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Coach Vicky Wilson was happy to talk up the Queensland Firebirds’ title aspirations after they claimed the mantle of Australia’s top netball team with a 60-51 victory over the Melbourne Vixens in the trans-Tasman competition yesterday.
Jamaican sensation Romelda Aiken, despite some physical close checking from the Vixens defence, continued her stunning form – shooting 53 of her team’s goals at 91 per cent before a sellout 3036 crowd at Brisbane Convention Centre.
But the Firebirds performed strongly right across the court and defensive duo Laura Geitz and captain Peta Stephens combined to limit Melbourne’s national team star shooter Sharelle McMahon to 19 goals.
The Firebirds are now the best-placed Australian team on the ANZ Championship ladder, sitting second behind New Zealand’s Waikato Magic with a game in hand and having lost just the one match.
Wilson suggested that the Queenslanders must now be considered genuine title threats.
“I think we’re certainly contenders, aren’t we?” Wilson said.
“Very impressive performance, I am absolutely delighted with what they were able to put out there.
“In every aspect of the court, I thought we were strong and we were able to deliver and we stuck to our targets and our game-plan.”
“There was a lot of ebb and flow going on, I did think what was particularly good, was that never at any stage was there any sign of panic.”
The visitors challenged regularly but Queensland was always able to respond, leading at all three breaks (17-13, 31-27 and 44-38) before running out nine point winners.
Melbourne skipper McMahon lamented the Vixens’ use of the ball when in attack.
“I think that we probably didn’t treasure possession enough in attack, they certainly put a lot of pressure on us,” she said.
“There’s always a lot of talk about Romelda within this Queensland team, but she’s not the only player. We knew it was going to be tough for us in attack.”
“They put a lot of pressure on and we just didn’t make the right decisions, we probably had options that were there and we were throwing to the wrong ones.”
Melbourne will look to bounce back next Sunday when they host the West Coast Fever while the Firebirds will be gunning for top spot when they take on Adelaide at home on Monday night.