NSW Swifts head coach Briony Akle said she was pleased with her side’s pre-season trip to Adelaide this weekend where they went toe-to-toe with the Thunderbirds.
With COVID-19 ruling all but one of the senior team out of the Club’s pre-season trip to New Zealand for clashes with the Southern Steel and Pulse, this was Swifts’ first real hit-out of the year and they hit the ground running in Saturday’s game (which was behind closed doors), winning 60-39.
With both sides making a raft of changes throughout the game, the Swifts looked more composed and led 27-16 at halftime before pushing on in the third and fourth quarters to see the contest out.
The players who stood out for the Swifts were Tayla Fraser and Maddy Proud, with Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner looking strong in defence to shut down a talented Adelaide attacking end of Lucy Austin and Eleanor Caldwell.
Temporary Replacement Player Romelda Aiken-George also looked very comfortable in attack for her new side, while Training Partners Dakota Thomas and Kelea Iongi fared well against some seasoned Super Netball campaigners in the Adelaide ranks.
QBE Swifts Academy athlete and former NSW State Team representative Ali Miller travelled to South Australia too and fitted in seamlessly to the seven-time Premiers’ attacking shape.
The second game, which doubled as the Thunderbirds’ Fan Dan and was played in front of a brilliant crowd at Netball SA stadium, saw both teams start with strong line-ups.
In the first quarter Akle went with the moving circle of Helen Housby and Sophie Fawns who were given a stern examination by Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson. Despite the pressure they fared well with Fawns landing two Super Shots, and only a two-point double from Cardwell gave the home side a 16-15 lead at the first break.
In front of their home fans, the Thunderbirds were much improved in the Sunday game and they took control of the contest early in the second period to lead by six goals midway through it.
Aiken-George had entered the game at Goal Shooter but the world-class defence of Sterling and Wilson was causing the new Swifts connections as host of problems and the South Australians led by 11 at the big break. Once again, Thomas and Iongi gained invaluable experience by getting plenty of court-time against world-class opposition.
The game was in danger of blowing out big time as a hugely impressive Adelaide defence, which started in their midcourt, forced NSW into a series of uncharacteristic errors but Akle’s troops recovered well to keep the margin to 12 goals heading into the final break.
However, it was only a brief respite with the Thunderbirds finishing strongly
“I was really pleased by how we played on Saturday, especially with our depth and getting to have members of our wider squad take the court and look up to the pace,” Akle said afterwards.
“The challenge is backing up those top performances so I am disappointed that we couldn’t do that again on Sunday.
“I think both teams will come away from the weekend pleased with aspects but lots of work-ons.
“We probably gave them a lesson on Saturday and they came back and gave us one the next day. It shows how close this competition is going to be in 2023.”
