18-05-2025
NSW derby highlights Swifts dominance for season 2025
Their last clash was a battle to avoid the wooden spoon but the NSW derby has underlined the dominance of the NSW Swifts in season 2025.
The Swifts poured in a season-high 82 points in a 13-point victory over the Giants that maintained their unbeaten record this season and helped them retain the Carol Sykes Memorial Trophy.
A runaway 22-13 third quarter gave them an 82-69 win, with the final scoreline no real indication of how close the unrelenting physical battle was.
The Swifts won every quarter but their edge for the first, second and fourth terms combined was only four points, with only the disastrous third term - when the Giants committed six of their 16 turnovers for the match and had a previously firing Jo Harten subbed out and head up the tunnel before taking no further part in the match - turning the game.
While 16 of their 18 previous derby matches had been decided by single digits - and the last game by a solitary goal - the Swifts showed why they're already considered premiership favourites this season with a dominant performance.
The Giants came into the match on the bottom of the ladder but belied their position with an outstanding effort in the first half.
The match started at a frenetic pace, with the teams going goal for goal in the opening 10 minutes, even when there was turnover ball - the Giants winning the ball back before the Swifts could capitalise - until Jo Harten finally missed an attempt during the super shot period at 12-12.
Just one point separated the teams at the opening break and three at halftime, with the Swifts in the lead but the Giants clinging on desperately after arguably their best half of netball this season.
But the Swifts took the match away from their rivals with a 22-13 term, Grace Nweke scoring 18 goals in the third quarter alone and Helen Housby putting a couple of nails in the coffin with a pair of super shots.
MIDCOURT BATTLE
The Swifts started Verity Simmons and Maddie Hay with Paige Hadley in the midcourt after battling with their full court transition against the Vixens a week earlier.
But it was the battle in the middle between Hadley and her Diamonds teammate Jamie-Lee Price that dominated proceedings.
In a physical encounter, the pair went hammer and tongs at each other, with Price taking points in an opening half during which both wore the centre bib.
Hadley said it was a battle she loved.
'I'm never going to beat her physically, she loves being on the body, she loves to push and shove but for me it's about bringing my skill set really well,' Hadley said.
'But you always love the battle coming up against a Diamond.'
Hadley was switched to wing attack in the second half and dominated, creating outstanding opportunities and angles for her shooters, with Price switched to wing defence in a bid to shut her down again.
The Giants' middies were exceptional at times but their lack of depth and experience told at times, with Hope White's injection in the third term in place of Maddie Hay not paying dividends, while for the Swifts, Allie Smith and Sharni Lambden entered the game seamlessly for Verity Simmons and Maddy Turner.
SWIFTS DEFENCE ON SONG
Just as they rotated their midcourt, the Swifts' depth in defence was on full show, with Teigan O'Shannassy switched to goalkeeper just before halftime and snaring MVP honours with five gains, including four intercepts.
Sarah Klau, who snared player of the match honours the previous week against the Vixens, started in the GK bib against Harten but with the former England Roses shooter leading by example and keeping her team in the game, the switch was made, with the taller O'Shannassy pushed back to 'keeper, allowing Klau to hunt out in front, with Turner also used at goal defence.
The injection of Aussie Kelpies men's captain Dylan Nexhip as an assistant focusing on defence has been an overlooked component of the Swifts' dominance this season and his input was again pivotal in Sunday's derby.
WHERE TO FOR GIANTS
Things get no easier for the Giants, who host the West Coast Fever on Saturday to finish the opening round of fixtures.
With just one win under their belts, pressure is mounting on players and coaching staff, with questions over the future of veterans Julie Fitzgerald and Harten, who are both off contract at the end of the season.
Harten's co-captain Jamie-Lee Price is contracted until the end of 2026 but her recent comments that 'It's just a matter of when I go to Melbourne' to join long-term partner and Collingwood AFL player Harry Perryman could also be destabilising.
Price though was outstanding for the Giants on Sunday and her efforts cannot be questioned, while Harten, one of the smartest players in the league, has also turned in a couple of vintage performances in her last two outings, although she is no longer a 60-minute option at full throttle.
