Briony Akle has enjoyed plenty of battles with Victorians down the years and a Sargent-McKinnis clash between the NSW Swifts and Melbourne Vixens is always something to be relished.
The Swifts may sit in the Suncorp Super Netball top four but the Vixens arrive in Sydney undefeated so far in 2024, just behind the West Coast Fever on goal percentage.
As a Swifts player Akle enjoyed plenty of battles with the Melbourne Phoenix who were merged with the Melbourne Kestrels at the end of 2007 to form the Vixens. In netball’s first national league – the Commonwealth Bank Trophy – it was the Swifts and Phoenix who provided the code’s biggest match-up.
And the NSW v Victoria rivalry has lost none of its bite since the Vixens came on the scene in 2008.
“There’s just something special about Swifts v Vixens,” Akle says. “It’s the history between us and them that goes back to the Swifts v Phoenix days. It’s a rivalry built on respect and I love playing them.
“Traditionally both teams play very well against each and there is never much between us.”
If the Swifts have had an Achilles heel so far this season it’s their third quarter performances.
Against the Fever last weekend NSW were on level terms at the big break but a horror third period left them chasing the game in Q4, and more susceptible to errors which the West Australians punished ruthlessly.
Despite winning in Rounds 2 and 3 it was the Swifts’ third-quarter errors that gave the Melbourne Mavericks the sniff of a comeback and the Firebirds a genuine chance to win in Brisbane.
“Look you always have to play well in each quarter, especially in this competition but we really need to come out and fire after halftime this weekend,” Akle added.
“It’s been an area of concern for us that we really have been poor in that third quarter and then leading into the fourth.
“There’s certainly going to be a lot of concentration around what energy we bring into the second half of games.”
In injury news, Teigan O’Shannassy is on the verge of a Super Netball return but will not play this weekend with a comeback in Round 6 likely. Elle Temu, who has performed admirably in O’Shannassy’s place, will fill-in again.
Sunday is also the first leg of the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup which the Swifts and the Vixens have contested since 2008.
Named after two of Australian netball’s most celebrated players - NSW’s Anne Sargeant OAM and Victoria’s Simone McKinnis, who is now head coach of the Melbourne Vixens - it is awarded each year to either the Swifts or Vixens based on the results of both home and away matches played between the great rivals during the regular season.
The Swifts are the current holders of the trophy, and while the destination of the Cup won’t be decided until the teams’ next meeting in Melbourne, a victory this weekend would go a long way towards NSW retaining it in 2024.
Match Details
- What: SSN Round 5 - Swifts v Vixens
- When: 2pm (AEST), Sunday 12 May
- Where: Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney
- Broadcast: Foxtel & Kayo Sports
Match Notes
- When the teams last met in Round 11 last season the Swifts defeated the Vixens 70-62 in Melbourne.
- In 15 previous Suncorp Super Netball meetings both teams have won seven matches and there has been one draw.
- The Swifts and Vixens have met 34 times across the former trans-Tasman Championship and Super Netball. The Swifts have 20 wins, the Vixens 13 and there has been one draw.
- The Swifts and Vixens have met seven times in Sydney and the Swifts have won four and the Vixens have won three.
- There have been three previous meetings at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney and the Swifts have won two and the Vixens one.
- The Swifts are coming off a 59-75 loss to the Fever in round four and sit in fourth place on the ladder with two wins and two losses.
- The Vixens are coming off a 68-55 win over the Firebirds in Melbourne in round four and sit in second place on the ladder with four wins from four matches.
- The past six seasons the same team has swept the other team; 2018 Vixens won both meetings, 2019 Swifts both, 2020 Vixens both, 2021 Swifts both, 2022 Vixens both and 2023 Swifts both.
- The Swifts are yet to win a third quarter in 2024, in fact they have won just one second half quarter across their opening four matches.
- The Vixens are yet to lose a first or fourth quarter in 2024, they have won all four opening quarters and won two and drawn two fourth quarters.
