WEST Coast Fever continued their winning ways making it seven on the trot while the GIANTS fell to their third consecutive loss credit to a strong performance from the Adelaide Thunderbirds. In this series, Draft Central will look at five key learnings from the round whether it be consistent themes or standout performances.

No one is stopping the Fever

Seven rounds into the season and the Fever are yet to drop a game – and most impressively, they do not look like losing. Every time they are challenged they find a way to work through the pressure and prevail with bookends Jhaniele Fowler and Courtney Bruce paving the way. The Fever won every single quarter against the Queensland Firebirds and did the most damage in the final term to really put the nail in the coffin to produce a 10-goal win this round. The midcourt combination of Jess Anstiss and Verity Charles only continues to get better on a weekly basis while the shared load between Alice Teague-Neeld and Sasha Glasgow is becoming more ominous for opposition teams given their ability to seamlessly rotate on and not skip a beat.

NSW Swifts rely too heavily on Wallace

There is no denying that the NSW Swifts have a plethora of key players that are able to lead the charge for their side, but there is one player that carries that little bit of an extra load and that is Sam Wallace. The Trinidad and Tobago product has been in ripping form prior to this match, steaming ahead with her accuracy and volume to post to keep the Swifts in the top four. But she was off her game in Round 7 and it well and truly derailed the Swifts’ attacking shape. Unable to retrieve the high looping pass into the circle which was well covered by Shamera Sterling, Wallace found herself with a mere 14 goals to her name before she was relegated to the bench. It was a very un-Wallace like performance and that impacted the entire Swifts side as they were unable to get any rhythm in attack with Helen Housby and Sophie Garbin not generating a lot of scoring opportunities and the midcourters in Maddy Proud, Paige Hadley, Nat Haythornthwaite and Tayla Fraser not finding the shooters with the same level of ease.

GIANTS rely too heavily on the super shot

There are plenty of pros and cons to the super shot, with traditionalists well and truly against it and revolutionaries enjoying the added level of intensity. The pro – simply, it allows sides to get back into the contest and eat into the margin quickly. The con is it is an added risk given the zone is further away from the post and this is something the GIANTS continue to falter at. Jo Harten is a long bomb pro and Sophie Dwyer is quickly making a name for herself as a long range shooter too, however the duo combined for a whopping 16 attempts in the clash against the Lightning and only sunk six of them. The 43 per cent shooting accuracy from range cost them the game as Harten and Dwyer played the ball around too much looking to create opportunities to shoot further out ,rather than directly under the post which allowed the Lightning to gobble up rebounds and take the cautious approach at the other end. The more the deficit increased, the more reliant the GIANTS became on sinking the two-point shot, but that only presented further problems as the radar was off and what could have been a win led to their third straight defeat.

Collingwood seemed to have found a winning combination

In the past Collingwood have been heavily criticised for the brand of netball they play and the big names they lured to the club. But after a couple of seasons it is clear that the Pies have finally found a solid structure that can win them games especially when the side is allowed to run out a full 60 minutes without changes. Under the tutelage of Nicole Richardson, Shimona Nelson has upped the ante and that was evident against the Vixens where she was up against Jamaican counterpart Kadie-Ann Dehaney, starring throughout the contest. Molly Jovic continues to develop at a rate of knots while Jodi-Ann Ward and Gabby Sinclair both showed their ability to get the job done and fulfil their positional obligations. Collingwood played a really strong team game, using their strengths to full effect to keep the Vixens on the back foot and secure their third victory.

Lightning are a force to be reckoned with when their defence fires up

Fans have been calling for a vintage Karla Pretorius performance and that is what they got in Round 7. The Sunshine Coast Lightning goal defence was at her devastating best causing a ruckus down back alongside partner in crime, Phumza Maweni and that is when they are at their best. When the two defenders are able to pick up ball like they did against the GIANTS and provide chances to capitalise in attack the Lightning are almost impossible to stop with their slick transition. Cara Koenen starred both in goal shooter and goal attack using her baseline drives and netball smarts to weave her magic. The ability to shuffle the magnets around through the centre court with Maddy McAuliffe, Laura Scherian, Binnian Hunt, Mahalia Cassidy and Steph Wood all getting a gig at times is testament to the bench depth the Lightning have.

Photo credit: Jason McCawley