West Coast Fever shooting superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard will make her return to the court in Sunday’s Round Three clash against the Melbourne Vixens.
The squad have had to adjust to changes over the break, with Ruth Aryang (Achilles) and Sunday Aryang (Ankle) both out with injury.
Round Three’s team will include 11th player Zoe Cransberg and training partner Caitlyn Brown, who could make her Suncorp Super Netball debut if she takes to the court.
Both Fever and the Vixens are coming off a week-long bye due to a split Round Three and will be looking to turn their luck around after shaky starts to the season.
The Vixens went down in Round One to the Adelaide Thunderbirds before coming back for a tight six-goal win over the Giants in Round Two. Fever is yet to find their first win after facing the NSW Swifts and Queensland Firebirds.
Last time they met at the Team Girls Cup in Adelaide, Fever won by a goal in the final moments of a thrilling game, a comeback of sorts after their heartbreaking one-goal loss to the runners up in the 2024 Preliminary Final.
Head-to-head:
The return of Fowler-Nembhard will no doubt cause some apprehension for the Vixens defence. Whether in the Goal Defence or Keeper bib, Rudi Ellis will be all eyes on Jhaniele’s world class accuracy.
Kate Eddy will need to be on from start to finish in an attempt to slow down the feeding capabilities of Alice Teague-Neeld, who in two matches has a combined 71 feeds.
Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney will find themselves back together as a defensive unit. The pair had a combined 10 deflections in Round Two and will be a tough wall to break through for Vixens Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin in goals.
From the Coach:
Head Coach Dan Ryan said the news that Ruth will be out for the season is heartbreaking for the Club.
“We’re backing her all the way and will support her the best we can,” Ryan said.
Despite the bye, Ryan said the squad have not taken the week as a break, working had to adjust their plans.
“We’ve trained as normal this week and had a practice match on Saturday to keep the load up,” he said.
“It will be a tough ask against the Vixens, but we just need to focus on ourselves and play some really good netball for each other.”
You can catch Fever take on the Vixens on Sunday, 27 April at 12pm WST on Kayo, Foxtel and now for the first time on Binge.
