By Alexander Dabb
It’s been a big weekend of firsts for the Melbourne Mavericks.
On Saturday night, the Mavericks were confirmed as finalists for the first time in Suncorp Super Netball history.
On Sunday afternoon, the Mavs claimed their first ever win over the Vixens, ensuring the Melbourne Derby celebrations were sky blue following an emphatic 59-50 win, silencing a sold-out Vixens home crowd at John Cain Arena.
While both the Mavs and Vixens had already locked in top four finishes heading into the Round 13 clash, the two sides still laid it all on the line.
While the opening passages of play saw both sides hit the scoreboard at the first opportunity, the Vixens were quick to make a break, with Sophie Garbin scoring off an errant Maddie Hay pass to give her side a 3-1 lead.
But the Mavs were immediately back into the contest as Jessie Grenvold, named in the Diamonds squad last week, won an intercept inside the circle, which Shimona Nelson safely sent home at the other end, and the intensity only lifted from there.
Another quick turnover saw the Mavs out to a 6-4 lead with the centre pass in hand, forcing an early timeout from Vixens coach Di Honey, who urged her side to let the ball fly.
The speed on the ball definitely lifted, but it seemed to favour the Mavs, who continued to rule the midcourt, with Jamie-Lee Price and Hay in particular helping their side forge ahead and out to a game-high 15-10 lead at quarter time.
Jamie-Lee Price was once again superb through the midcourt for the Mavs.
While the first quarter belonged to the Mavericks, who made a quick start to lead by seven goals in the early stages of the second, the rest of the second term belonged to the Vixens, who asserted themselves across every line.
Kate Moloney and Hannah Mundy were at their scintillating best, while Emily Mannix picked up from where she left off against the Thunderbirds, earning two intercepts as the Vixens slowly but surely ate into the Mavs’ advantage.
The fluency of the first time had waned, but the intensity and grit certainly hadn’t, and it was the reigning premier that was able to make the most of their opportunities, winning the term 15-10 to ensure there was nothing in it at the main break, with the two sides heading into the rooms tied at 25 apiece.
While the scoreboard read evenly at half time, the stats suggested the Mavs had enjoyed plenty of opportunity to sneak ahead, leading the gains 10-5 but only converting at 40 per cent from gains, while also coughing up 10 unforced turnovers as opposed to the Vixens’ six.
But the Mavs tidied up both of those areas as the two sides hit the court for the third term, and just as they did in the first, cruised out to a handy advantage.
It was goal for goal early on, but a big Grenvold rebound off an Austin miss gave the Mavs the first break of the second half, out to a three-goal lead, and it would be Grenvold again, this time reeling in a Kim Brown deflection, that won the ball back for the Mavs to see them re-instate the five-goal margin they enjoyed at quarter time.
Kim Borger, though, included in the line-up as a replacement for the injured Lily Graham, stepped up for the Vixens as the Power Five siren sounded, hitting the one and only Suncorp Super Shot of the contest to drag her side back to within three.
The Mavs nailed their final centre pass to eke the lead back out to four at the final change, ahead 44-40, but as they found out in the second term, the Vixens weren’t about to let their rivals walk away with it.
Jessie Grenvold was huge once again in defence against the Vixens, continuing what has been a stunning campaign.
In the blink of an eye, the Vixens closed back to within two goals as Kate Eddy came up with a huge intercept, before they closed within one as Mannix pulled down a rebound from a Sacha McDonald miss, which was converted at the other end by Garbin, forcing Gerard Murphy into a timeout.
The Vixens would level it up at 48-48 again for the first time in the final term immediately following the break, and it felt like they would inevitably roll over the top as they continued to surge.
The Mavs kept it level until 50 apiece, though, which is where the contest was flipped on its head.
With a stunning run of nine goals to close out the contest, the Mavs sealed their maiden win over the Vixens in dominant fashion, as they continue to charge towards a first-ever finals appearance, now with back-to-back wins over top three sides under their belt.
“I think you can't deny it helps (beating two top three sides heading into finals),” Murphy said.
“I don't really mind so much, but for the girls, I think just knowing that it's there and that they've done it, I think, does just cement it, and just removes that pocket of doubt.
“It might be five per cent, but it's five per cent of doubt that they don't have anymore, and so I think that just gives an extra little bit of security almost for them.
“For me personally coaching, it makes no difference, every game I think we can win if we execute our plan… it’s definitely helpful, but not 100 per cent our focus.
“Today wasn't like, ‘you must beat Vixens’ blah, blah, blah, nothing like that. It's really more, ‘hey, this is a good opportunity, if we have a good run here, this sets us up well.”
Shimona Nelson proved a real presence inside the circle.
The win, bolstered by huge performances from Price (90.5 net points) and Grenvold (77 net points, six gains), puts the Mavs in a position to potentially finish third on the ladder, depending on the Fever’s result in Round 14, with the side finishing third to host the minor semi-final.
Conversely, the Vixens have now lost three of their past four outings to head into finals in somewhat of a form slump, and a win over the Fever next Sunday at John Cain Arena could prove crucial in building momentum ahead of a major semi-final matchup against the formidable Thunderbirds.
