Super Netball 2025: West Coast Fever twins Zoe and Jordan Cransberg emerge as key to rise up the ladder
Super Netball 2025: West Coast Fever twins Zoe and Jordan Cransberg emerge as key to rise up the ladder
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ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Super Netball Round-Up: Casey Kopua ignores keyboard warriors, netball joins Big Freeze and is it time to bring Lucy Austin back?
Super Netball is heating up with five rounds left in the regular season, as two upsets took place across round nine. It was the highest attended round of 2025 so far, with three sell-outs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. The Vixens recorded their best-ever home crowd of 9,041 as they defeated the Mavericks in the Melbourne Derby, 66-57, and jumped into the top four. They were the only team to win at home on the weekend. The NSW Swifts finally had their eight-match winning streak snapped by the West Coast Fever, 79-68. The top of the ladder clash was attended by close to 9,000 people in Sydney and demonstrated to the rest of the league it is possible to beat the premiership favourites — the key is to isolate goal attack Helen Housby. The Queensland Derby was a bit predictable, as the Sunshine Coast Lightning celebrated Courtney Bruce's 150th game and handed the Firebirds a seventh consecutive loss, 72-62. Lastly, the most interesting result of all was the Giants' victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds, 66-63. It marked their second win this season — both of which have come against the two-time defending champions. Not many would have got that tip right! If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up. We are still trying to come to terms with Casey Kopua's Super Netball debut, six years after she retired from elite netball. It seems it has been a whirlwind two weeks for the 2019 World Cup champion, who is juggling her full-time work and three kids to fill the hole of injured Giants defender Jodi-Ann Ward as a huge favour for coach Julie Fitzgerald. Last week, Kopua spent the full 60 minutes on court against the Vixens. She wasn't expecting to get so much game time. Or for her opponent, Vixens goal shooter Sophie Garbin, to be so cold. "To be honest, I was bloody scared hey, it's so fast and that first ball," Kopua told the Inside Netball podcast. "For me, you always say hello to your opponent [before the game] as a sign of respect but she didn't even acknowledge me. "She said nothing, and I was like 'Oh my god, that's so rude, at least say hello'. 'It's just a game of netball but I got nothing, so me being stubborn I thought, righto if that's how it's going to be, let's go." The Giants lost in round eight by 10 goals, and Kopua finished with two gains. She admits she cannot jump as high as she used to, however, it is the support and structure she offers Erin O'Brien that gave the 21-year-old the confidence to tally seven gains. In the lead-up to round nine, the club secured the services of Kopua for the rest of the season and we got to see her combine with O'Brien again for an entire match. This time they got the win, and the pair had a similar amount of hand to ball, sharing 11 gains. It was the first time Kopua had faced old foe Romelda Aiken-George in many years, as Jamaica and New Zealand were in separate pools at the 2019 World Cup. Kopua is now nine days away from her 40th birthday and said the recent passing of her father was the main reason she answered Fitzgerald's call. Sadly, it has not stopped fans from criticising her comeback. "For me, Super Netball has always been something I was intrigued by and losing my dad a couple of months ago, I knew if he was here, he would have told me, 'You can't turn this down'. "I got a lot of private messages about me stopping people's pathways. "There are the keyboard warriors that put it out there publicly, then there's the ones that come at you behind the scenes. "I would never say that to anybody and I'm just trying to help out a friend here ... For me it's part of giving back to netball and teaching the younger ones a few tricks." The Thunderbirds have faced a couple of bumps in the road in their quest for a historic three-peat. The biggest blow has undoubtedly been the loss of goal keeper Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, bowing out following round three after announcing her pregnancy. They signed South African replacement Sanmarie Visser in her place, before they changed tactics and assigned the GK bib to Latanya Wilson. Wilson has had a cameo there throughout her Super Netball career, but her preferred positions are wing defence and goal defence. Before shifting roles, Wilson was by far the best performing player in the league, now she's got to learn a new craft. The Giants were able to exploit Wilson's busy style of play, dragging her out of the circle to take her away from the contest. The fitness of goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George was another question mark leading into 2025, after she had minor knee surgery in the pre-season. Although Aiken-George seems to be holding up okay, donning a full leg compression on her right side, the super shot isn't a regular skill she pulls out to claw a lead back when her team are down. Against the Giants, both Lauren Frew and Kayla Graham struggled to convert the two-point goals (0/11) which hampered their ability to get back in the game. Homegrown talent Lucy Austin played a role in the Thunderbirds' 2023 and 2024 premierships but has been absent on court. Austin can shoot long. Instead, she has been playing Super Netball Reserves, while defensive midcourter and No.11th player Sophie Casey has been elevated. The one name that hasn't been spoken about a heap, that the Thunderbirds really seem to miss, is Laura Scherian. The veteran finished her career on a high after switching from the Lightning to the Thunderbirds for 2024 and gave the team another solid wing attack option alongside Georgie Horjus. This allowed Horjus to swing freely from WA to GA. The season, Horjus has spent a lot less time inside the circle because she has had to steady the midcourt. So, the balance of this team feels off. They have Visser, Wilson, Casey, Hannah Petty, Tayla Williams and Matilda Garrett to fit into four positions across the midcourt and back third. As Aiken-George, Horjus, Lauren Frew and Kayla Graham look after the front three spots. Now would be the obvious time to bring Austin back. She's the highest scoring player in Super Netball Reserves. Some things are bigger than sport. One of them is the fight against motor neurone disease. It was heartwarming to see Victorian netball get behind Neale Daniher's Big Freeze on the June long weekend, crossing codes to champion an AFL cause. The Vixens made their Sunday home game Big Freeze themed, selling physical beanies at the match and digital ones to those who couldn't attend. Carlton-born Liz Watson left the warmth of Queensland's Sunshine Coast behind to go down the slide at the MCG. The dress code was Australian icons, and the Diamonds captain played her part in a pink get-up, channelling Margot Robbie in the Barbie movie. Another captain, Alyssa Healy, swapped her cricket gear to appear as netball-obsessed Kath and Kim character Sharon Strzelecki — pash rash and all. It was a nice nod to Magda Szubanski, after her recent diagnosis with blood cancer. It just goes to show you what is possible when the sporting codes work together. Well done to all involved.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- News.com.au
2025 Super Netball Reserves live stream: Watch every game of finals and play-in tournament
Netball fans right across Australia will get a unique glimpse at the future of the sport when the Super Netball Reserves finals light up screens around the country. KommunityTV and Code Sports are joining forces with Netball Australia to broadcast every match from the Super Netball Reserves finals series from June 20-22, as well as the lead up play-in tournament. The play-in tournament will feature the Tasmania Wild, Capital Darters and Territory Storm, and will be played across three days in the week leading into the finals series. The results of the play in tournament matches will have a bearing on the finals match-ups. The Super Netball Reserves competition, which is into its second year, has expanded in 2025 with more than 40 games played across the season. The tournament features reserves sides affiliated with each Suncorp Super Netball franchise, and was developed as part of the development pathway for emerging elite netball talent. The Super Netball Reserves features athletes who are in or on the verge of Super Netball, including training partners and state league players. West Coast Fever have already booked their spot in Sunday's grand final showdown as they climbed to a unassailable lead atop the Super Netball Reserves rankings. The Fever managed to knock off rivals Swifts Academy in a one-point thriller over the weekend, securing their grand final spot. While the Fever's finals dream might be set in stone, the race to fill the spot opposite them is wide open heading into the final round of the competition this weekend. All eight Super Netball Reserves sides and the three state sides will feature in the finals series across three days of action. As part of the Code Sports/Kommunity TV partnership, the finals series and play-in matches will be live streamed for all Code Sports subscribers and for News Corp Australia digital metro subscribers.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- ABC News
Super Netball Round-Up: Giants sign 40-year-old 'fossil' as injury replacement and is the Diamonds shooting circle in trouble?
Round eight is complete and we're over the halfway hump of the Super Netball season. The Sunshine Coast Lightning held on against the Melbourne Mavericks, 67-60, to move up a spot and claim third place. The undefeated NSW Swifts were challenged by defending premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds in a see-sawing affair, 66-64. The lead changed six times and Romelda Aiken-George hit a 9,000-career goal milestone before the Swifts claimed their eighth straight victory. That run equals the club's best winning streak of the Super Netball era. The Giants put up an entertaining fight against the Melbourne Vixens after a big week of headlines. But a shock signing that attracted worldwide attention couldn't help them shift off the bottom of the ladder and they faded in the final quarter, 71-61. Lastly, the West Coast Fever handed the Queensland Firebirds a sixth straight defeat, 82-65. The 17-goal blowout took place in front of the Fever's second-biggest crowd in club history (11,427). If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up. On Tuesday, the sad news broke that Jamaican defender Jodi Ann Ward had been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Ward had surgery and will now need to nail her rehab if she has any chance of representing her country at next year's Commonwealth Games. Then came the temporary replacement signing of Casey Kopua on Friday that sent the netball world into a frenzy. It would be her first elite netball game in six years, during which she has been keeping fit by teaching F45 classes and playing socially. Kopua was affectionately dubbed by New Zealand as one of 'the fossils' that won the Netball World Cup in 2019, alongside veterans Laura Langman and Maria Folau. The Silver Ferns had flown under the radar throughout that major tournament until the finals, where new head coach Noeline Taurua's mastermind tactics and fitness standards guided them to upsets against England and Australia. Kopua had previously retired from international netball in 2017 but came back to have one more crack at the trophy that had alluded her three times before. She was named as the MVP of the gold medal match before retiring once again — this time from all forms of netball. To say this Super Netball signing was left field would be a massive understatement and speaks to her relationship with Julie Fitzgerald, who previously coached Kopua at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic before moving home to Australia to become the inaugural Giants coach. Kopua answered the SOS call from Fitzgerald on Tuesday, left her three kids behind to jump on a plane on Wednesday, and joined the Giants for her first training session on Thursday. By Sunday she was making her Super Netball debut, 18 days shy of her 40th birthday. Although it came out of the blew, Kopua was keen. "This certainly was not on my bingo card for 2025, I loved every minute," she said. "The first text from Julie was, 'Want to make a comeback?' and I was like, 'Huh, are you serious, how would that work?' "There were about six or seven texts from me in a row before she answered." Kopua was initially brought over as a one-off, but discussions are now underway to sign her on a longer contract as the Giants try to avoid finishing with a consecutive wooden spoon. There was so much hype generated for this appearance that the Giants recorded their second-best crowd attendance at Ken Rosewall Arena so far this season (3,076) behind the NSW derby. So how did she do on court? For starters, Kopua played a full match at goal keeper. That's impressive. She got a reasonable amount of hand to ball (three deflections, one rebound) and the presence of a legend was enough to put off the Vixens shooters — who only found out they would be facing Kopua after they'd finished their weekly prep. Is she going to be the difference between winning games and losing them? That's debatable. But the Giants have made it clear that the stalwart is more so here to bring her leadership qualities and play a supporting role to 21-year-old Erin O'Brien than anything else. In that goal, Kopua succeeded. Offering advice and structure to the Giants at the back in defence while O'Brien picked off a game-high seven gains. Now that we've entered the back half of the season, it's time to do a temperature check on how our Diamonds players are tracking as they vie for national contracts. England announced its 2025/26 list last week, but Australia has delayed theirs in order to allow players more time to prove themselves in a year where there is no major tournament. It seems they need it, because running our eyes over last year's national squad brings up concerns for the shooting circle. For one, there are less Australian shooters occupying starting positions in our domestic competition, giving the selectors a smaller pool of talent to pick from. Only the Lightning, Vixens and Giants operate moving circles that hinge on homegrown talent. The rest of the five teams centre their game plans around a tall holding import under the post. It's no coincidence that each of these targets are the league's top five leading goal scorers. Three of these five teams also have an import signed as their main goal attack. Secondly, there has been some dicey form on show. It's most obvious at the Vixens, where Diamonds duo Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin have struggled to connect in the same fashion they did to reach the 2024 Super Netball grand final. Garbin missed eight attempts at goal on Sunday and the majority of those were under the post (43/51). She was also pulled up five times for offensive contact and both players are in the top five for turnovers this season. To be fair to Austin, most of the ball she has lost has been whilst trying to feed Garbin. Sophie Dwyer is another that has a really high turnover count and her confidence has taken a hit the past two seasons as the Giants trail the competition. Georgie Horjus made her international debut last year as a genuine wing attack and goal attack swing, but has spent less time in goals this season for the Thunderbirds; instead focusing on the midcourt. Cara Koenen started the season slow and was under an injury cloud ahead of round six when she was spotted at the airport in a moon boot. She watched the entire game from the sideline, then in round seven came off the bench to play for 30 minutes. In round eight, Koenen took back her starting spot in the Lightning's line-up and managed 56 minutes. Maybe that injury cloud has now lifted? Then there's Donnell Wallam, who left to play in the New Zealand Premiership and is still eligible for selection. However, she hurt her wrist two weeks ago and missed round four. The Northern Mystics are yet to provide an update. Lastly, Diamonds invitee Lucy Austin has been demoted to the Super Netball Reserves. So, do the selectors stick with these players and hope to rebuild their confidence in camp? Or do they look to reward form and blood some new faces like 23-year-old impact player Reilley Batcheldor, a consistent force in the super shot period for the Lightning? A couple of weeks ago we mentioned the Australian set-up was hopeful Gretel Bueta might return to the game after having her third child. If she was to come back would that sort out the uncertainty for the Diamonds shooting circle? More will become clear in the final six rounds of the regular season.
