Round 10 of Super Netball has come to a close with the top four starting to cement themselves as contenders coming into the final series in late June and early July, while a Vixens win in Melbourne opened the race for the minor premiership.
The Round started off with the Giants scoring a four-goal win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at Ken Rosewall Arena, with the Giants keeping the door on finals slightly ajar while ending the hopes of a return to finals for Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Before the weekend ended with a Fever domination over the Firebirds, breaking the record for the highest score in Super Netball history in the league's 400th game with the Fever scoring 97 goals to the Firebirds 67. Although it wasn't the best day for the Firebirds, the shining light would have been the debut of training partner Leesa Mi Mi [sister of former Firebird Gemma Mi Mi] who came into the side for former captain Gabi Simpson.
ESPN takes a look at the four biggest talking points from the round that was.
FROM BAD TO WORSE FOR MAGPIES
It's been a long week for the Collingwood Magpies and it only got worse over the weekend after they were smashed by the Swifts on Sunday afternoon.
After news broke via Linda Pearce at Code Sport earlier in the week that the Magpies were reviewing the netball program following a meeting between Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly the side had been hoping to put out a strong performance and put their horror week behind them. It was not to be though with the Swifts dominating from the second quarter onwards and eventually winning the second quarter 26-11.
The Magpies seemed to stay in second gear for the match with the side making silly errors that allowed the Swifts to gain possession and then capitalise down the other end, and in Power five the Swifts capitalised on those two-point shots. The Magpies had 12 unforced turnovers through the course of the match as well as 23 turnovers in general play, which really was the story of the day.
MAKING THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES
One of the founding members and a key component to the Giants set-up, Jo Harten's absence could have been a huge blow for the club as she battles a knee flare up, but as they say, when one door closes another one opens.
While Harten is expected to return to the court this season, it hasn't stopped Matise Letherbarrow from stepping up in that shooting circle. The game on Saturday was no different, with Letherbarrow proving once again that she can be a real asset for the Giants in attack.
It's not an easy task coming up against the Lightning defenders of Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Kara Pretorius but Letherbarrow took it in her stride, putting up most of the shots scoring 41 goals and five Supershots. As well as a strong combination with Sophie Dwyer, with the pair having played together across the NSW pathway, the pair have taken the combination to the next level at Super Netball level.
Speaking post-match, Julie Fitzgerald was impressed with the way Letherbarrow was able to back up her performance last week against the Magpies.
"I'm really happy for her, she had a great game last week but she's never had the opportunity to back it up, she showed today that she well and truly deserved that," Fitzgerald said.
FORTRESS JOHN CAIN
It's important to get as many wins as possible at home to create that high pressure environment for opposition teams to come into, even more so when the home venue is the venue of this season's Super Netball Grand Final.
That's exactly what the Melbourne Vixens are doing, turning John Cain Arena into a fortress with the side currently undefeated at the venue this season, with a clinical performance against the ladder leaders in the Adelaide Thunderbirds the latest in their list of victories.
The highlight of the match was the performance from Vixens defender Emily Mannix, who was a real key for the side for a second week in a row. Mannix was in just about everything when the ball came down the defensive end, nullifying the impact of English import Eleanor Cardwell and later Lucy Austin. Mannix finished the match with 11 gains, eight intercepts and six deflections.
Vixens coach Simone McKinnis took the learnings from the last time the two teams met when Latanya Wilson shut down Diamonds Captain Liz Watson. This time around, Watson made the move into centre and dominated with the Thunderbirds not having an answer for her. Watson finished the match with 22 goal assists and 41 feeds. The Vixens will be looking to continue their dominance at home when they take on the inform Swifts next week.
CONCUSSION IN THE HEADLINES AGAIN
nce again, concussion in netball has been brought to the forefront after an incident involving Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud in the first quarter. Proud was involved in a collision with Magpie Sophie Garbin which saw the Swifts hit the deck and was a bit groggy once getting to her feet.
Over the course of the season, we've seen umpires call time and send players from the court when they witness head knocks to receive treatment, however this time neither the on-court umpires or the reserve umpire made a move, instead it was Swifts coach Briony Akle that had to notify the umpire to call time so Proud could receive treatment.
Proud went from the court and went through the required concussion protocols with the 29-year-old having to wait for 15 minutes before returning to the court as the Swifts medical team ticked all the boxes beforw she was re-injected into the game.
Speaking to the media post-match, Maddy Proud said she's all good but happy to take the extra precautions.
"I'm fine actually," Proud said. "I was saying before that Sophie Garbin misses me a bit too much. She wanted to get a little too close to me. A nice little hard one but no dramas. I think with those things you've got to take extra precautions and pass all the tests and feeling fine now.
"I thought I was fine, so I just kept playing so that's why I was alright. Then they had to go through the whole protocols to come back on, making sure I had the right amount of time and sort of followed all the protocols and everything like that so they were very diligent to make sure they did the right things and I was good to go."