Champs’ ‘embarrassment of riches’; Giants’ big injury problem: Every Super Netball team analysed

The first whistle of the 2023 Super Netball season will blast on Saturday afternoon, when interstate rivals Collingwood and the Swifts meet in the opening game at John Cain Arena.

A sure-to-be-fiery grand final rematch between the Fever and Vixens will follow in Perth on Saturday night, before on Sunday, the Lightning hosts the Giants on the Sunshine Coast and the Thunderbirds travel to Brisbane to take on the Firebirds.

Here’s netball pundit Erin Delahunty’s take on how the teams shape up.

Melbourne Vixens

Coach: Simone McKinnis.

Squad: Mwai Kumwenda, Kiera Austin, Liz Watson, Kate Moloney, Kate Eddy, Jo Weston, Emily Mannix, Hannah Mundy, Olivia Lewis and Rahni Samason (injured, replacement TBA).

Training partners: Gabby Coffey, Ruby Barkmeyer, Sharni Lambden, Maggie Caris and Emily Andrew.

Outs: Nil.

Last season: 2nd.

Best 7: GS: Kumwenda, GA: Austin, WA: Watson, C: Moloney, WD: Eddy, GD: Weston, GK: Mannix.

Quick-fire analysis: While losing injured shooter Samason for a chunk of the season is a big loss, the Vixens’ best seven – which boasts four current Diamonds in Austin, Watson, Moloney and Weston – remains intact and is formidable. With that line, the Vixens beat eventual premiers the Fever not once, but twice last year. McKinnis’ charges also faltered at key moments though, most notably in the grand final, so they need to close the gap between their best and worst on any given day.

Look for … Liz Watson to somehow get better. At 28, the Australian captain and Vixens co-captain is hitting the peak of her powers and rarely puts in a bad quarter, let alone a bad game. Already close to the fittest player in the league, she looks in career-best shape and raring to go.

West Coast Fever

Coach: Dan Ryan.

Squad: Jhaniele Fowler, Sasha Glasgow, Emma Cosh, Verity Simmons, Jess Anstiss, Sunday Aryang, Courtney Bruce, Rudi Ellis, Kim Jenner and Alice Teague-Neeld.

Training partners: Nat Butler, Ruth Aryang, Jordan Cransberg and Zoe Cransberg.

Outs: Stacey Francis-Bayman (retired).

Last season: Premiers.

Best 7: GS: Fowler, GA: Glasgow, WA: Teague-Neeld, C: Simmons, WD: Anstiss, GD: Aryang, GK: Bruce.

Quick-fire analysis: Almost every pundit is predicting the West Australians to go back-to-back and it’s easy to see why. The side has only added strength – in the form of defender Kim Jenner and some impressive training partners – to a winning line in the off-season, so it’s hard to find the chink in the armour. Much of the teams’ fortunes will again rest on the shoulders of “Fever redeemer” Fowler, but if the 33-year-old can deliver the volume and accuracy she did in 2022, her side looks borderline unbeatable.

Look for … how Dan Ryan manages an embarrassment of riches in defence. Between Bruce, Aryang, Anstiss, Jenner and Ellis, he has more options than most across the three positions, but who he uses and when will be fascinating. Being able to mix things up defensively could become another feature of the powerful green machine.

Giants Netball

Coach: Julie Fitzgerald.

Squad: Jo Harten (injured), Matisse Letherbarrow, Sophie Dwyer, Maddie Hay (injured), Jamie-Lee Price, Amy Parmenter, April Brandley, Matilda McDonell, Lauren Moore and Amy Sligar.

Training partners: Jemma Donoghue, Charli Fidler, Angelina Frketic and Erin O’Brien.

Outs: Nil.

Last season: 3rd.

Best 7: GS: Harten, GA: Dwyer, WA: Hay, C: Jamie-Lee Price, WD: Parmenter, GD: Brandley, GK: McDonell.

Quick-fire analysis: Coach Fitzgerald must be concerned about the number of niggling injuries her stars are carrying, but if anyone can manage a list, it’s a veteran like her. She’ll need her star shooter Harten to bounce back well from an off-season knee arthroscopy and for Parmenter (knee) and Brandley (foot) to be fully fit after “routine injury management” ruled them out of the pre-season Team Girls Cup. Fit and firing, the Giants will again threaten the top sides.

Look for … Price to stamp her authority early and hard. As one of half a dozen midcourters fighting for a spot in the Diamonds’ World Cup squad Price knows strong performances – and more importantly, consistency – will stand her in good stead. She’s hungry after not making the final Commonwealth Games team last year.

Collingwood Magpies

Coach: Nicole Richardson.

Squad: Shimona Nelson, Nyah Allen (injured), Sophie Garbin, Kelsey Browne, Molly Jovic, Ash Brazill, Jodi-Ann Ward, Geva Mentor, Jacqui Newton, Maddie Hinchliffe and Kelly Singleton (temporary replacement player for Allen).

Training partners: Montana Holmes, Zoe Davies, Casey Adamson and Olivia Wilkinson.

Outs: Maggie Lind and Gabby Sinclair (Celtic Dragons, UK Superleague).

Last season: 4th.

Best 7: GS: Nelson, GA: Garbin, WA: Browne, C: Jovic, WD: Brazill, GD: Ward, GK: Mentor.

Quick-fire analysis: Despite falling over the line to make finals last year, the Pies – one of the best-resourced clubs in the league thanks to being backed by an AFL giant – failed to advance and left fans wondering if they’ll ever cut through. Off-season surgery means young shooter Allen is sidelined to start, so Richardson will have to call on Singleton, who proved handy at the Team Girls Cup. But it’s hard to see how the Pies win enough games to make finals again.

Look for … Brazill to continue to dominate. With her long-dreamt-of Commonwealth Games gold medal in the trophy cabinet, the midcourter no doubt has her eyes on World Cup gold in Cape Town and will want to lock in her place.

NSW Swifts

Coach: Briony Akle.

Squad: Sam Wallace (injured), Helen Housby, Paige Hadley, Maddy Proud, Allie Smith, Maddy Turner, Sarah Klau, Sophie Fawns, Tayla Fraser and Teigan O’Shannassy.

Training partners: Romelda Aiken-George, Dakota Thomas, Chelsea Mann, Lili Gorman-Brown, Audrey Little, Grace Whyte and Kelea Iongi.

Outs: Kelly Singleton (Collingwood).

Last season: 5th.

Best 7: GS: Wallace, GA: Housby, WA: Hadley, C: Proud, WD: Smith, GD: Turner, GK: Klau.

Quick-fire analysis: When “new knee” Wallace rejoins, there’s no reason the Swifts can’t recapture the form that saw them win the 2021 premiership. Wallace and Housby are a proven combination in goals, two of the best in the world run the midcourt, and the defensive pairing of Turner and Klau can dismantle most attack lines. Akle’s side will be determined not to leave its run as late as it did in 2022 though, meaning it just missed out on finals.

Look for … Aiken-George to remind her old side that she’s still got it. With Wallace not yet back, the former Queensland Firebird looks set to debut in her new colours. After the Firebirds unceremoniously let her go, the Jamaican-born star will have a point to prove.

Queensland Firebirds

Coach: Bec Bulley (new).

Squad: Donnell Wallam, Mia Stower, Lara Dunkley, Kim Ravaillion, Gabi Simpson, Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Remi Kamo, Macy Gardner, Ashlee Unie and Emily Moore.

Training partners: Hulita Veve, Isabelle Shearer, Olivia Dijkstra and Leesa Mi Mi.

Outs: Gretel Bueta (maternity), Kim Jenner (West Coast Fever), Eboni Usoro-Brown (retired) and Jemma Mi Mi.

Last season: 6th.

Best 7: GS: Wallam, GA: Stower, WA: Dunkley, C: Ravaillion, WD: Simpson, GD: Bakewell-Doran, GK: Kamo.

Quick-fire analysis: Losing Gretel Bueta, the best player in the world, and a quality defender in Kim Jenner from the roster in the off-season was always going to make things tough for the Firebirds in 2023. But the sudden, secrecy-shrouded departure of assistant coach Sara Francis-Bayman just a few days out from the season opener has heaped yet more pressure on the purple birds. First-year coach Bec Bulley will call on the capable, but relatively inexperienced Stower and Kamo to fill gaps in her line, but it’s how she manages things off-court that may matter most.

Look for … Wallam to blossom. The First Nations star, who debuted for the Diamonds in 2022, will need to stand tall, literally and metaphorically, for side this year as one of the older and more experienced players.

Adelaide Thunderbirds

Coach: Tania Obst.

Squad: Lucy Austin, Eleanor Cardwell, Georgie Horjus, Tayla Williams, Hannah Petty, Latanya Wilson, Shamera Sterling, Tippah Dwan, Matilda Garrett and Maisie Nankivell.

Training partners: Chelsea Blackman, Sophie Casey, Lauren Frew, Jessie Grenvold and Tyler Orr.

Outs: Lenize Potgieter (Manchester Thunder, UK Superleague) and Elle McDonald (Leeds Rhinos, UK Superleague)

Last season: 7th.

Best 7: GS: Austin, GA: Cardwell, WA: Horjus, C: Williams, WD: Petty, GD: Wilson, GK: Sterling.

Quick-fire analysis: The injection of English shooter Cardwell and local youngster Austin has revitalised the perennially underperforming Thunderbirds – with the side making the final of the recent pre-season Team Girls Cup, after holding up the ladder for most of last season. Cardwell’s scoring ability and natural leadership skills, combined with the defensive power of Wilson and Sterling, makes the Thunderbirds a genuine premiership threat.

Look for … how new assistant coach, former England boss Tracey Neville, makes her mark. Neville and Thunderbirds head coach Obst worked together at the Roses, but the roles were reversed. How the pair, along with assistant coach Cathy Fellows, manage the side’s many possible on-court combinations could be make-or-break for the Thunderbirds.

Sunshine Coast Lightning

Coach: Belinda Reynolds (new).

Squad: Cara Koenen, Steph Wood, Laura Scherian, Mahalia Cassidy, Karla Pretorius, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Annie Miller, Ashleigh Ervin, Tara Hinchliffe (injured, replacement TBA) and Charlie Bell (temporary replacement player for Batcheldor).

Training partners: Ava Black, Bridey Condren, Leilani Rohweder and Nat Sligar.

Outs: Reilley Batcheldor (injured), Maddie Hinchliffe (Collingwood) and Kate Walsh (retired).

Last season: Last.

Best 7: GS: Koenen, GA: Wood, WA: Scherian, C: Miller, WD: Cassidy, GD: Pretorius, GK: Dehaney.

Quick-fire analysis: Big injuries have hit Lightning hard, claiming shooter Batcheldor and defender Hinchliffe before the season proper, but new coach Reynolds still has the current Australian shooting line in Koenen and Wood and an impressive “United Nations” backline to call on. It’s what happens in between those impressive ends that might decide last year’s wooden spooners’ fate in 2023.

Look for … the defensive pairing of Pretorius and Dehaney. Combining Pretorius’ clean but grinding defence outside the circle and sneaky ball-winning skills and 192cm Dehaney’s reach and fearlessness, the duo will rattle many shooting lines. They will match up well against most sides and given time to build, could become fearsome.

Super Netball 2023

Round 1

Saturday 18 March, all times AEDT

5pm: Magpies v Swifts, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

7pm: Fever v Vixens, RAC Arena, Perth

Sunday 19 March

2pm: Lightning v Giants, USC Stadium, Sunshine Coast

4pm: Firebirds v Thunderbirds, Nissan Arena, Brisbane