Stumble in Super Netball semi-final could be making of Swifts star Grace Nweke

The Australian

2 days ago

Star goaler Helen Housby believes the Swifts' shambolic semi-final stumble against West Coast Fever last week could be the making of Silver Ferns shooter Grace Nweke.
The Swifts went down 77-45 in a shellacking in Perth, with Nweke, the club's star recruit this season, finishing with 23 goals, three offensive penalties and six general play turnovers as the Fever put a blow torch on the Kiwi ace.
It was the lowest tally for the 23-year-old this season but Housby expects her goaling partner to bounce back and in fact, grow from the experience.
While Housby - who said she would still back Nweke 'till the day I die' - was not about to sugar coat the Swifts' performance, she said both she and Nweke had to find the humour in the game to take the pain out of the result and be able to move on to the grand final qualifier against the Melbourne Vixens on Sunday.
'Both of us are incredibly competitive and hate losing in any form, never mind like that, so you kind of do have to laugh at it a little bit because it does take the sting out,' Housby said.
'For Grace, I always forget how young she is and she actually doesn't have as much experience as everybody thinks she does - and especially I thought she did.
'I've had so many games where I either haven't played well at all or we've had a devastating loss for whichever team I'm part of, and that's absolutely shaped who I am as a player and it's shaped my career and it's made me more resilient and it's made me a better player and better able to deal with those moments.
'So I personally think this is just going to be one of those moments for her and she'll probably look back on it in five or 10 years and say - 'Do you know what, that made me a better player'.'
If their 2019 campaign is any indication that could come as quickly as this weekend.
Housby sees plenty of parallels between the 2019 Swifts - who suffered a significant loss to Sunshine Coast Lightning in the major semi-final before winning their preliminary as underdogs and taking their revenge on the Lightning in the decider.
'It absolutely feels like a bit of deja vu,' Housby said, not just of the result but the way the team had responded.
'(The loss) definitely felt the same way that this game feels because we were so confident going into it and we had nothing to lose and then we came back to Sydney licking our wounds a little bit the same as we've done this time around.
'We actually we played the Vixens in that prelim as well and we had one of our best performances of the year.
'It definitely does feel very similar and I feel like the way that we've banded together this week also feels similar to how we did it in 2019, so I'm hoping that history will repeat itself.'
Certainly Housby, who has played much more of a feeder role than in previous seasons given Nweke's dominance in the one-on-one contest in the circle, is not about to abandon her shooting partner.
'I'm still super proud of her. I'll back her in till the day I die, I think she's incredible,' she said.
'And I don't think one bad game defines a player.
'She certainly was not the only one who didn't have her best game. I don't think anyone on the court at the weekend for the Swifts would be happy with their performance.'
And beware the wounded warriors.
Housby is an athlete who wants the ball in her hand in the crucial moment - one unafraid to take on the big plays in the big games.
And she believes Nweke is the same.
'I'm excited to see what she does this weekend, because I think there's a bit of vengeance in her mind - as there is in mine,' she said. Netball
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