The NSW Swifts may have lost to local rivals Giants Netball 54-56 in their second pre-season game of the year but head coach Briony Akle said the long-term signs were good if the club’s youngest players were a barometer of where the club is heading.
The reigning Suncorp Super Netball Premiers made full use of the opportunity to give members of the QBE Swifts Academy a run against top opposition and NSW’s newest wave of talent didn’t disappoint in what was a tough, physical affair.
Played as part of a regional visit to Goulburn, where the 2020 Netball NSW Conference is currently being held, Akle selected young Lismore-born Academy midcourter Leilani Rohweder in the starting seven for her first game in club colours, and others would soon join her.
“It’s been a great weekend of community engagement and learning for the Swifts here in Goulburn and that was a really good game today,” Akle said.
“Pre-season is the ideal time to test combinations and see what you have underneath the top roster and I’m delighted with how our QBE Swifts Academy players did.
“Getting to play with the likes of Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau and Helen Housby, and against players such as Jo Harten and Jamie-Lee Price is a pretty steep learning curve but they more than held their own, and I think it’s a testament to our pathway that these regional kids could step up.
“That they did it on a regional visit to Goulburn is also brilliant. It means young girls in these regional areas can see players not much older that them, and from similar areas, getting to play alongside Premiership winners.
“I’d like to thank everyone in the local community here who has made this weekend memorable, and the Giants for a great contest. We’ll have a few more meetings with them before the season starts proper on May 3rd.”
The Giants had the best of the early exchanges, settling better than the Swifts who were taking time to find their rhythm. With the Giants holding an early 7-3 lead, a timeout was called by Akle and it paid dividends as NSW forced turnovers to get back within one.
A Rohweder intercept would prove the catalyst for the Swifts taking the lead late in the term after the Giants threatened to opening a significant gap with good pressing in attack and defence.
Akle used the second quarter to introduce more Academy talent with Wagga Wagga’s Sophie Fawns and Eastwood Ryde’s Olivia Coleman joining Rohweder in getting a first taste of what Australian netball is like in the big leagues.
Rohweder added another intercept to her tally and Coleman was proving to be a nuisance for Jo Harten and Kiera Austin in the Giants attack, but it was Fawns who was really making an impression on the game at goal attack. Partnering with England international Housby for the second term, the regional NSW talent looked at home with the speed, intensity and physicality of the game, making space and shooting from range when required.
At halftime the Swifts had a 29-25 lead before Akle looked to tinker with her team again to make the most of the pre-season clash.
Another QBE Swifts Academy player, Central Coast’s Kristen Kessler, was introduced to the game in the third quarter with Sophie Garbin returning to goal shooter and Housby moving to GA.
A pair of Kristiana Manu’a intercepts allowed the Giants to regain the lead and Harten started to show her class in the attack as they moved three goals ahead of the Swifts, whose play wasn’t as fluid as it had been in the second quarter.
However good scrambling from Kessler, Tayla Fraser and Paige Hadley and a steady conversion rate by Garbin and Housby kept Swifts within striking distance before a missed Mattise Letherbarrow shot provided the turnover they needed to get back on level terms at the final break – 44-44.
The intensity went up a notch in the final quarter as both sides changed their line-ups to give everyone some game time. The contest turned scrappy at times and it was the Giants who were making the most their possession. With five minutes left on the clock Akle called a final timeout as her side looked to reduce the three-goal lead their opponents had built.
A loose pass from Sarah Klau led to Austin converting a turnover which stretched GWS’s lead to five and from there it was a race against the clock for NSW which was just beyond them.
Quarter by Quarter scores
SWIFTS | Q1:14, Q2: 29 (15), Q3: 44 (15), Q4: 54 (10)
GIANTS | Q1: 14, Q2: 25 (11), Q3: 44 (19), Q4: 56 (12)
Stating Teams
SWIFTS | GS Sam Wallace, GA Sophie Garbin, WA Natalie Haythornthwaite, C Paige Hadley, WD Leilani Rohweder, GD Maddy Turner, GK Sarah Klau
GIANTS | GS Jo Harten, GA Kiera Austin, WA Maddie Hay, C Jamie-Lee Price, WD Amy Parmenter, GD Kristiana Manu'a, GS Matilda McDonell.
Reserves
Q2: Helen Housby to GS, Sophie Fawns to GA, Tayla Fraser to C, Sarah Klau to GD, Olivia Coleman to GK
Q3: Kessler to WA, Housby to GA, Paige Hadley to WA,
Q4: Sam Wallace to GS, Maddy Turner to GD, Sarah Klau to GK
