Super Netball: West Coast Fever captain Jess Anstiss laments loss of home grand final

West Australian

15 hours ago

West Coast Fever captain Jess Anstiss stopped short of blaming the venue for Saturday night's upset grand final defeat to Melbourne Vixens but admitted it 'would have been nice' to play the decider in Perth.
Despite finishing on top of the ladder after winning a league record 13 successive games, with the Vixens fourth at the end of the home-and-away season, the game was played in Victoria.
Netball Australia sold the decider to the highest bidder, the Victorian Government, in the pre-season and the game was played at Rod Laver Arena for the first time in front of a record 15,013 spectators.
There was a swathe of green sprinkled throughout the stadium who found voice, notably when the Fever staged a thrilling comeback later in the game.
'Obviously we love playing at home at RAC Arena and having the right to potentially have that, but we know that they sell the grand final now, due to sponsorship, or whatever it is, that it was going to be in Melbourne, we knew we had to win away,' Anstiss said after the wrenching 59-58 defeat.
'It's a bit harder that it worked out to be a Vixens home game, but we had so many fans here, and it was actually insane when you walked out and you heard the green army screaming.
'It took me by surprise how many people we had there and how loud that was so that was fantastic. But yeah, I guess I don't agree or disagree whether they sell it or not, but it would have been great to have had it at home.'
Anstiss admitted it was 'pretty tough' losing the grand final after their stellar form in the lead up.
'Not the one loss that you want to have,' she said.
'We've done so well all season and we really thought that we could do it (on Saturday).
'We had the belief, we had the confidence, and... we didn't show up and execute and that's what's disappointing.
'We know that if we did come and play our best game, we would have won, because we lost by one, and we did not come and play anywhere near our best level.'
Down five goals at three-quarter time in a physical game in front of a loud pro-Vixens crowd, the Fever nearly snatched victory, with a 15-goal to 11 final term.
Star Jamaican goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard shot 52 goals at 100 per cent including one super goal for the Fever.
For the Vixens, Kiera Austin finished with 26 goals, including three super goals, had 23 goals assists and was named player of the match.
The Fever, who had not lost since round two, trailed the Vixens at every break and Anstiss said the team did some soul searching at half-time.
'We discussed it at half-time in that second quarter we had quite a few opportunities, we had turnover ball and had opportunities to go down and convert that, and we didn't,' she said.
'We knew that after half-time we needed to get on top of that, and we tried.
'It was hard. Like every time we won ball, we felt like it was coming back down. We also knew that the opportunities were far and few in between. So we knew that we needed to convert those and we didn't.
'The Vixens were really good today in trying to stop us and they had their game plan right,'
Coach Dan Ryan said the crowd was 'insane'.
'It just felt a little bit chaotic across the board today but they are the things you have to endure and keep your poise in those moments,' he said.
'Even when the the game does feel a little bit disconnected and clunky you still have to find a comfortable flow even if it's not what you're normally used to.'
He said the team started to win the 'moments' in the final quarter.
'I think everyone was feeling that, and we did a much better job in the last quarter of nailing those moments, to put real pressure on the opposition to give ourselves every chance of maybe making a bit of a surge,' he said.
'It was a very high penalised game. There was a lot of contact from both teams, which took a lot of flow and tempo out of the game, and it was sometimes difficult to read which way the balls were going.
'And obviously it was chaotic, because the crowd was insane. So I think it just felt a little bit chaotic across the board out there. '
Ryan said it was a 'very different' from the home-and-away season.
'Our younger players who are just starting off their journey at this level will learn a huge amount from today's experience,' Ryan said.
'We will all be disappointed with the quality of the performance that we put out there, but experience is everything in those moments and that is probably where the Vixens had the edge.
'All their players on that court played in a grand final last year, they know how hard it is. We will learn from it and will take the wisdom and experience that we gained from it.
'But certainly over the next couple of weeks won't make the result any less challenging.'
Ryan did not think super shots were the difference, with the Vixens putting on scoreboard pressure with them throughout the game, and the Fever hitting only one, in the final term.
'We were in a situation the last quarter, we had to take them because we're chasing a scoreboard,' he said.
'It's not a decision, do you or do you not? And you know, the players have freedom in the game to attack the super shot at any point in time.
'I think probably what hindered that potentially was we weren't in flow. So you don't want to be in a situation where you're forcing super shots because you feel the pressure to have to take them.
'Well, I guess we won one point netball and lost super shot netball.
'So for sure, it plays an element to it. But you know, we still had a chance in that last quarter to level the game and put them under enormous pressure and see what they were going to do.
'We had two cracks at that moment. We didn't nail it. So super shot will always be a talking point in the game, but I don't think it was the difference between either side today.'
It was a redemption story for the Vixens who had lost the last two grand finals, to the Fever in Perth in 2022 and the Adelaide Thunderbirds last season.
It was also an emotional farewell to their coach Simone McKinnis who is stepping away after 13 years at the helm.
They did it after turning their season around from a 2-4 start - the Fever also began 0-2 before they began their winning streak.
'We feel flat, we feel lifeless ... Maybe we just need to go to to the pub,' McKinnis said at the time.
Her captain Kate Moloney leaned on that comment in her post-match victory speech, saying: 'We're going to the pub.'
McKinnis was not sure if she would miss the job.
'Maybe I won't miss it, maybe I'll enjoy having a life again,' she said.
'I'm looking forward to being unemployed.
'I'll be by the pool.'