In terms of legacy, contests don’t get much bigger than a NSW Swifts clash with the Melbourne Vixens and Sunday’s chapter of this storied rivalry is set to be the biggest in years.
With a top-two spot on the line, Round 10 will be the most important meeting of the teams since the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball Preliminary Final which the Swifts won on the way to that year’s Premiership success.
A full house at John Cain Arena will take in the 2nd v 3rd contest, demonstrating the cherished place the rivalry has in the netball community.
“It’s the Swifts against the Vixens, netball’s greatest rivalry, in a packed arena and battling it out for a top-two spot,” Swifts head coach Briony Akle said this week.
“These are the games we train so hard for – we can’t wait!
“From what I hear next week in Sydney we are pretty much already at a full house too, so it’s a massive seven days, but it’s where we want to be.”
With the sides providing a combined nine Australian Diamonds, to say it’s a heavyweight clash would be an understatement. Add in the international flair of the likes of Helen Housby, Romelda Aiken-George and Mwai Kumwenda, and it’s even more enticing.
The past three meetings between the sides have been decided by six goals or less, and the last time they met – in Round 6 – the Swifts scraped home by a solitary goal.
Not only will be competition points be on offer, the tie also doubles as Game II of the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup, awarded annually to the team with the best aggregate score based on regular-season clashes.
Heading into Sunday, the teams couldn’t be more evenly matched; the Swifts are on a six-game winning streak, while the last game the Vixens lost was that Round 6 thriller in Sydney.
NSW champion defender Maddy Turner said the respect between the teams was huge. The rivalry stretches back to 1990s and early 2000s when the Swifts competed for titles with the Melbourne Phoenix who later merged with the Kestrels to form the Vixens.
“The Vixens haven’t lost at home this year and that is a huge challenge for us, but it’s also really important because if you want to win a Grand Final these are games you need to test yourself in,” she said.
“I think the Vixens have a very similar brand of netball to us which I think makes it such a good game to watch… we try to play that slick kind of style.
“The one-on-one hustle in defence and ball speed on attack is what we’re both known for and that makes a for a really good game for fans to watch.”
Allie Smith and Teigan O’Shannassy have both been ruled out of this Sunday’s Round 11 clash with the Melbourne Vixens, and their availability for Round 12 will be assessed early next week.
In their absence, Lili Gorman-Brown and Kelea Iongi will once again be included in our Game-Day squad.
To coincide with Suncorp Super Netball’s First Nations Rounds, the Swifts will don a beautiful design by Wongaibon woman Tarsha Hawley.
A former QBE Swifts Academy athlete and current Netball NSW Premier League player with the Sutherland Stingrays, 2023 marks the third year that Hawley has designed NSW’s Indigenous uniform.
Incorporating innovate circular bibs, which have been a feature of her designs since first being commissioned back in 2021, Hawley says this year’s artwork is “a representation of growth, development and the importance of remembering where you came from and where you started.”
To learn more about the Swifts’ First Nations Dress please CLICK HERE.
Match Notes
- When the teams last met in Round 6 the Swifts defeated the Vixens 67-66 in Sydney.
- In 14 previous Suncorp Super Netball meetings the Vixens lead with seven wins, the Swifts six and there has been one draw.
- The Swifts and Vixens have met 33 times across the former trans-Tasman ANZ Championship and Super Netball. The Swifts have 19 wins, the Vixens 13 and there has been one draw.
- The past three meetings between the Swifts and Vixens have been decided by six goals or less.
- The Swifts are coming off a 85-56 victory over the Magpies in Round 10 and sit in second place on the ladder with seven wins, a draw and two losses.
- The Swifts' 29-goal win over the Magpies in Round 10 is their biggest in Super Netball. Their previous biggest win was 28-goals against the Thunderbirds in Round 14, 2018 - the latter win was achieved before the introduction of the two-point Super Shot.
- The Vixens are coming off a 60-39 win over the Thunderbirds in Melbourne in Round 10 and they have a record of seven wins and three losses to sit in fourth place.
- The Swifts have now sat inside the Suncorp Super Netball Top 4 after every round since the end of Round 5. The Swifts' current position of second is their highest placing this season.
- Swifts coach Briony Akle claimed her 50th Suncorp Super Netball win against the Magpies in Round 10.
- Paige Hadley became the 6th Swift to play 150 matches in R10 against the Magpies; after Catherine Cox (192), Liz Ellis (173), Kimberlee Green (167), Susan Pettitt (161) and Alison Broadbent (152).
- Sarah Klau played her 100th Suncorp Super Netball match in Round 10 against the Magpies. Klau is the only Swifts player to have played in all 100 matches since 2017. In the process she became the Swifts' 11th Centurion.
- The Swifts' 85 goals against the Magpies in Round 10 is their highest ever score in 27 seasons. The Swifts previous highest score was 80 goals against the Fever in 2019. The latter score was achieved before the two-point Super Shot was introduced in 2020.
- The Swifts won all four quarters in Round 10 against the Magpies which is the first time this season and just the sixth time in Suncorp Super Netball since 2017.
- The Swifts' 26 goals in the second quarter against the Magpies in Round 10 is their second highest quarter score in Super Netball. The highest is 27-goals against the Fever in Round 2, 2020
