By Madeline Irwin
The Queensland Firebirds were victorious at Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday, dominating an underwhelming GIANTS outfit by 23 goals. The win, not only kickstarts their Suncorp Super Netball campaign as a whole after three losses, but it also snaps a 15-game losing streak, which is the second-longest that the club's seen in their history.
Before the game started, the Firebirds' credentials were in question after Kiwi recruit Kelly Jackson was a late-out due to the effects of a nose injury suffered in Round 2, paired with the loss of Maddy Gordon in weeks prior. Jackson was replaced by debutant Lily Gribble.
Both sides were winless coming into the contest, which made for a close contest to start. However, it was a GIANTS turnover, which was capitalised on by Macy Gardner that broke the deadlock with nine minutes to go in the first quarter.
This started the momentum and the ascendency for her team which snowballed as the match went on.
For the GIANTS, it was an injury concern of their own that soured the start of the game, with defender Jane Watson benched for most of the first quarter with a leg injury suffered during the warm-up.
Watson was taken off during the third quarter after a suspected calf injury and was unable to participate further in the game.
At selection, head coach Nerida Stewart elected to start shooter Matisse Letherbarrow over Lucy Austin, with the former rewarded for her final quarter last week. Club captain Whitney Souness was started on the bench, with Casey Adamson started to partner with Hope White.
The mix was not optimal for Stewart's team, as they conceded 22 goals to their 12 in the first quarter. Young defender Erin O'Brien was brought on to partner with Watson to up the physicality on Mary Cholhok and Te Paea Selby-Rickit, while Souness brought leadership into their seven.
The GIANTS were wasteful during the encounter, as they were able to win the ball back but were unable to score from those opportunities like the Firebirds did.
The GIANTS shooting end is still struggling week to week and that continued, although it was the pairing of Sophie Dwyer and Letherbarrow that worked best.
A visibly nervous Austin was brought in for about a quarter of play, however after not recording a rebound and shooting five from nine attempts, she was benched again.
Coming off a 40 per cent goals from gains game last week, Queensland were able to keep that to 100 per cent through the first quarter.
Selby-Rickit (10 from 12 attempts) and Cholhok (62 from 80 shots) were instrumental in the win, capitalising in the work from their defenders down the court.
Emily Moore (four goals) and Elsa Sif Sandholt (two goals) were introduced late into the game after the starting shooters had done the damage.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran contributed handily, adding five rebounds, three intercepts and three deflections to her output for the day.
Gardner had a solid game as well, with 13 goal assists, 25 feeds and two intercepts.
The second half saw the GIANTS take more risks to reduce the margin. That meant that both teams had to settle, with the Firebirds trying to hold their nerve, while the GIANTS tried to disrupt their momentum.
This did not work well in the third quarter, with them conceding 19 goals, however, they were able to grind down Queensland in the final quarter to win the term by three goals.
The GIANTS' fixture doesn't get any easier next week, as they prepare to face the Thunderbirds in Adelaide, while the Firebirds fly to Perth to play the Fever.
