LAST weekend saw the Ballarat Blitz take place, where four Suncorp Super Netball teams – Adelaide Thunderbirds, GIANTS Netball, Melbourne Vixens and West Coast Fever – gathered in the Victorian city of Ballarat for a mini preseason round robin event. Each team played two matches across the weekend.

Below take a look at who played, what the scores were and what the weekend taught us about the teams ahead of the 2024 SSN season.

SCORES AND STARTING SEVENS

GIANTS vs Thunderbirds

GIANTS 15 | 18 | 13 | 6 (52)
Thunderbirds 11 | 14 | 17 | 14 (56)

GIANTS

GS: Sophie Dwyer

GA: Kelly Singleton

WA: Chelsea Pittman

C: Jamie-Lee Price

WD: Sam Winders

GD: Jodi-Ann Ward

GK: Tilly McDonnell

Other players used: Erin O’Brien, Monika ‘Otai, Gina Crampton, Amy Sligar

Thunderbirds

GS: Romelda Aiken-George

GA: Lucy Austin

WA: Georgie Horjus

C: Tayla Williams

WD: Latanya Wilson

GD: Matilda Garrett

GK: Shamera Sterling-Humphrey

Other players used: Lauren Frew, Laura Scherian, Sophie Casey, Molly Watson Tyler Orr

Vixens vs Fever

Vixens 21 | 11 | 17 | 13 (62)
Fever 17 | 13 | 18 | 18 (66)

Vixens

GS: Sophie Garbin

GA: Kiera Austin

WA: Hannah Mundy

C: Kate Moloney

WD: Kate Eddy

GD: Jo Weston

GK: Rudi Ellis

Other players used: Emily Mannix, Emily Andrew, Lily Graham, Zara Walters

Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler

GA: Olivia Wilkinson

WA: Alice Teague-Neeld

C: Kelsey Browne

WD: Jess Anstiss

GD: Sunday Aryang

GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney

Other players used: Fran Williams, Jordan Cransberg, Ruth Aryang, Shanice Beckford

GIANTS vs Fever

GIANTS 19 | 18 | 19 | 15 (71)

FEVER 12 | 24 | 17 | 13 (66)

GIANTS

GS: Jo Harten

GA: Sophie Dwyer

WA: Chelsea Pittman

C: Jamie-Lee Price

WD: Amy Sligar

GD: Jodi-Ann Ward

GK: Tilly McDonnell

Other players used: Erin O’Brien, Sam Winders

Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler

GA: Shanice Beckford

WA: Kelsey Browne

C: Jordan Cransberg

WD: Jess Anstiss

GD: Sunday Aryang

GK: Fran Williams

Other players used: Alice Teague-Neeld, Olivia Wilkinson, Ruth Aryang, Kadie-Ann Dehaney

Vixens vs Thunderbirds

Vixens                 10 | 16 | 11 | 19 (56)

Thunderbirds    10 | 15 | 15 | 20 (60)

Vixens

GS: Sophie Garbin

GA: Kiera Austin

WA: Hannah Mundy

C: Kate Moloney

WD: Kate Eddy

GD: Emily Mannix

GK: Rudi Ellis

Other players used: Gabby Coffey, Emily Andrew, Zara Walters

Thunderbirds

GS: Romelda Aiken-George

GA: Lauren Frew

WA: Georgie Horjus

C: Laura Scherian

WD: Tayla Williams

GD: Latanya Wilson

GK: Shamera Sterling-Humphrey

Other players used: Lucy Austin, Tyler Orr, Sophie Casey, Matilda Garrett, Molly Watson

NOTES

Fever

• Alice Teague-Neeld was more daring with her play than fans are used to seeing from her. Something has happened over the offseason to give the mid more confidence to go out and play the riskier passes that have more flare in them and that’s not a bad thing.
• Although she has spent much of the last few seasons in wing attack, Kelsey Browne did play a fair chunk of time in centre across the weekend and seemed to have no issues. There was a little bit of untidiness from her around the circle, but that is easy to fix as she becomes more used to playing with her new teammates.
• The battle to become Jhaniele Fowler’s shooting partner is set to be a fascinating one. Although new to elite netball, Olivia Wilkinson slotted in seamlessly into the line up, and played with a level of confidence much beyond her debut season status, and she did so across both goal shooter and goal attack. Shanice Beckford meanwhile took a while to warm up into the weekend, but at full flight it was clear why Dan Ryan brought her over. They are both very different players but both bring plenty to the side.
• Dan Ryan was certainly not afraid to make changes across the weekend, and those changes were not too disruptive on court. With so many potential combos on his hands, the Fever boss really utilised the weekend to get a good look at everyone in multiple positions.

GIANTS

• Chelsea Pitman is a huge get for the Giants. Trying to replace someone with the skills and knowledge of Maddie Hay was never going to be easy, but the Giants have pulled it off with Pitman. Her experience and smarts is going to be her biggest area of impact this season.
• Samantha Winders is also a great get for the Giants. Able to play a variety of roles, she has pace to burn and will always be a great boost of energy for the Giants as they transition into attack during games.
• Jo Harten did not play on the Saturday, so Sophie Dwyer moved into goal shooter, and despite Dwyer playing the majority of time in goal attack for the past few seasons she did not look out of place in shooter. She combined really well with Kelly Singleton to make the Giants’ circle really mobile and moving.
• Speaking of Harten, she seems to be playing with more flare and freedom at the moment than she did in previous seasons. Perhaps no longer being an international player and coming to the end of her career has given Harten the freedom to be like this, knowing that there’s going to be less of an impact for her from the consequences than there was in previous years.
• Teams will have to rejig how they feed their shooters when they play the Giants. The aerial talent of Jodi-Ann Ward combined with the improvements in that department of Matilda McDonell means that the aerial route just will not be an option against them.

Thunderbirds

• One problem that they had last year that they do not seem to have quite fixed yet is needing Georgie Horjus to play multiple positions at once, with her being by far both their best wing attack and goal attack options. Whether this means Laura Scherian plays more game time at wing attack to allow Horjus the freedom to go and shoot remains to be seen.
• At times the Thunderbirds’ shooting end was not quite connected. It does not seem like they have settled on their optimal starting combination and it showed. At the moment the positives of having three quite tall shooters is being outweighed by the lack of mobility that brings. However, Lucy Austin is a lot more effective at goal shooter than she is at goal attack, and hopefully for the sake of Thunderbirds fans it is Lauren Frew or Horjus that is more often used in that role.
• Speaking of Frew, you could be forgiven she was not about to embark on her debut season. She looked like an absolute natural out on court, and against some tough opponents she did not look phased at all. She was also really lively when she came on at goal attack, proving that speed and height are not always inter connected.
• The confidence with which Shamera Sterling-Humphrey plays is impressive and admirable. She knows how talented she is, and in a non cocky way uses that to back herself in every situation she finds herself in.

Vixens

• Hannah Mundy looks like she is ready to take that starting seven role vacated by Liz Watson. She was an unfazed workhorse out on court across both games, providing speed and position variety that will be a great addition to the Vixens this year. Replacing the Australian captain was never going to be easy, but Mundy will fill the role nicely.
• Another new face that will be a great replacement for a departed one is Rudi Ellis. Olivia Lewis’ departure meant the departure of someone with a great aerial game, and one of Ellis’ strengths is her aerial game, so she will be a handy replacement for the Vixens.
• You can tell Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin have played plenty of netball together, the way their partnership moves in the circle. However, that connection was off in the second game against the Thunderbirds, and it was because they were unable to counter the effects of Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson in the air.
• Unlike her other coaches, it was clear Simone McKinnis’ main aim of the weekend was not to test out combinations, with very little rotation of her starting line up across either game. It is also clear that Emily Andrew will likely be the one to fill the vacant shooter slot at the Vixens, as she got to play a part in both games while Lily Graham only played in one.