Nearly half of 2012's matches were decided by five goals or less.
The 2012 ANZ Championship was a breakthrough season with a number of record-breaking feats, huge interest in the sport, game-changing moves and, ultimately, one of the most hotly contested seasons in the history of the competition. Nearly half of this year’s matches were decided by five goals or less. Every team was incredibly competitive and the Swifts finished nine of their 13 matches within this margin. For the NSW Swifts, their season ended in fifth place after narrowly missing out on a finals spot with a nail-biting one-goal loss, 50-49, to Preliminary Finalists the Northern Mystics. At the 2012 Swifts Gala Dinner, Lisa Beehag reflected on the season, the Swifts family and the outstanding women who, collectively, are the 2012 Swifts.
“Season 2012 has been a success on many fronts, both on court and off court,” Beehag commented.
“The NSW Swifts membership continues to grow and that is a clear reflection on the players and how well Netball NSW engages with the netball community.”
Reflecting on the Swifts season journey, Beehag couldn’t help but heap praise on the ANZ Championship’s fifth season.
“Every season since the inception of the ANZ Championship has seen a new Champion. It goes a long way to demonstrating how tight the competition is between the ten teams and how the ANZ Championship is going from strength to strength!”
Considering the NSW Swifts narrowly missed out on a finals spot despite winning eight games this season, Beehag couldn’t blame bad luck for her team’s early finish.
“At the end of the day, we can only control what we can, and that’s out on court…the Canterbury Tactix game definitely stands out for us – if we had won that game, it could have been a very different end to our season,” Beehag stated.
“That’s the beauty of hindsight…and so now we have to look ahead to do better next year. It’s getting harder for teams to repeat their Championship success (with no team being able to secure a place in the finals the year after winning the premiership) but it is our goal in 2013 to be the first team to be crowned Champions for a second time. In 2012 we had a really solid, happy and united team and part of that was believing they had an opportunity and that each player was part of a whole picture.”
2012 NSW Swifts Season Highlights:
NSW Swifts debut of Kimberly Borger* (Round 1), Paige Hadley* (Replacement Player – Round 1), April Letton (Round 1), Jo Sutton (Round 1) and coaches Lisa Beehag* and Sue Hawkins*.
*indicates ANZ Championship debut
ANZ Championship Awards:
Susan Pratley was a MVP nominee, Amorette Wild was a finalist for the Best Young Player Award.
Milestones:
– Susan Pratley shot her 1600th goal in Round 11 of the competition
– Vanessa Ware played her 50th ANZ Championship game in Round 9
Final Placings:
1 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic
2 Melbourne Vixens
3 LG Mystics
4 Adelaide Thunderbirds
5 NSW Swifts
6 Queensland Firebirds
7 Central Pulse
8 West Coast Fever
9 Southern Steel
10 Canterbury Tactix
2012 NSW Swifts:
Mo’onia Gerrard (Co-Captain), Kimberlee Green (Co-Captain), Kimberly Borger, Carla Dziwoki, Kristy Guthrie, April Letton, Samantha May, Sonia Mkoloma, Susan Pratley (Vice-Captain), Jo Sutton, Vanessa Ware, Amorette Wild.
Head Coach – Lisa Beehag
High Performance Coach – Sue Hawkins
Assistant Coach/Performance Analysis – Rob Wright
Manager – Rebecca Pollard
Physiotherapist – Brett Doring
Physiotherapist – Paula Peralta
Physiotherapist – Sean Mungovan
Strength & Conditioning – Jason Schulman
