Posts filed under ‘Netball’
Back on Top of the World
In order to appreciate its true worth a diamond has to be polished. It was a polished display by the Diamonds, Australia’s netball team that saw them win them clinch not only a series win over arch rivals the Silver Ferns, but also reclaim the number one spot in the World.
Caitlin Bassett from the West Coast Fever is now beginning to show the consistency that her undoubted ability lacked. She scored 20 goals from 22 attempts including the match winner in extra time.
Catherine Cox for Australia and Irene van Dyk may have dominated the headlines in previous trans-Tasman stoushes but Bassett has now come out of the shadows and shown that she is indeed a force to be reckoned with.
This was incredibly the first time in eleven games that one team had won two games back to back, that is how close these two nations are in Netball.
Congratulations must also go out to Silver Ferns captain Laura Langman who incredibly since making her international debut in 2005 has not missed a single international game; This defeat being her 71st consecutive game for the Silver Ferns, a truly remarkable achievement.
On Fire
Congratulations must go to the Queensland Firebirds becoming the first team in the ANZ Championship to go through the entire season, including the Finals undefeated.
They brought their season to the perfect end when they defeated the Auckland-based Northern Mystics 57-44 at the weekend, their 15th straight win of the season. This result also eclipsed the previous biggest grand final winning margin set by Adelaide Thunderbirds last year, which was 10 points.
Coach Roselee Jencke has set the benchmark for her girls when she said “I Think it is easy to do it one time but it’s all about coming back and doing it again. That’s our next challenge.”
Having done something no other netball team has done she believes it will make the team hungrier for next season.
One thing is for sure they are bound to have raised the bar in the ANZ Championship and next season should be another great tournament.
ANZ Netball Championships
Season two of the ANZ Netball Championship started last week. It was great to see the Trans Tasman league and fantastic to see what is the number one women’s sport receiving live television coverage. One issue was the fixturing last year and this has not been fixed in season two, with Australian teams playing each other twice and their New Zealand counterparts only once, and vice versa. Hopefully season three will see this glitch sorted out when the league is on strong financial footing
