THE Melbourne Vixens and Sunshine Coast Lightning dominated our Draft Central Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) Team of the Week credit to their impressive performance in the semi-finals. After a disappointing performance in the semi-finals both the Magpies and Swifts failed to have players nominated for this weeks team.

GK: Emily Mannix (Melbourne Vixens)

The Melbourne Vixens goal keeper did her homework throughout the week, nullifying the influence of opponent Shimona Nelson under the post. Her ability to contest the hands of Nelson and block easy access into the circle put her side in good stead. Mannix set the tone early getting up high and using her footwork to get around the body of Nelson and confuse the space to pick off passes and clog the goal circle. She picked up five gains and four intercepts while staying away from the whistle with 11 penalties for the match showing her ability to stay in place and cause headaches for the Collingwood attack end.

GD: Karla Pretorius (Sunshine Coast Lightning)

It is no surprise Pretorius made the Team of the Week once again with another incredible performance reducing the impact of both Helen Housby and Sophie Garbin throughout the match. Her dynamic movement and strength across the court enabled her to get hands to ball with ease. Pretorius displayed her skill and netball know how to pick up ground balls and work the angles to manoeuvre around the body and get timely tips. Her quick feet and impressive vision was on full display collecting four gains, three intercepts and four deflections.

WD: Renae Ingles (Melbourne Vixens)

In what could have been her last game the Melbourne Vixens veteran left nothing to chance completely dominating Kimiora Poi. From the first whistle Ingles showed her intent using her long reach to block the vision of her opposition while also putting in a wealth of work off the body to limit the space. Her ability to block the drive of Poi and reduce her impact across the court was second to none while her skill to bring the ball back down the court played a huge part in the Vixens success.

C: Laura Langman (Sunshine Coast Lightning)

The Lightning captain set the tone in the opening seconds of the game making her a sure start in Draft Central’s Team of the Week. Langman is no stranger to the big stage, well and truly taking ownership across the midcourt for Sunshine Coast with her strong drives and immense defensive pressure. She took her game to a whole other level contesting every single pass and running rings around both Paige Hadley and Tayla Fraser amassing two intercepts and two gains. Although her defensive pressure was elite her ability to feed the ball into the circle was impressive with 46 feeds resulting in 18 goal assists.

WA: Liz Watson (Melbourne Vixens)

After a quiet week Watson proved her worth and experience dominating in the attacking third with her strong drives, quick hands and ability to exploit space. Her timing was on full display throughout the game hitting the circle edge with precision and working the angles well to hold space. Watson varied her passes into the circle delivering ball into Thwaites and Philip effortlessly with 22 goal assists.

GA: Tegan Philip (Melbourne Vixens)

Philip had another stellar performance with the goal attack taking full advantage of the space she was granted. She ran hard throughout the game and proved to be a real playmaker for the Vixens setting up clever plays and sticking to her strengths driving through the circle and burning April Brandley on the entry. Her ability to stop on a dime and turn and shoot was second to none while her connection with Thwaites under the post proved hard to stop for the Collingwood defenders. Philip notched up 29 goals from 36 attempts at 81 per cent.

GS: Caitlin Thwaites (Melbourne Vixens)

The talented goal shooter made her presence felt from the get go showing her versatility coming out of the goal circle while also holding strong under the post. Her ability to turn and shoot from anywhere in the circle made her a real force to be reckoned with nailing 29 goals from 33 attempts at 88 per cent. Thwaites displayed her silky footwork and strength to out body Geva Mentor on more than one occasion.

BENCH: Phumza Maweni (Sunshine Coast Lightning), Cara Koenen (Sunshine Coast Lightning), Kate Moloneyy (Melbourne Vixens)

All three players dominated for their respective sides but were narrowly nudged out of their starting position and instead earned a spot on the bench for this rounds Team of the Week. Phumza Maweni was exceptional in defence holding up the goal circle for the Lightning with her quick feet and ability to get hands to ball. Her impressive timing and vision proved too strong for the Swifts who struggled to combat her defensive prowess with the goal keeper notching up three gains, two intercepts and nine deflections. Up the other end, Cara Koenen impressed while on court commanding the ball under the post and backing herself time and time again to slot a game high 30 goals from 32 attempts at 94 per cent. Koenen made no mistake in the goal circle positioning well under the post to pick up four rebounds while using her speed and vision to work the baseline. Through the midcourt Melbourne Vixens centre and MVP for the game, Kate Moloney highlighted her dazzling form. Moloney ran hard throughout the game constantly re-offering around the circle edge and using the ball cleverly to slice through the defence.