Sarah Klau stands tall for undefeated NSW Swifts in scrappy win over Melbourne Vixens

News.com.au

11-05-2025

An outstanding defensive effort from Diamonds goalkeeper Sarah Klau has helped the NSW Swifts maintain their unbeaten start to the Super Netball season with a scrappy 59-51 win over arch rivals the Melbourne Vixens.
Klau certainly wasn't restrained with her efforts throughout the match, nabbing an incredible nine gains, including five intercepts, and 13 deflections in one of the most dominant individual performances of the season.
But her summary of the match - 'It wasn't the most pretty netball but we got the job done' - was almost the understatement of the season after a scrappy affair in the opening leg of the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup.
'We knew that the Vixens were going to come out strong and it did take up to that last five (minutes) to get the job done so I was really proud of the girls for keep pushing,' she said.
'To start the season so strong, it's great, but there's still a long way to go, so there's still lots to learn from.
'Again, it wasn't pretty netball, so I'm sure we'll learn lots from that game.'
The Vixens headed into the match with a 2-2 record, well below that of the Swifts but in these fiercely contested traditional derbies, little can be read into season records, while the Victorians were coming off their best performance of the season.
The match was played at a frenetic pace from the opening centre pass, with the teams committing 29 turnovers between them by halftime and some players seemingly spending as much time prone on the court as upright in a physical affair.
A scathing review from Swifts assistant coach Dylan Nexhip in the second term helped turn the tide for his side, with the women in red lifting their intensity heading into halftime to give themselves a lead they didn't concede again.
The loss left the Vixens outside the top four, while the Swifts remain at the top of the ladder, with two wins in hand.
Hear her ROAR!
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MILESTONE MCKINNIS
The Vixens were desperate to put in a good performance for their coach in her 200th match, a game that doubled as the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup, a trophy named partly in her honour.
But she was called on to use all her experience as players in both teams pushed the pace and made silly errors as they tried to get on top.
It forced McKinnis to call a time-out late in the second quarter asking her team to 'calm the farm'.
Despite the loss, there were positive signs for last year's grand finalists.
'I thought there were some really good moments across the game and there were a lot of positive to take from it
Early days it was our unforced errors a lot of the time - there was defensive pressure - but I thought our ability to get ourselves back in the contest at times, there were some real positives,' she said.
'But too many penalties across the court … and certainly the centre pass conversion it took us a while to get on top of that.'
KLAU STANDS TALL
Klau was outstanding from the get-go, having four intercepts by halftime in a head-to-head Diamonds battle against goal shooter Sophie Garbin.
While she deflected plaudits, saying it was a full-court defensive pressure, teammate Helen Housby paid credit to her 'keeper.
'Sarah Klau is a competitor and she does not like to lose at anything and if you get on her wrong side in training you can definitely want to run away from her,' Housby said.
'I certainly wouldn't want to play against her at the weekend and I'm very glad that she's on my team.
'She was an absolute cracker today, I thought she had a cracker in absolutely everything - she's just brilliant for us.
'All season, we've had different players show up for us at different moments in that defence end and today was Sarah's.'
Klau on the hunt ðŸ'€ðŸ'¥
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MIDDIE MADNESS
Video review will not be fun for either team this week with the amount of ball lost cheaply by both sides.
But the Swifts are still working to find their best combination in the middle, with coach Briony Akle using Allie Smith, Verity Simmons and Grace Whyte in rotation with Paige Hadley through centre and wing attack in a bid to find the right mix.
But there were times when it hummed.
The injection of Allie Smith into centre in the second half produced one of the best attacking series of the match, a clean three-pass shift into Nweke in space under the post.
But it was more often harder work - sometimes a testament to the defensive pressure of the Vixens but also the hesitancy, or sometimes, haste, at getting a pass away as pressure built.
NSW SWIFTS 59 (Nweke 47, Housby 12)
MELBOURNE VIXENS 51 (Garbin 35, Austin 12, Graham 4)
Star shooter solidifies Lightning's contender status with Giant spark
Sunshine Coast Lightning have underlined their status as a super Netball title contender, with Diamonds goaler Cara Koenen leading them to a 74-56 victory with a career shooting effort.
The Lightning's star-laden roster showed the damage it could inflict when on song after beating the understrength Giants by 18 points despite losing the last term - something that will sting given they were on track to become the first team in the competition to win all four quarters in a match.
Koenen left the game with nine minutes remaining but already had 56 goals at 90 per cent, her best return in nine seasons in the league.
While she was on song, it was the slick ball movement of the Lightning's attack end and ball gained by the defence that she was able to benefit from in a true full-team effort.
'I'm really proud of what we put out on court today,' Koenen said.
'We had a very disappointing loss last week over in the west (to the Fever) and we wanted to right that wrong … so I'm proud of what we put out.'
The victory leaves the Lightning with a 3-2 record, something that's not necessarily flash on the surface but their two losses have come against an Adelaide Thunderbirds side that included now-departed star defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (pregnancy) and a Fever side including star shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
Their clashes over the next fortnight against the Melbourne Vixens and competition leaders NSW Swifts will give a real picture of whether they have finally found their rhythm or will just be scrapping for a finals spot.
GIANT STRUGGLE ON CARDS
Without co-captain Jo Harten and defender Matilda McDonell available, the Giants went from plain underdogs to massive long shots.
They started the match that way, slumping to an 8-2 deficit before veteran mentor Julie Fitzgerald called a time-out inside the first five minutes to settle her team down.
The Lightning increased their buffer to seven goals late in the first term before Giants goalers Matisse Letherbarrow and Sophie Dwyer combined for four super shots to reduce the margin to just three at the end of the first term.
But as a match strategy, it was never going to be sustainable and when they missed both shots from long range in the second, they headed to halftime trailing by nine.
It led Fitzgerald to call on former Commonwealth Youth Games captain Monika 'Otai to make her debut in the third quarter and the shooter showed some promising signs with six-from-six in her 12 minutes on court before a rolled ankle took her out of the game.
While the Giants did not call on defensive replacement Aimee Landrigan to make her Super Netball debut, if issues with their full-time list drag on - and McDonell is out for several weeks - it could be time for the team to make an investment in the future and give the youngsters time on court.
LIGHTNING STARS GEL
When Liz Watson and Courtney Bruce joined the Lightning last season, there was plenty of talk about the club heading for an automatic premiership given their addition gave the club six current or former Diamonds squad members once Ash Ervin was added to the squad last year.
That didn't happen but the way that both have integrated into their respective units was on display for all to see on Sunday, with the Watson-Koenen-Steph Fretwell attack end sublime, while Bruce, Ervin and the underrated Tara Hinchliffe were outstanding in defence.
'It probably is about time (it clicked), it's been a year and a bit now,' Koenen said of the combinations.
'I think B (coach Belinda Reynolds) is probably pleased it's finally clicked but I think it was all down to workrate, we went repeated efforts every time and we have utility on our bench who can come in and impact, so I think that's what we put it down to.'
That depth Koenen alluded was on full show for the Lightning, with Reynolds using all 10 players and Reilley Batcheldor, Ervin and Kris Manu'a all making an impact.
CAPTAIN'S KNOCK FROM PRICE
Like Koenen, Jamie-Lee Price exited the game early but the Giants captain only came from the court after sustaining a cork late in the game.
Usually the club's co-captain with Harten, Price led solo on Sunday and while not an inspiring orator in the mould of the former England shooter, the Diamonds midcourter could not have done more for her team.
In terms of leading by example, Price set a stellar tone for the clubs young players who will have to dig in for the remainder of the season.
Last season's wooden spooners have a 1-4 record through the first five rounds and things get no easier for them heading into the halfway point of the season, with the derby against the unbeaten NSW Swifts next week before they host the Fever in round 7.