Round 5 Preview: Fever v Vixens

Although obviously disappointed that their unbeaten start to the season had come to an end at the hands of the Adelaide Thunderbirds, Vixens Vice Captain, Emily Mannix, said the team were keen to take their learnings from the Round 4 clash, and then make the most of the quick turnaround before their next game against the Fever.

“It was not our best game, and not my best game either to be quite honest,” Mannix reflected. “It was quite disappointing for us obviously; our first loss of the season and not the kind of netball we want to be playing as a group… It’s a quick turnaround [so] I think you’ve got to take what you can from games like that and move on…I guess that is the luxury of having the quick turnaround!”

The term ‘quick turnaround’ may indeed be an understatement, with less than 48 hours between the final whistle of the Vixens’ match against the Thunderbirds and the first centre pass in their clash with the Fever. However, Mannix said her side wasn’t fazed by the condensed schedule.

“I think we’re all managing ok. The support staff have been fantastic with us in really being there for us and knowing what we need when we need it, so they’ve been managing us and what we’re up to quite well.

“During a regular, normal, non-COVID season we have quite a hard session during the week anyway, so we’re sort of treating it a little bit like that; that we’re just playing a game instead of having that hard session, so that’s a good mindset to have because…towards the back end of this season it’s going to get quite hard on everyone mentally and physically, so I think we’ve just got to stay in it and keep supporting each other.”

Mannix and her defensive team will be studying up the Fever’s attack end closely ahead of tomorrow’s game, which is spearheaded by the League’s current leading goaler, Jhaniele Fowler.

“Fever are obviously a quality team. They had a good win against the Magpies the other day so they’ll be in pretty high spirits.”

“They’ve got that target in Jhaniele and they don’t hide that, so I think we have to be quite strong and it’s [always] a real team effort when we come up against Fever, so that won’t change for us. It’s going to be a really tough game for us, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Mannix also had a message for the team’s members and supporters, most of whom are currently back home in Victoria under varying stages of lockdown.

“Thanks to everyone back in Victoria, and especially our supporters and our fans who’ve been tuning in. We’ve been seeing your comments on social media and we really love the support, we can definitely feel it from up here in Brissy, so keep that going - it definitely doesn’t go unnoticed!

“[We’re] thinking of everyone down there. I know it’s really hard but hang in there and hopefully Vixens will get a few more wins for you guys!”

The Vixens will be hosted by West Coast Fever at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena on Tuesday 18 August. The game will be broadcast live on Telstra TV and the Netball Live App from 5pm.

For our Melbourne army, you can support the Vixens from home on the couch, by using the hashtag #VixensAtHome on your social media, and become a Beyond the Court member for just $55 here.