The last two weeks have undoubtedly been our best weeks of training so far this season which I find exciting and frustrating in equal parts. It could be argued that that is exactly the position you want to be in. If we had finished in the top four and were progressing past this final round of competition into finals, we would have positioned ourselves perfectly performance wise. There is no denying that we are becoming a better team every time we step out on court and surely that goal is one that all of the Suncorp Super Netball teams share. Each time we play we want to be better than our previous best and consolidate our strengths whilst continuing to work on our areas for improvement.
We are yet to string together a full 60-minute performance and last week our second quarter was the main factor that prevented us from notching up another win. The Magpies took the second quarter 16-9 and went on to win the game by seven.
One of the things that has remained consistent this season is the ever growing fan base of West Coast Fever. A 7,882 strong crowd packed out Perth Arena last weekend to get behind us and ticket sales are on track for a repeat this weekend. Despite the fact that we haven’t been recording the results that everyone would like, support around the team and within the community is growing and people are willingly jumping on the rollercoaster with us.
Round 14 is significant for several reasons. Not only is it the final game of the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball season but it also marks the Club’s fourth annual dedicated Indigenous Round. The game provides us with the opportunity to highlight the significant relationship that exists between netball and the Indigenous communities of Western Australia. This year’s Indigenous Round game takes on additional meaning, as the date coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum.
An added bonus of this round is that we will be wearing a commemorative Indigenous dress. With it being my first experience of the Indigenous Round I was particularly looking forward to our dress blessing ceremony where we were fortunate to have our dresses blessed by Miranda Farmer, before being presented with them by young players from Netball WA’s Aboriginal Grassroots Sites program at Noranda Netball Association, as well as students from the Shooting Stars program. It was a wonderful ceremony and one that I will remember for some time. Designed by Noongar artists Peter Farmer and Kylie Graham, Fever’s Indigenous dress incorporates two primary design features. The first are separate Aboriginal women’s symbols representing each member of the Fever squad. These symbols are then patterned on a series of significant waterholes in Whadjuk Country.
The odds may well be stacked against us but what better way to finish the 2017 season than with our best netball, nothing to lose and history literally on our backs.
Frank x
Twitter/Instagram: @StcyJyneFrancis
