ROUND 4 of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season saw the Collingwood Magpies, West Coast Fever, Sunshine Coast Lightning and GIANTS take home the wins. Over the ditch, the Central Pulse, Mainland Tactix and Northern Mystics were the winner in Round 6 of the 2021 ANZ Premiership. We take a look at some of the standout performances and highest stats from the week.

Goals:

Fever goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler continues her dominance in the ring, sinking 55 goals from 59 attempts over the weekend to give her an average shooting accuracy of 93.2 percent. Her efforts scored her the highest Nissan Net Points of the round as well, with 109.5 NNP in total. Shimona Nelson was the most accurate of Round 4, only missing one of her 55 shots for the Magpies in their win over the Firebirds. Swift’s shooter Sam Wallace couldn’t keep up her goal streak this week, only getting 37 of her 40 shots through the ring to give her an accuracy of 92.5 percent. Cara Koenen was strong for Lightning, putting up 38 of their 58 goals in total, while Mwai Kumwenda did her best to keep the Vixens in the game against the GIANTS with 38 goals as well.

The Mystics’ Grace Nweke maintains her run of the highest scorer this round, sinking 47 of her 55 shots to give her an accuracy of 85.5 percent, as well as gaining seven rebounds. However, Tactix shooter Ellie Bird was the most accurate of Round 6 with 95.8 percent, only missing two of her 48 goal attempts. George Fisher was also among the top performers this week, shooting 42 of Steel’s 50 total goals against the Tactix, while Pulse’s Aliyah Dunn put up 39 shots with 35 going through the ring, as well as gaining three rebounds.

Midcourt:

Going up against Diamonds teammate Kate Moloney, GIANTS Jamie-Lee Price worked hard in the midcourt, gaining four intercepts and four gains. She was helped by wing attack Maddie Hay, who had 25 goal assists and 2 deflections for the round. Maisie Nankivell was dominant for the Thunderbirds, with 26 goal assists, one gain and three deflections. Jodi-Ann Ward was also a standout, with a massive 10 deflections and two gains playing in wing defence for the Magpies, while wing attack Kelsey Browne continues to be reliable, with 24 goal assists.

Wing attack Elisapeta Toeava continues to be dominant on the court for the Mystics, contributing to their win with 31 goal assists. On the opposing team, Magic centre Samantha Winders racked up 24 goal assists for the round, as well as one gain, one intercept and one deflection. Madeline Gordon was a standout in wing defence for Pulse, with four gains, two intercepts and two deflections, while Steel wing defence Kate Heffernan managed three intercepts.

Defence:

Lightning’s defensive duo of Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni were unstoppable in Round 4, with Pretorius getting seven gains, five intercepts and two deflections, while Maweni managed six gains, three intercepts and five deflections. At the opposite end of the court, Sarah Klau did her best to hold off the Lightning attack, with seven gains, two intercepts and eight deflections. Fever captain Courtney Bruce demonstrated her skills, with nine gains, one intercept, 10 deflections and four rebounds all together. Kim Jenner also impressed for the Firebirds, with six gains, two intercepts and seven deflections. It is also worth noting Rudi Ellis’s performance for the Firebirds, who despite only being on the court for 14 minutes managed to get two gains and two intercepts in that time.

Kelera Nawai from Pulse was a standout in the defensive end of the court this round, with 12 gains, five intercepts, four deflections and five rebounds in total. The Star’s goal keeper Anna Harrison worked hard, collecting six gains, three intercepts and three deflections. Meanwhile, Tactix’s defenders in Karin Burger and Jane Watson were dominant in the teams win over Steel, with Burger racking up four gains, three intercepts and three deflections, while Watson got seven gains and five deflections for the round.

Picture credit: GIANTS Netball