Fever concluded two successful weeks on the road with wins against the Thunderbirds in Adelaide and Giants in Sydney.
Despite a fight back by the Giants, Fever’s defensive prowess and a set of super shots by Olivia Wilkinson allowed them to return home with a nine-goal win and move into second place on the ladder.
The Firebirds have been unable to find success since their Round Two win over Fever, taking an 18-goal hit against the Vixens in Round Seven.
The Fuel to Go & Play Association Championships are also taking place over the long weekend and as a result, Fever’s crowd is expected to be the largest of 2025 so far.
Last time they met
Fever’s 2025 pre-season campaign kicked off with a 15-goal win over the Firebirds at Team Girls Cup.
The two most recent times the sides have faced during the Suncorp Super Netball season have been in Queensland. Earlier this year, the Firebirds took a 13-goal win in Round Two, and in 2024, Fever lost by eight goals in Round 11.
Head-to-Head
During their first hit out this year, Kadie-Ann Dehaney managed six deflections against Firebird Mary Cholhok and held the side to just one super shot. Dehaney will be looking to limit the accuracy of the 201cm Firebirds shooter under the post.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran will be tasked with the tough job of stopping the record setting Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. Last week, Jhaniele reached a milestone 9,000 goals, setting a record for the League and no doubt causing concern for the Firebirds defence.
When Firebirds vice-captain Hulita Veve dons the Wing Defence bib, she will need to limit the impact of Alice Teague-Neeld. In Round Seven, Teague-Neeld looked unstoppable in both attack and defence with 38 Feeds and four deflections.
From the Coach
Head Coach Dan Ryan said he’s happy with where the team are at as they hit the mid-point of the season.
“We have worked really hard across the last five weeks to get ourselves back on track,” he said.
Ryan said full court defence will be the plan of attack for Sunday and that he’s expecting the backing of the Green Army to support the team.
“This is a really important block of the season for us and we’re anticipating a massive crowd on the weekend which will be awesome,” Ryan said.
“I’m sure everyone’s going to love playing out on RAC Arena and having the energy of the crowd.”
Gear up in Green this Saturday, 1 June 2pm WST at RAC Arena.
Tickets available at Ticketek.
