After a six-goal win over the Fever in Perth in Round 10, the NSW Swifts sit in sixth place on the ladder with everything to play for as the Suncorp Super Netball Finals race heats up.
With four rounds to go only four points separate 4th and 6th place on the competition ladder meaning victory for the Swifts this weekend could propel them into the playoff spots.
In Round 11, the Swifts will take on the Vixens following the Victorians' first loss of the season against the Lightning in Round 10.
Swifts Head Coach Briony Akle expects the team to bring that same intensity.
“At training, not only have we just brought it back to basics, but we aren’t going as easy on each other. We are bringing that intensity into training that we want to bring out onto the court on game day,” she said.
“It would have been nice to peak a little earlier in the season, but it feels good getting a lot of these wins back.”
After wins against the Lightning and Fever, the Swifts have won back-to-back matches for the first time since Rounds 7 & 8 last year which was part of a nine-match winning run.
In Round 5 the Vixens defeated the Swifts 66-59 in Sydney; however, after NSW's first away-game win and the Vixens’ Round 10 loss, the result in Melbourne is far from settled.
Sunday’s clash also doubles as the second game of the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup, contested annually and based on the aggregate scores of the regular-season games between the Clubs.
The Swifts are the current holders but with the Vixens winning game one by seven, NSW will need to win by the same margin or more on Sunday to retain it.
The Swifts and Vixens have met 40 times across the ANZ Championship and Super Netball eras with the NSW side winning 21 matches, the Vixens 18 and there has been one draw.
