Round 7 Preview | Fever vs Vixens

THE MATCH

West Coast Fever vs Melbourne Vixens
Sunday 26 May, 4pm AEST
RAC Arena | Whadjuk Noongar Land

THE TEAM

Kiera Austin
Ruby Barkmeyer
Gabby Coffey
Rudi Ellis
Sophie Garbin
Lily Graham
Emily Mannix (VC)
Kate Moloney (C)
Hannah Mundy
Jo Weston

HOW TO WATCH

Can’t make it to the game? Tune in live or on demand on Kayo Sports or Foxtel (Australia), or via Netball Pass (international).

LAST TIME THEY MET

Minor Semi Final, 2023
West Coast Fever (64) defeated Vixens (57) at RAC Arena

WHAT TO EXPECT

The Vixens will come up against their biggest challenge yet this weekend when they travel to Perth to face ladder leaders, West Coast Fever, on Whadjuk Noongar Land.

Fever remains undefeated, while the Vixens suffered their first loss of the season last week at the hands of Sunshine Coast Lightning and will be looking to redeem their early-season form which has them sitting in second place.

With Kate Eddy still sidelined with a leg injury, the Vixens will look to refine the approach that saw Rudi Ellis, Jo Weston and Gabby Coffey don the WD bib last week. The strategy coach Simone McKinnis takes to the WD role will be integral to preventing as much ball as possible landing in the hands of Fever powerhouse Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.

Not one to take a loss lightly, fire will be in the belly of captain Kate Moloney who teams up with Hannah Mundy in the midcourt. Mundy has been impressive this year since returning from an early quad injury, racking up 84 goal assists and 125 feeds, a Player of the Match nod and two Vixens’ Fan MVPs in her four games so far.

Super Shots have helped give the Vixens an edge, and they’ll be looking for any advantage they can to counter the direct line to post offered by Fowler-Nembhard at the other end of the court. Kiera Austin currently sits in the league’s top three Super Shot scorers and may be part of the winning strategy, though she and Sophie Garbin will face an in-form defensive lineup of Australian Diamond Sunday Aryang, English Rose Fran Williams and Sunshine Girl (and former Vixen) Kadie-Ann Dehaney.

However, it’s a 60-minute game and McKinnis isn’t one to rely on the final five minutes of each quarter to defeat top of the table Fever.

Netball aside, the league will celebrate the first week of its First Nations Round this weekend in alignment with National Reconciliation Week. The Vixens will wear a dress featuring artwork from proud Kamilaroi woman, illustrator and artist Teagan Malcolm, who lives and paints on Wurundjeri Country.

ONE TO WATCH

With Eddy and Zara Walters out, the brains trust of McKinnis and assistant coach Di Honey will be ticking as they look to the depth of the list to fill the void. With Ellis, Weston, Coffey and Moloney as options in WD, and Mundy, Moloney, Barkmeyer and Austin able to fill the spot in WA, what will the starting seven look like? And who will they call on throughout the game? Our question is – what’s stopping McKinnis herself from taking to the court?

THE NUMBER

Emily Mannix has been remarkable in defence this year, with 16 intercepts to her name heading into Round 7 (third in the league behind Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson – two names we’re sure Mannix is happy to be in the presence of).

Supported by her teammates out the front, Mannix’s ability to read the play down the court has been impeccable and she’ll need every ounce of smarts with Fowler-Nembhard combining nicely with fellow Sunshine Girl Shanice Beckford.

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