Match preview: Vixens vs Swifts

After the Vixens celebrated their second win of the season against the Lightning, the team has been training hard this week to bring home a third victory whilst playing in front of a home crowd for the first time since round 4, and will relish the opportunity to be reunited with their beloved Vixens members and supporters who have been cheering from afar.

Vixens’ star defender, Emily Mannix, who made an immediate impact after her return from injury last week, claiming six gained balls and four game-changing intercepts, is excited to see what the Vixens can carry over into their next challenge.

“I was so excited to be back out on court with the girls and play netball, the win was just a cherry on top,” Mannix said.

Mannix expressed the excitement the team shared after their match against Lightning and highlighted the key areas they have worked hard to improve on since their disappointing loss against Collingwood Magpies.

“We are so thrilled to have been able to knock off Lightning who were on top of the ladder and now the Swifts have replaced that top position. What better way to go out there and beat the top team.

“We know that if we go out there and play our best game of netball - we can beat them and any top team.”

In the lead up to this week’s clash against the Swifts, the Vixens have focussed on fine tuning the smaller aspects of their game.

“Obviously we had a really disappointing loss against Collingwood. So, we took a lot out of that game and focused on the smaller things, both individually and as a team.

“The little things for us are about perfectly executing our basic skills. It’s as simple as our throwing and catching, then in defence it’s about having a crack at the ball and being in a good position to contest.

The Vixens will step out on court in their Indigenous dress for the first time on home soil, recognising and celebrating the incredible Indigenous netball community during NAIDOC Week. Unfortunately, due to the limited time the Swifts had three weeks ago to relocate to Victoria, they will not be wearing their Indigenous dress, but support the significant occasion.

The game on the weekend also stems as the final decider of the bi-annual Sargeant-McKinnis Cup, where one team will head home with the trophy, named after head coach Simone McKinnis and NSW’s Anne Sargeant. The Vixens and Swifts will battle it out this Saturday, 10 July at John Cain Arena at 3pm. Tickets are still available on Ticketek, and viewers can catch all the action live on Channel Nine and the Netball Live app.