THE final day of the group stage at the 2022 Australian Netball Championships saw wins to Collingwood, Southern Force, the Giants and Queensland to see the ladders set ahead of finals. The competition now moves to finals, with five semi finals to be followed by the placing finals.
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES 17 | 12 | 21 | 17 (67)
WEST COAST FEVER RESERVES 13 | 15 | 6 | 10 (44)
Collingwood kept their undefeated record for the tournament firmly intact with a comprehensive win over the Fever Reserves. Despite a tight first half where the margin was only a goal at the main break, the third term was what really split the teams apart. Collingwood blitzed the Fever in the third term to not only set up the win, but the scale of the win.
It was an all round team performance from the Magpies, with all 12 squad members managing to get a run on court. Jane Cook (32 goals from 32 attempts) led the way up front, Maggie Lind (26 feeds, 23 assists) was busy through mid court while Ramayer Gourley (six rebounds, two intercepts) was stellar in defence.Meanwhile for the Fever Nat Medhurst continued to lead the way up forward, but her numbers were down from previous days which certainly did not help the Fever. Emma Cosh was also busy through midcourt, finishing with 29 feeds and 18 assists.
TASMANIA 5 | 9 | 9 | 3 (26)
SOUTHERN FORCE 18 | 11 | 20 | 28 (77)
The Southern Force finished the group stage of the tournament in dominating fashion, with an extremely comfortable win over Tasmania. This was the Force’s biggest win of the tournament to date, but also the worst performance from the Tasmanians to date. The Tasmanians just could not put the score on the board as the South Australians were at times ruthless with their scoreboard dominance.
Southern Force’s was win so big and they did not even use Lucy Austin all game. Poppy Gilfillan-Silk (31 goals from 37 attempts) and Jacoba Clough (46 goals from 48 attempts) were both stellar in front of goal, and were well fed by the likes of Georgia Dent (51 feeds and 33 assists). Meanwhile for the Tasmanians, Grace Pullen top scored for her side, but no one from Tasmania could match the figures that their opponents delivered.
GIANTS ACADEMY 16 | 14 | 16 | 18 (64)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 (47)
The Giants Academy side finished off their group stage campaign in the perfect way, accounting for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. The Lightning got the better start but the Giants resurged and took the upper hand. This happened in both the first and second quarters, but after that the Giants’ lead continued to grow, with them ultimately prevailing by 17 goals.
For the Giants Matisse Letherbarrow shot a lot but also missed a number of shots. Ange Frketic on the other hand did not miss any, while Amy Sligar (21 feeds and 15 assists) and Emma Thompson (29 feeds and 24 assists) were both busy through mid court. Meanwhile for the Lightning, Annika Lee-Jones tried to keep pace with the likes of Letherbarrow, but the rest of the Lightning shooters could not, and they could really have used the service of Reilley Batcheldor who unfortunately is out injured. Emma Walters (18 feeds and 15 assists) and Annie Miller (24 feeds and 14 assists) played well through midcourt.
CAPITAL DARTERS 9 | 10 | 16 | 11 (46)
QUEENSLAND SAPPHIRES 14 | 14 | 16 | 13 (57)
In the last game of the day, the Queensland Sapphires made it two on the trot with a win over the Canberra Darters. A bad first quarter was what really let the Darters down ultimately. They came back to draw the third quarter and only lose the last by two, but the damage had already been done. The Darters also had more of the time in possession and less unforced turnovers, but could not translate that onto the scoreboard.
For the Sapphires Charlie Bell only missed two shots while Olivia Dijkstra did not miss any. Leesa Mi Mi (24 feeds, 18 assists) was good through mid court, while Mia Stower also played through mid court and away from her normal shooter role and held her own, finishing with 20 feeds and 15 assists.
Meanwhile for the Darters, Olivia Clark only missed one shot, while Latika Tombs (14 assists and 20 feeds) and Taylah Davies (21 feeds and 13 assists) were busy through mid court.
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