2025 coach’s preview – defence edition

By Amelia Barnes

The Melbourne Vixens’ defence end has had a shake up in the off-season with the team welcoming Maggie Caris as a temporary replacement player for Emily Mannix, who gave birth to daughter Mabel in January.

With Mannix increasingly playing across both GD and GK in 2024, McKinnis was delighted to sign Caris, who is an equally versatile circle defender of a similar height (190cm – two centimetres taller than Mannix) and has been in the Vixens environment as a training partner since 2022.

“She's just grown and grown each year, and I think she’s ready for the opportunity,” said McKinnis. “She's got great height, great reach, and defence over the shot… She's taking it all on and working hard.”

Raised just outside Horsham, Caris came through the Victorian netball pathway where she transitioned from shooting to defence at the 17/U state level. She played Aussie Rules concurrently, including six games for the Melbourne Demons across 2021 and 2022 in the AFLW, before committing solely to netball.

Mannix has remained involved in the Vixens program this year, but no decision has been made regarding her return to play.

“Emily has a lot to offer off court, and in terms of coming back on the court we will be leaving that with her and giving her the time that she needs to make that call,” said McKinnis.

Caris’ versatility provides space for Rudi Ellis to take ownership of the goal keeper bib after a breakout 2024 Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) season, culminating in Australian Diamonds selection.

“She works really hard,” said McKinnis of Ellis. “Predominantly her strength is at keeper, and I think across this pre-season she’s been improving there as well – her footwork and her timing.

“I think we’re still seeing so much growth and improvement for Rudi, which is exciting.”

With SSN teams increasingly utilising rolling substitutes, and the Vixens being hit hard with injuries during the 2024 season (the team had only two regular season games with all 10 contracted athletes fit to play), boosting the versatility of the squad has been a focus of pre-season for McKinnis.

Kate Eddy has played mostly wing defence across her SSN career to date, but don’t be surprised if the 182cm defender drops back into the circle (where she played growing up in the state pathway) more this season.

“She has a great ability to read the play and to anticipate, particularly in goal defence. I think that's an asset to us to be able to work her across both wing defence and goal defence, as well as Jo [Weston], who also has that capacity across both positions. It just gives us extra flexibility and variety in our game,” said McKinnis.

Playing 119 minutes across wing and goal defence at the Team Girls Cup pre-season tournament, Eddy picked up the second most intercepts in the competition (8) and the third most gains (10).

Her strong individual stats heavily contributed to the Vixens’ overall defensive performance at the tournament, with the team collectively taking the second most intercepts and pickups.

“She's actually not that much shorter [than other circle defenders],” said McKinnis of Eddy. “She has great elevation, which you probably see more of when she is in goal defence, and she's got great anticipation.

“She reads the play really well and she works well with others whether she's in the circle or outside of it.”

Predominant goal defence Jo Weston will step up this season as the Vixens’ most experienced defender and one of the most feared opponents among SSN attackers.

“Jo is so competitive and each time she steps out there she's competing hard from start to finish,” said McKinnis. “She has a great one-on-one game – she can work a player from start to finish and loves the contest on the ball.”

2025 marks Weston’s 12th season at the professional level, and even with two Vixens championships, a Netball World Cup gold, and Commonwealth Games gold under her belt, she’s still adding strings to her bow.

“She's growing her capacity to add some variety into the game… but she always brings that aggression, that competitiveness, and that drive for excellence out there on court,” said McKinnis.

Working together as a cohesive and flexible unit, the Vixens’ defenders will have more capacity to overcome setbacks and match different playing styles in 2025.

“We were strong in terms of gaining ball [last year] – we put great pressure on teams – but probably the area that we wanted to improve on is the variety in our defensive structures,” said McKinnis.

“Whether it's the one-on-one or whether it's offline or space defence, it's just building on that flexibility.

“I think that's important because the different opposition that we come up against might be tall shooters or moving circles, so we've got to have the capacity to adapt our game and be flexible with what we do out there.”

The Vixens begin their 2025 SSN campaign with an away grand final rematch against the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Saturday 5 April, 5pm AEDT.

See the Vixens at home in Round 2 against GIANTS Netball on Sunday 13 April, 4pm AEST at John Cain Arena. Book tickets via Ticketek