Talking points: Grand Final

By Sophie Taylor and Stephanie Smarrelli

An underdog win and a fairytale finish.

You couldn’t script it any better, we run through the top talking points from the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final.

UNDERDOGS GET IT DONE

A win from fourth?

Not bad, not bad.

The Vixens had all but written off their season after a 2-4 start and announced head coach Simone McKinnis would step down at season’s end.

But captain Kate Moloney will never go down without a fight, and her ability to bring the whole team with her is an astounding and underrated trait.

The whole Vixens side took a big step up in the second half of the season, knowing they would have to win every game on their road to finals.

How they managed to lock in a top four spot prior to the end of the season is anyone’s guess and was against all odds after their gritty start.

But that’s the thing about underdogs: they are like a dog with a bone until the job is done.

Losses to the Thunderbirds and Swifts during the season?

Nah. Scrap that. New week, new opportunity.

A two-goal Semi Final win and a one-goal Preliminary Final win set the Vixens up stunningly.

No week off? No worries.

 In fact, a break may have disrupted the Vixens’ momentum.

Instead, they could keep their fingers on the pulse and channel all their “hunter” energy into their biggest challenge yet.

Multiple two-figure losses to Fever during the season would have crossed the Vixens’ minds coming into the biggest game of the year.

But with two other “biggest game of the year” finals victories behind them, both won in different ways (outlasting a comeback and coming from 10 goals down to win), there was really nothing to stop the Vixens from making their dreams come true.

DEFENCE WINS PREMIERSHIPS

Yes, yes, the Vixens attack was enormous and weathered the pressure of a Fever defensive effort impressively.

But in a match of centimetres, it was the Vixens’ defensive pressure and hunt on the turnover that enabled them to claim a lead.

And in a match of twists, turns and momentum swings, it was a Jo Weston masterclass that kept the Vixens ahead during a heated final quarter.

In the way only Weston can, she smothered Olivia Wilkinson and shut down the 21-year-old as an option, while also finding her way to every loose ball in the goal third.

Her combination with Rudi Ellis has been stunning during the Vixens’ finals campaign, and the Grand Final was no different with both players brimming with energy.

Kate Eddy’s excellent form in wing defence allowed both Weston and Ellis to settle into their roles and come off their players to fly for the turnover ball during a pressurised final 15 minutes.

That’s not all, though.

Composure in attack from Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin resulted in an 83 percent conversion rate from gain to goal compared to Fever’s 67 percent.

Austin herself came up with two pickups and a gain in attack, using her turn of speed to disrupt Fever’s transition.

More importantly, Austin’s midcourt pressure enabled Moloney, Eddy and Weston to focus on their own players and reduce easy access to the Fever goal circle.

All in all, there’s not much you can critique from the Vixens’ game.

WHERE THE FEVER WENT WRONG

The Grand Final will forever be a match of “what ifs” for the West Coast Fever.

Thirteen wins in a row and a minor premiership, only to fall at the final hurdle.

Fever captain Jess Anstiss was rightfully disappointed post-match but will be heartened by her side’s work rate to reduce the margin to one goal in the final minutes.

Unfortunately, Fever’s preparation was the complete opposite to the Vixens.

Vixens: Must-win matches, every single week.

Fever: Sitting pretty, top of the ladder, finals locked in with a month to go.

Where the Vixens had to grit their teeth to get the job done every single week, the Fever took their leads early and didn’t look back.

And that, unfortunately, is what came back to bite them.

A record-breaking run to finals may have built great confidence in the Fever outfit, rarely coming into trouble against any of their opposition, but it also meant that they lacked the spark they needed to mark a comeback.

And while it’s safe to say every single Fever player played their role to a T, it’s also fair to say that no one was a real standout on Grand Final Day, such was the impact of the Vixens cohort.

They marked a comeback in the final quarter off the back of Vixens errors, and while they got ever so close their body language said it all: Vixens had the momentum and the drive to get the job done.

All that to say, watch out world.

The Fever will be back with a vengeance next year.

This is not a losing team, and they’ll use this hurt to bring a new version to the court in 2026.

15,013

That’s it. That’s the headline.

What a Finals Series, and it all came down to the biggest Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final of all time.

Over 15 thousand fans packed Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night to watch the one-goal match play out.

While you would not be alone in assuming it would be all Vixens fans, there was a huge cohort of West Australian fans who brought the heat all night long and backed their side until the very end.

SSN continues to break records week by week, and there’s so much to look forward to as we begin the countdown to the 2026 season.

Bring. It. On.