The Queensland Firebirds claimed their second ANZ Championship title in two years with a heart-stopping, double extra-time win over the NSW Swifts.
The Firebirds, who also beat the Swifts in dramatic fashion in last year’s grand final, eventually secured a 69-67 victory after the two arch-rivals had ended regulation time and two periods of extra-time on level pegging.
Romela Aiken, who endured a difficult day under the ring – making just 63 of her 89 attempts on goal – kept her cool when it mattered most, hitting the winning shot to open up the requisite two-goal lead and send the home crowd at Brisbane Entertainment Centre into a frenzy.
“We could have closed it out, but we did it the hard way. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” said Firebirds captain Laura Geitz, who now has three championship medals to her name.
The nail-biter followed last year’s decider against the Swifts when the Firebirds snatched a 57-56 victory in the dying seconds.
It is Queensland’s third grand final win, making them the most successful franchise in the trans-Tasman era which ended on Sunday ahead of next year’s launch of an eight-team all-Australian league. They also became the first team to win back-to-back titles.
In a further sign of the sport’s surging popularity, a sold-out crowd of 10,312 was on hand – the biggest-ever for a netball match in Queensland and the third-biggest in trans-Tasman netball history.
But it could have been very different for the Firebirds, who gave the Swifts a foothold into the contest with their inaccurate shooting.
Despite becoming the first player in the history of the trans-Tasman competition to surpass 5,000 goals, Aiken was well below her season average accuracy of 87.5% and was seemingly rattled by NSW enforcer Sharni Layton, who kept her in check.
Goal attack Gretel Tippett, who scored the winner in last year’s decider, was quiet with six of 11 shooting but provided 47 feeds.
NSW’s Caitlyn Thwaites (34 of 41) and Susan Pettitt (30 of 39) were, in comparison, nailing shots from all angles – but after a strong opening quarter, the Swifts never led by more than one goal.
“It hurts just as much [as last year],” veteran Swift Kim Green said. “We had our opportunities to win today and we just didn’t take them. We build a season for eight months and it comes down to this one day to really perform and I think we did ... but just weren’t able to get over the line.”
