Round five of the Super Netball has come to a close, with yet another exciting week of netball action.
The round kicked off with the Giants backing up their strong performance in Adelaide when they faced Collingwood at Ken Rosewall Arena and closed with yet another cracking match between the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the NSW Swifts.
While over at Nissan Arena, one of the greats for the Firebirds in Gabi Simpson reached her 150th milestone in what was one of the best second half performances from the Firebirds.
ESPN takes a look at the four biggest talking points from the match.
SECOND HALF COMEBACK
For the Queensland Firebirds this season, it's the little wins that are important and will give confidence to their young players to eventually get that first win, with Gabi Simpson telling ESPN that the side will have to fall in love with improving in 2023.
The Firebirds went into the half-time break with a 13-goal deficit against the reigning premiers and current ladder leaders in the West Coast Fever, with coach Bec Bulley ringing the changes to bring Macy Gardner into centre, pushing Kim Ravaillion into wing defence and bringing Emily Moore on into goal attack.
By the end of the third quarter, the Firebirds had almost cut the margin in half going into the final change with a seven-goal deficit after winning the quarter 21-15. Gardner was huge in the second half, finishing the match with 15 goal assists and 18 feeds. While Donnell Wallam was instrumental in the comeback, with a run of super shots in the final five minutes bringing the margin to just two goals.
Speaking post-match, Bulley said that despite the Firebirds not getting the win, she's proud of her side's fight back.
"That would have been tough, but they had a good second quarter, they did ok," Bulley said.
"We went down by three (of the quarter score) but to get back to within two in the second half was absolutely amazing and showed a lot of heart, so really proud of that."
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
For the second week in a row, Giants vice-captain Jamie Price has led from the front in the midcourt to get the Giants a win, keeping her side's season alive.
Price was key in her team's win over the Magpies on Saturday, with her defensive capabilities on show, causing the Magpies to turn over the ball and forcing changes in the centre position, as the Magpies looked to nullify her impact.
Once again working well with Amy Parmenter, the pair were able to shut down Kelsey Browne's impact in the first quarter by preventing her from getting depth on the second phase to find Shimona Nelson in the goal circle.
With Amy Parmenter missing all preseason matches due to injury, the combination has once again found form in the last fortnight defensively, especially with the pair having shut down two in-form mid courts.
Speaking post-match, Amy Parmenter said that stopping those strong drives from the Magpies was something that the Giants defence looked at.
"We wanted to stop those big depth drives, that's what Molly and Kelsey are both so good at, running into the pocket and once they've got a run on there's no chance of catching them so trying to keep them up for as long as possible."
THUNDERBIRDS PAIR FLYING UNDER THE RADAR
When you think of the Adelaide Thunderbirds, many look to the bookends as the real key cogs in the side but this weekend there were two players that sometimes fly under the radar.
Despite Hannah Petty returning into the line-up after suffering from an ankle injury, Matilda Garrett got the start in goal defence and continued her strong form in 2023, nullifying the impact of Kiera Austin.
Garrett finished with two intercepts, four gains and three deflections but it was the way that she positioned herself and her footwork which allowed either herself or Shamera Sterling to come up with the ball. With the pair's combination really blossoming into a dangerous unit, with Latanya Wilson out the front in wing defence capping off a lethal defensive end.
Down the other end, Tippah Dwan has become a really dangerous prospect for the Thunderbirds in 2023. Part of that is her fierce combination with England international Eleanor Cardwell, which was once again on show, making it tough for Vixens defenders in Jo Weston and Emily Mannix.
Her speed and creativity compliments the Thunderbirds attack end, especially with Georgie Horjus out in wing attack. Assistant coach Tracey Neville said that she was pleased with the way Dwan has performed so far this season.
"I watched Tippah play a few years ago with the Firebirds and she was outstanding," Neville said. "She's really coming into form, she's really gaining confidence and really working on her game in these critical scenarios, what the defence is going to do to her and how to get out of that.
"More importantly, now she's playing with a smile on her face. She's really enjoying that relationship building with Elenaor Cardwell and hopefully we can develop that more. It's only round five, we've got a long way to go."
HELEN HOUSBY COMING IN CLUTCH
It's not the first time that Helen Housby has won her side a match, with the Commonwealth Games gold medal match in 2018 perhaps the most famous.
Housby has done it once again, with a super shot in the final minute of the game securing the Swifts one goal buffer before a turnover on the Lightning centre pass and the Swifts were able to hold on.
The combination between Romelda Aiken-George and Housby continued to grow week on week, with Housby a lot more confident to take the long-range shots when she's got a strong offensive rebounder in Aiken-George.
Even before the goal, Housby was instrumental in the Swifts performance, whether it was opening up the space in the circle or sweeping around the top of the goal circle and either feeding Aiken-George or doing a quick one-two pass with either Maddy Proud or Paige Hadley.
Swifts co-captain Proud said that she's happy that the Swifts shooting circle will be causing opposition teams plenty of headaches.
"We call her Helen 'clutch' Housby for a reason," Proud said post-match.
"She was just incredible, and I thought she delivered all day, though she just worked and worked and worked. I thought combining with Romelda, every week that they play together their connection is growing more. It gave the Lightning defenders something to think about, they had Didi [Aiken-George] under the post and they also had to worry about Helen being lethal in the two-point zone as well.
"I think when you have two strong targets like that, we're going to have some teams having a bit of a headache. Helen stepped up when it mattered and that's what she's known for and love having her on our side."