Battling coaches unload, a Swifts superstar straight back under pressure and a fringe Diamonds star we shouldn’t forget.
Round 3 of Super Netball is in the books – and here are some of the major talking points.
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FEVER 69 DEF. GIANTS 50 – New coach’s spray as fringe Diamond sends reminder
Nerida Stewart has gone 0-3 since taking over as Giants coach from Julie Fitzgerald – and three games in, she gave her team a frustrated spray as they slid to defeat against West Coast.
With five minutes remaining in the second quarter and already down 14 points, a visibly cranky Stewart brought her players together in a time out and let fly about their off-ball movement in attack.
“All of us out on court is not getting this job done,” Stewart said, with FOX Netball brilliantly capturing the raw moment.
“We sat there and watched the person with the ball and one person if offering. There’s one option to ball. That is not this level of netball. You guys have to give provision to the ball carrier. You can’t step back and wait for it to come to you.
“As attackers, you’ve got to create and demand ball. Let’s go out and shift what we do, at least in our centre passes, all right? Attack ball, provision. That’s what we want. Let’s go.”
Diamonds great Nat Medhurst said that Stewart’s frustration was obvious – and should have been afforded a more immediate response by her players.
“You know as a player that you’re not delivering and I think Nerida would be disappointed that it took so long for the players to actually respond. It took until the next quarter,” Medhurst said on Pivot.
“You need to cop it on the chin and go, ‘All right, this is not good enough, what do I need to do?” I think it’s particularly the people who you’re lining up alongside; so as a goal attack, it would be my goal shooter or wing attack, and go, ‘Right, what do we need to do? How do we work with each other?’ I think you really need to start coming out of yourselves and prove the coach wrong, go, ‘This is what I’m capable of and I’ll show you’. Get out there and be accountable for what you’re delivering.”
The Giants will have a precious shot at a first win this season when they take on the also-winless Queensland Firebirds this Saturday. They do so with Jamaican Test defender Jodi-Ann Ward having made an emotional return from an ACL injury, alongside Kiwi star Jane Watson.
“It’s been really good and it’s just so exciting and so awesome for Jodi-Ann to get back on that court. She’s done so much hard work and she’s a superstar,” Watson said.
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Swifts star’s defiant post-game declaration; Vixens’ surprise Plan B move — SSN Talking Pts
The Giants had no answer for an on-song Fever team that converted 92% of their gains into goals. Fringe Diamond Alice Teague-Neeld led the way with 32 goal assists and 60 circle feeds at wing attack.
While she’s currently a long shot to follow her Diamonds debut of last year with Commonwealth Games selection, it was a reminder of her class in midcourt. A reminder, too, for her critics: she’s not simply feeding into six-time SSN MVP Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard this season.
“We have the likes of Romelda (Aiken-George) at the back, with Sash (Glasgow) sweeping the front, so I think I’ve got great shooters to feed,” Teague-Neeld told Pivot.
“One of my focus points this week from Dan was literally ‘get on the ball’, so I feel like I am at my best when I’ve got the ball in my hand and can create.”
Teague-Neeld said that she has enjoyed reviving her 2022 SSN premiership partnership with Glasgow, after the Roses GA’s stint at Melbourne Mavericks.
“It’s so good to have Sash back,” Teague-Neeld said.
“Yes, she’s been away for a couple of years, but the beauty is we’ve played together and I think that’s really showing out there. She’s back at home, she looks better in a green dress – I’m a little bit biased – but I think she’s playing phenomenal netball.”
Teague-Neeld revealed that she had also had some training reps at GA, with Fever sweating on young shooter Olivia Wilkinson returning from injury.
“We do train it. Haven’t played there much on the SSN court, but I think these two in the circle are doing amazing things and it’s really exciting to have Liv Wilkinson hopefully back in the circle soon. We’ve got a lot of options back in attack.”
LIGHTNING 66 DEF. SWIFTS 65 – Koenen stars at GA as Housby pressure returns
No one knew if Diamond goal shooter Cara Koenen could make a genuine go of playing at goal attack as the Lightning brought in dominant GS Donnell Wallam for this season.
Yet after a starring hand in a thriller against the Swifts, the signs are all pointing towards yes. Koenen recorded 12/14 shooting and had 16 goal assists in a performance convincing enough for Lightning coach Gabi Sinclair benched; curiously alongside unused Diamonds defender Ash Ervin.
“An outstanding game from Cara Koenen … I think she’s growing and taking on that challenge quite nicely,” Thunderbirds premiership winner Sam Poolman said on Pivot.
“She was really clever tonight, knowing when to inject herself into the game. Double play connections with Liz Watson I think really exposed the NSW Swifts and then she was happy to go to post. I think she’s finding a really nice role in this team.”
Diamonds great Cath Cox added: “It really did look like the NSW Swifts were trying to isolate Cara Koenen, but she turned it into a positive for herself.”
Yet up the other end of the court, it was a far different story.
The NSW Swifts’ superstar English GA Helen Housby is back under the microscope after her team slumped to a 1-21 start. She recorded just 5/5 shooting and 17 goal assists, with young attacker Grace Whyte (23 assists) ultimately providing more service to post.
Champion Diamonds shooter Caitlin Bassett weighed in on the Swifts’ early struggles on Pivot.
“For me, it’s the attacking end and they’re just not consistent enough,” she said.
“Grace Nweke put up a mountain of shots, 50 goals, which is amazing for her. But I just don’t think she’s being well enough supported by Helen Housby, consistently, this year.
“We saw Grace Whyte pop into that goal attack position, I thought she did a brilliant job as well, but sometimes when there’s so much change happening, it can be really confusing in an attacking end. Maddy Proud come on for times, we saw the defensive end switch around as well. I really want to know, who are the Swifts’ starting seven solid players, where they get consistency from, because I think that will give them a lot of leverage going forward.”
Cox added: “For me, Grace Whyte was the standout on court. Not only in wing attack but when she was also thrown into that goal attack position.”
The Swifts will try to get back on an even keel against the Fever at home on Sunday.
THUNDERBIRDS 73 DEF. FIREBIRDS 46 – Young gun raises hand as star benched against red-hot favourites
The Thunderbirds are undefeated, the Firebirds winless. It was the Battle of the Birds in name only, as Adelaide romped to a 27-point win in a fixture that left Queensland with both a roaring headache and possible solution.
“They ended up benching Mary Cholhok – you don’t see that happen a lot for the Queensland Firebirds, but that was really the start of the trouble for them,” Cox said of their towering Ugandan goal shooter, who shot just 5/6.
While it was a drastic move from coach Kiri Wills, the injection of Iceland-born young gun Elsa Sif Sandholt brought a welcome jolt to the line-up. The 21-year-old shot 18/19, plus 6/7 Super Shots.
“She had a tough game last season for the Queensland Firebirds (but) she rewrote history and was outstanding for the Firebirds when she entered the court in the second quarter,” Firebirds premiership player Keirra Trompf said on Pivot.
Cox wondered if Wills had seen enough to hand Sandholt the tarting GS bib against the Giants on Saturday.
“If only they had gone to her more often, she was unbelievable wasn’t she, particularly around those Suncorp Super Shots,” Cox said.
“Some solid numbers, keeping in mind she didn’t play the entire game and then was draining them from all over the place. It would have been great to see her be able to do that from the start of the contest, the margin could have been vastly different. But what a star of the future they’ve got there and it will be very interesting to fast-forward a week and see if she’s in that starting line-up or not.”
Wills was suitably impressed with her young shooter, and suggested she had a delicate call to make on Cholhok when asked about a potential start for Sandholt.
“To step up and do what she did was pretty outstanding,” Wills said.
“We obviously have to take care of the players within our group and make sure everybody’s OK with where we’re at. The reality is that you have to perform and you have to do your job, and she definitely put her hand up to be selected for that position.
“But I don’t want to be reactive too quickly, I just want to make sure the rest of our team is OK.”
Wills needs something. Battling to get her team to gel, with the curveball of a hamstring injury to Silver Ferns centre Maddy Gordon, she cut a frustrated figure post-game.
“There’ll be a few sleepless nights I think, for all of us,” she said.
“I think the players will definitely, they come off the court not feeling good and telling you how sorry they are, and there will be moments in that game that will give them nightmares probably for the rest of their lives. But it’s about picking ourselves up. We have an opportunity next week against the Giants – but we’re not going to win any games if we play like that, and we know that.“
For FOX Netball expert Sue Gaudion, it was a throwback to another pivotal moment from last season; albeit with more modest prospects of a turnaround.
“The first thing that comes to mind is Simone McKinnis, maybe it’s time to go to the pub … at Round 3! That looks like a coach, almost similar to Nerida Stewart today, under the pump, under the pressure,” Gaudion said.
“The Firebirds had so much promise, we saw their list heading into season 2026 – but potentially what we’re learning is with big changes in the list comes time for connection and by Round 3, we’re just not seeing it at the moment.”
The Thunderbirds, meanwhile… wow, again.
While the Firebirds managed just 11 gains and converted only 27%, the premiership favourites notched a stunning 28 gains, led by 13 from returned mum Shamera Sterling-Humphrey in a second consecutive MVP performance.
“Unbelievable performance – and a reminder for everyone at home, she’s just coming back from the birth of her first child! She keeps saying she’s going to get better … hard to believe,” Cox said.
Netball Wrap: T-birds record BIGGEST win | 01:12
VIXENS 72 DEF. MAVERICKS 71 (OVERTIME) – Rookie coach’s GS blunder as Diamonds star shows way
The Mavericks are packing genuine power in the shooting end this season, with Reilley Batcheldor and Uneeq Palavi coming in alongside an improved Shimona Nelson.
The Jamaican GS shot a near-flawless 54/56 in a pulsating Melbourne Derby … then wasn’t played by new coach Gerard Murphy as the game entered overtime.
“I was shocked to not see her in that overtime period. I thought she provided a lot for the Mavericks, so I think something that Gez Murphy will reflect on, just those rotations in the shooting circle,” former Diamond Kelsey Browne said on Pivot.
“I thought she was excellent today and it was a real maturity from Shimona Nelson. I thought she handled the physicality of the Vixens defence line. She was strong, she’s added so much to her game, so there’s versatility there for her now. Her accuracy was on song.”
The Mavs lost by a single point for the second straight game. It’s been a painful habit for the club, Browne said.
“This is a real growth area for the Mavericks. It doesn’t matter who’s on this team, it seems to be the way that when a Mavericks team is challenged late in a game, they cannot seem to come away with a win,” she said.
“This is the second week in a row that they have lost by one point, this time in a heartbreaking overtime. This is an area for the Mavericks that they need to gain some maturity in. It’s something that they haven’t managed to find over the last few seasons. They’ll have it there, they’ve got the pieces now, but it’s just that final two, three minutes of a game.”
The Mavs face a brutal test this Saturday against the Thunderbirds, minus veteran defender Tara Hinchliffe after another heartbreaking ACL injury.
The Vixens, meanwhile, will look to maintain the perfect start to their premiership defence when they host the Lightning on Easter Sunday.
A curious statistical wrinkle has reared its head again this season for the premiers, with superstar Diamonds goal attack Kiera Austin leading the league for turnover (24 through three games, and nine against Mavericks).
But after a shaky start on shooting she recorded 15/20 plus 5/8 Super Shots, and stood tall when the derby was there to be won.
“I love what Kiera Austin brings when it comes to mistakes and errors,” Browne said.
“She turns it around and goes, ‘This happened, this is something that happens on a netball court but I have the ability to turn this game around’. And when it mattered for the Vixens, she was the person that stood up.
“It’s no surprise; she’s played in big moments before and when she needs to go to post, she’s got composure. She spoke heavily about Hannah Mundy and Sophie Garbin being her rudders and the people that give her the indicators on the court that she’s doing OK.
“Kiera Austin is a great example to young kids out there of how to turn things around very quickly and win a game for your team.”