Match preview: Vixens vs GIANTS

Coming off the back of a disappointing loss to dominant front-runners West Coast Fever last Thursday night, the Vixens are hopeful they can turn things around come Wednesday afternoon.

With a six-day turnaround, the team have been quick to move on, immersing their energy into their next colossal challenge, coming up against ladder leaders, the GIANTS.

The Vixens’ ever-reliable defender, Jo Weston, is adamant there has still been positive pockets of play throughout the team’s performances across the season that they will look to leverage over the next fortnight.

“Last week we had some really good moments against a team like Fever, and the GIANTS are also in the top four so they’re one of the competition favourites - so it’s always going to be really tough,” Weston said.

“They have a lot of experience in their defensive end, so I think patience is going to be a real emphasis for us in the attack end, and then defensively we need to continue having a go at the ball, but also build on our pressure by staying in the play.”

Having proved they are more than capable of bombing long-range Super Shots outside of the final five minutes, Mwai Kumwenda, Kaylia Stanton and Ruby Barkmeyer will be required to take their chances at every opportunity they get tomorrow night, as the GIANTS lead the Super Shot tally.

“The GIANTS are the team that use the Suncorp Super Shot the most in the competition, so obviously the last five minutes of every quarter is going to be a dangerous time for us.”

As the Vixens prepare to play their final three games over the next eight days, a feeling of relief has been felt amongst the experienced travellers, as a new routine will place them in good stead to finish the season off with pride.

“With the rest of the draw announced, it’s been great to get some certainty about what the rest of the season looks like and even finals for the teams that are competing.

“For us, we’ve got three games to go and we’re just super excited to get out there, continue to build on what have been some really good moments throughout the whole season, and then finish off with hopefully three, or two or even just one win would be a real bonus.”

The Vixens will face the GIANTS on Wednesday 28 July at 3.30pm at Nissan Arena, where the game will again be closed off to the public. You can catch all the action live on 9Gem from 3.30pm or on Telstra TV via the Netball Live app. You can subscribe to the Netball Live app via the Apple app store or the Google Play store for $1.99 per week, $3.99 per month or $7.49 per quarter. New users can enjoy a two week trial of the app for free.