Battle for Finals spots heat up

With four regular rounds to go in netball’s Commonwealth bank Trophy, the eight competing teams are following the script like Oscar winning Actresses.

The Sydney Swifts, Adelaide Thunderbirds and Melbourne Phoenix are perched at the top of the ladder, while the Hunter Jaegers, Melbourne Kestrels, and Perth Orioles are battling it out for middle-order honours. Down further, the AIS Canberra Darters and Queensland Firebirds have recorded one win between them, and will be fighting each other to avoid the wooden spoon.

Yep, to the disappointment of most neutral netball fans, everyone, apart from the over-achieving Perth Orioles outfit, is following the plan to perfection.

While this may all seem very boring and predictable, there is one interesting battle being fought out at the moment – the fight for fourth place. The three contenders, the Kestrels, Orioles, and Jaegers, will all face each other in the closing rounds of the competition, and these encounters will prove critical in deciding just which team wins the race to the finals.

The past week has seen two events unfold which could prove detrimental to the outcome of this race. The first of these was the season ending injury to Jaegers captain Jane Altschwager. The towering shooter tore her Achilles tendon late in her team’s six goal victory over the Firebirds last Sunday, and her absence is likely to put a huge dent in her team’s finals hopes.

After a shaky start to the season, the Jaegers had been showing promising form of late, and a large part of this was due to their increased ability to find Altschagers’s 193cm frame in good shooting position. Her shooting counterparts, Lara Welham and Cirsty Monaghan have become accustomed to playing a supporting, rather than dominating role in the goal circle, so will need to step up and take more responsibility in the absence of Altschwager.

The Jaegers are currently sitting in fourth place, with a two game buffer over the Orioles and Kestrels. However, they have played more games than all their rivals, and only have two more opportunities to take the points – two less than both the Kestrels and Orioles. These are the two teams they face off against in their remaining two games, so victory in these matches will be absolutely critical.

The absence of Altschwager may be sorely felt in these all important games!

The second important event to unfold this week was the announcement by Orioles captain Sam Lee, that she was pregnant, and would not be playing again this season. The Orioles have surprised many netball followers by having one of their most successful seasons to date, and Lee, along with fellow defender Helen Aravadis, were two of the major reasons behind this.

The team has also managed to unearth an effective shooting combination, with teenagers Janelle Lawson and Nikala Smith causing problems for many opposition defenders. With strength at both ends of the court, combined with the mid court experience of Australian squad member Jessica Shynn, the Orioles were beginning to appear a genuine finals contender.

While no player is irreplaceable, the experience, leadership, and spirited defensive play that Lee brings to the Orioles could well have made the difference in the bid for an historic finals berth. They play the Swifts and the Phoenix in the final rounds, neither of whom they are expected to beat, but they also face the Jaegers and Kestrels, with victories in these games being essential to their finals chances.

Like the Jaegers, the Orioles will need to step up to compensate for the loss of their captain if they are to succeed in these games.

The Melbourne Kestrels are the only one of the three teams not to have lost their captain in the past week, although their own skipper, Cynna Neele, is not having the kind of season she would like. Neele was elevated to the captaincy this year, and it has been a tough adjustment, with the shooter having a wretched run with injury and illness, both of which have affected her form.

Neele’s woes have been compounded by the Kestrels perennial “second shooter” problems. Caitlin Thwaites and Andrea Booth have had some successful outings in the goal circle, but neither have been able to display the consistency that is needed to make the Kestrels a genuine force in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy.

On a more positive note for the Kestrels, former Australian vice-captain Shelley O’Donnel has improved with every outing, with her experience being of great value to the young Kestrels midcourt. Rebbecca Strachan has also stepped up in the absence of star defender Janine Ilitch, and has provided her team with some consistently strong defence.

With the final four rounds pitting the Kestrels against under strength Jaegers and Orioles outfits, as well as the lowly ranked Queensland Firebirds, they just might have their noses in front in the race to the finals. They face tough opposition this weekend from the Adelaide Thunderbirds, but this game could help to highlight the areas they need to work on if they are to be successful against the Orioles and Jaegers.

For whichever team it is that manages to slip into that sought – after fourth place, history will not be on their side. Since the inception of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy in 1997, the Swifts, Thunderbirds, and Phoenix have dominated the top three positions, with a merry-go-round of pretenders joining them in the finals, only to falter at the first hurdle.

1999 was the exception to this rule, when a rebuilding Phoenix outfit finished 5th, and the now defunct Adelaide Ravens created history by coming from fourth position to make the Grand Final.

Whichever team makes in into fourth position will be hopeful of emulating the Ravens, however they will be facing an uphill battle, with the Swifts, Thunderbirds, and Phoenix all being in brilliant form, and between them boasting all twelve of the players who were a part of the most recent Australian team.

However, as the old saying goes, “finals are a whole new ball game”, and knocking one of the big-guns off is not impossible. However, for the Hunter Jaegers, Melbourne Kestrels, and Perth Orioles, the immediate future is of more importance than the challenges the glamour teams will bring them in the finals. And that immediate future includes the battle to actually make the finals, a battle which is currently adding a much needed air of intrigue to the Commonwealth Bank Trophy!

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