Maddy Turner has played too many Finals games for the NSW Swifts to let the disappointment of Sunday's heavy loss to the West Coast Fever diminish her belief.
The Swifts centurion has played four Grand Finals for the Swifts and won two of them. Even the two she lost were only by the narrowest of margins after extra time on both occasions.
So while the Fever are the deserved favourites for the title in 2025 having booked a spot in the decider on the back of their best performance of the year, nothing was fully decided in Perth.
“In 2019, we got absolutely flogged in that semi and came back to win the Preliminary and Grand Final,” Turner said.
“So I’m just telling them, ‘It’s OK. It happens’. You can’t beat Finals experience.
“I know the loss was a shellacking, but they got out on court in front of an away crowd that was massive, so they will take a lot of learnings from that and hopefully some composure as well going into next week.”
Despite the losses of Paige Hadley and Teigan O'Shannassy, the Swifts still had a host of Premiership winners on court, but they didn't make their voices loud enough, Turner felt.
“We went completely quiet when things weren’t going our way, and that just wasn’t us,” she said.
“It was really disappointing, because that’s in our control. I feel like a few people were probably regretting their moments they could have stood up.”
Head coach Briony Akle, who has delivered two Premierships and three Grand Finals in her tenure so far (as well as two titles as a player), conceded her side hadn't shown up, but backed them to rebound.
“We don’t just coach for the highs and turn up for the wins. It’s knuckling down and believing in my team,” she said.
“It’s not like I don’t believe in them. Every team is going to have a game like that somewhere in your career.
“It’s about how you respond, how we get back up, and we fight again.”
