Green said.
“You need everyone lifting at the same time. I’m not certain we’ve seen that from the Vixens as yet. “When we do see it, it’s brilliant.
Need more from everyone else.” The other area that Green feels like has been a concern is the goal third. Diamonds duo Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin have been incredibly reliable shooting combination, and youngster Lily Graham made an impact off the bench with 11 goals and three super shots.
But Green believes the Vixens could be missing a trick by not having a taller goal shooter like the Fever and some of their other rivals do. “I think the one thing I’m finding with the Vixens is they don’t have the ability to just have that holding shooter and someone working out the front,” Green said. “It’s all very movement based and has to get in the circle to really drive, and pull players out, not Garbin holding.
“I just think they’re missing something in that shooting end in particular and it is a Fowler-Nembhard, that little bit more height where they can launch it from anywhere. “I think you look at the Vixens last week. They didn’t play great against the Giants.
They got the win but not the performance that they wanted, and they said that.” ‘THIS GIRL IS A FREAK’: KIWI THE KEY TO SWIFTS SENSATIONAL START The unbeaten NSW Swifts made their biggest statement of the season with their eight-goal victory against the Thunderbirds in Adelaide. Impressively, they have won two of their three matches on the road and their backs were against the wall on Easter Sunday.
Down by seven at quarter time, the Swifts won every quarter from then on to run over the top of the reigning premiers who has won 11 straight matches at home previously. Assistant coach Dylan Nexhip and experienced mid-courter Verity Simmons admitted that they have been flustered only away from home, but they rallied at quarter time by getting back to basics. “The Thunderbirds have done this amazing job in the last two years to have this aura created around them and they absolutely deserve that with what they’ve been able to achieve,” Nexhip said.
“So I think it’s trying to disconnect from that and go back to what you can focus on and what you can control. “We looked at the technical side of things, making sure our footwork was really sharp, our ball delivery. All the simple stuff that you should be able to do well but it makes a big difference in a game like this.
” A key pillar of the Swifts’ stellar start to the season has been the impact of recruit Grace Nweke. The New Zealand goal shooter gave the Thunderbirds serious headaches, shooting 48 goals from 50 attempts, as she has formed a scary pairing with England star Helen Housby, who shot 9 of 9 as well as 4 of 5 super shots. Nweke has shot 148 goals in three games, second only in the competition to Maverick Shimona Jok on 152, and she drawn comparisons to Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
Simmons, who played with the Jamaican star for six years at the Fever before she quit netball last year to play AFLW, said she expected playing with Nweke to be similar to Fowler-Nembhard, but has been taken aback by what her new teammate has produced already. “When I first started working with Grace at training, I thought this is going to be exactly like ‘J’, put it in like her, turn, put and here we go,” Simmons said. “But it actually took me a little bit of time to adjust.
“Grace sets up really differently. Holds really opposite to ‘J’ so it took me a little bit of time to warm in. “But the strength, she’s 23-year-old.
She is so young and I think it’s quite scary with what she can actually do. How athletic she is, how she trains has really opened my eyes and I think ‘wow, this girl is a freak’. “She is going to be something huge in the future and she’s already making grounds in this game.
” ‘IT’S A SHOOTER THING’: AIKEN-GEORGE BREAKS REMARKABLE RECORD The Thunderbirds were still able to celebrate Romela Aiken-George’s record breaking effort despite going down to the Swifts. The Jamaican goal shooter has now played more games than anyone else across the former ANZ Championship and Super Netball. The 36-year-old has stepped out on court 233 times, breaking Geva Mentor’s record for national league appearances.
Aiken-George played 197 times for the Queensland Firebirds, winning three premierships in the process, before spending the 2023 season at the Swifts and then moving to Adelaide where she was the Grand Final MVP in the Thunderbirds’ victory last year. Verity Simmons said that she was thrilled for Aiken-George to reach such an impressive milestone. “It’s a shooter thing, sitting back there with longevity, isn’t it?” she said with a laugh.
“I was so happy for ‘Didi’ the fact that she’s still out there, still going and making such an impact in the game. “Again, another one of those freak of an athletes who can do amazing things and top it off she’s such a beautiful person.” The post-game ceremony to mark the occasion included Aiken-George being given a guard of honour from both sides and she was quite emotional in the moment, with Catherine Cox suggesting it may be informing everyone that she is near the end of her career.
“This was crying full blown tears like there’s something we don’t know. It feels like there could be a bit of finality to this,” Cox said. ‘I CAN DO IT’: KOENEN RESPONSES TO WEEKS OF CRITICISM Sunshine Coast Lighting shooter Cara Koenen is another who has featured heavily in talking points so far this year.
A fortnight ago, Catherine Cox raised her concerns about the Diamonds shooter “becoming obsolete” because of her reluctance to shoot super shots, but the Australian great was thrilled to see Koenen find the confidence to take it on. She nailed two of two super shots attempts, and in a touching moment, let out a little celebration as if she was telling herself ‘yes, I did it’ during the Lightning’s 14-goal win in the Queensland derby. “As much as Robert Irwin got a very, very loud cheer, Cara Koenen started shooting two-point shots and the roof almost blew off the stadium.
She was outstanding, vintage Cara Koenen,” Cox said. “She had been under a little bit of pressure, particularly with that connection with Steph Fretwell, it was back to its best.” The Lighting switched their shooters around sending Koenen back to her usual goal shooter position with Fretwell out in front and it paid dividends in the former’s 100th national league game.
Koenen shot 37 of 42 attempts in addition to her two super shots which came late in the game as the crowd begged for her to take on the long range shots. “How hard would that be for Cara Koenen though? Everyone around her wants her sinking the super shots, there’s been talk about it every week, she lands the ball in the white arc and people are screaming at her to drop one through and sinks two right at the end,” Cox said. Kim Green added: “The look on her face when she takes that first one.
It was like ‘I can do it’. “It was actually really nice vision to see. We’ve been hard on her here to turn and shoot those and have the confidence because we’ve seen it before.
We know she’s capable of doing it, but yeah it was vintage Koenen.” ARE THE MAVS ‘A TOP FOUR CONTENDER’? The Mavericks’ 14-goal win against the Giants was only the first of the year, but it left Catherine Cox and Kim Green optimistic that the league’s newest team can do some damage this year. Goal shooter Shimona Jok is leading the league in goals after making 60 of 63 attempts in her most recent outing.
Uneeq Palavi stepped into the side and impressed playing the full 60 minutes at goal attack, making 7 of 7 shots, sinking two super shots and racking up 24 feed. Molly Jovic fired in centre with Jok the only player on the court with a higher rater, and it has come with three big names on the sidelines. England star goaler Eleanor Cardwell is missing due to setback in her recovery from knee surgery last October and fellow shooter, and Roses teammate, Sasha Glasgow is out with a calf issue picked up in their Round 2 loss to the Giants.
Meanwhile, defender Lauren Parkinson is nearing a return from an ACL injury. “This team can do some extraordinary things this year,” Cox said on Pivot. Green then responded by saying, “I said it last week but I think they’re a top four contender”.
“Especially when they’re able to bring in the different dynamics of those three players. Parkinson is itching to get out on court and I know that’s about three weeks away. “Really exciting times for the Mavs.
“They have been struck with a lot of injuries for how young they are as a club, so really, really looking forward to what headaches it’s going to cause Tracey Neville.”.
