FINALS are finally here for the Victorian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (VMMNA) with the knockout semis taking place tonight. The eight teams across two Premier Divisions will take to the court, predominantly on Court 6.

MIXED PREMIER DIVISION

In the Mixed Premier Division, two teams have stood out above the rest all season, and play in their respective semi-finals. Top-of-the-table Parkville Panthers earned the minor premiership with an eye-catching win over the second placed Geelong Cougars last week. The Panthers were able to set up their semi-final with Melbourne Quakes who scraped into the top four after a win in the final round, and a technical error gifting the would-be finalists Ariels with an additional four points during a bye round. Unfortunately for the Quakes, they ran into a red-hot Parkville Panthers in Round 4, going down by 30 goals (45-75) in the side’s only meeting this season.

The Panthers were without Riley Richardson and Brodie Roberts last week against the Cougars and still got the job done, suggesting the strength of the line-up. Jake Hederics remains a threat at either end of the court, with sharp-shooting Connor Lilly and the defensive stability of Georgette Paatsch among the key players to keep an eye on. For the Quakes, they will be relying on the combination of Simon Cartwright and Caitlin Cooke to try and contain the shooting circle, whilst Rebecca Winch will be looking to put up a number of opportunities at the other end of the court.

Meanwhile the other semi-final features two sides that clashed just a fortnight ago, with second placed Geelong Cougars taking on third placed Valley Wolves for a spot in the decider. That game was tight early before the Cougars blew out to a large lead, only for the Wolves to come back. Though Geelong still won by eight goals, it looks like to be a cracking contest. When they played in Round 2, Geelong got up by 12 goals.

Analysing the last time these sides played, Mel Bragg was a key player through the midcourt for the Cougars, but the former Super Netball player missed last week. Georgina Cuthbertson played well in wing attack and goal attack for the Cougars last time out against the Wolves, as did Jake Dambrauskas. Alastair Punshon was key in goal shooter for that game, piling up 46 of his side’s 54 goals. Likely to team up with Monique Nagle and Natalie Billings in the goal circle, the attacking end could be crucial, whilst Sam MacKerras could be the man to try and stop Brayden Pastore and Cameron Allum.

SEMI-FINALS FIXTURES:

Parkville Panthers vs. Melbourne Quakes @ 9:20pm, Court 6
Geelong Cougars vs. Valley Wolves @ 9:20pm, Court 7

MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION

Having just scraped into the top four with a one-goal final round win over Ariels, City Heat will be looking to repeat what only they managed to do this season, and defeat top of the table St Therese. The minor premiers might have been missing a couple of players on the night, but it was full credit to the heat, with their backs against the wall and needing to win to reach finals, to defeat the previously unbeaten St Therese. They face off in the later 8pm match for a spot in the decider. To put the upset win of Round 9 in perspective, when the sides faced way back in Round 2, St Therese destroyed City Heat by 35 goals (72-37), so both teams will come in with hope.

St Therese is coming off a massive 33-goal win where Hederics and Tom Hardwick were among the top players. But looking back a fortnight ago, it was James Matthews who scored 21 of his side’s 35 goals to get on top of Hederics in a great head-to-head battle. Punshon was another key player for the Heat on the day, with Jed Christian able to feed it well into the circle. That night the ladder leaders were without Richardson, with James Sutton instead doing well in wing defence, with Chris Cameron key in centre, sharing the role with Tristan Comans.

In the other match, Netblacks face an out of sorts Southern Seahawks who they only beat just last week. In that clash, Netblacks ran out comfortable 24-goal winners, meaning the Seahawks will have to turn it around and quick if they are to remain in contention for the title. The earlier clash between these sides back in Round 6 was the abandoned round, so they only have the one clash to go off. Though the more worrying sign for the Seahawks is the last time they won was way back on December 8. At that stage they were 4-0, and since then, have finished 4-4 with a bye in between.

In last week’s clash, the Netblacks really produced a four-quarter effort, but particularly dominated across the first three terms to open up a 23-goal lead. It helps having Junior Levi as the most reliable shooter under the post, and Tim Malmo and Terron King will have a tough ask yet again. MacKerras could be an option as well having played at goal defence for the Seahawks last week, though midcourters Deepak Patu and Cameron Powell are the ones who control momentum and the feeds to set up Levi. That means Quinn Spencer and Hadley Dixon could be the ones with the jobs to try and quell them, and turn around the performance just seven days later.

SEMI-FINALS FIXTURES:

Netblacks vs. Seahawks @ 6:40pm, Court 6
St Therese vs. City Heat @ 8:00pm, Court 6