“Maybe we just need to go to the pub?”
It was this comment from Simone McKinnis after the Melbourne Vixens lost to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in one of a string of flat performances by the team that sparked a remarkable fightback.
At that point, the Vixens had won only two of their six games, McKinnis had announced she would not continue as coach in 2026 and the team seemed certain to struggle their way to a bottom four finish. But they went on to win nine of their next 11 games, including nail-biting, unlikely wins in the semi-finals and preliminary finals to reach the Super Netball grand final.
To win the whole thing seemed nearly impossible. The West Coast Fever had been unstoppable since the return of their 1.98m goal shooter – Jamaica captain, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. They had started a record-breaking 13 straight wins against the Vixens back in round three. They looked unbeatable.
But through a combination of determination, spirit and pure desperation, it was the Vixens who held the trophy aloft, forcing the Fever to play a style that did not suit them and clawing out an improbable one-goal victory.
The start of the game was marked by a number of uncharacteristic errors from both teams, while unrelenting physicality featured from the very first whistle. The first supershot period of the game saw both teams approach the white arc of the circle with caution, neither seemed prepared to take the risk early.
Eventually it was the Vixens who put the first shot up, with Kiera Austin calmly nailing the goal. From the Fever’s next centre pass, Vixens’ goal keeper Rudi Ellis took a pivotal intercept out in front of Fowler-Nembhard and the momentum swung the Vixens’ way, finishing the quarter with a one-goal lead.
The second quarter was scrappy, with the ball finding the floorboards more often than not and plenty of hands disrupting the passes down the court. It is under these scrappy conditions that the Vixens thrive – pouncing on the loose ball as if it was their long lost child. With the Fever preferring a clinical, clean style of play, they seemed unable to match the intensity as the match was increasingly steeped in desperation and sweat. But they stayed in touch, the Vixens taking a narrow two-goal lead into the main break.
It was in the third quarter that the Vixens put the accelerator on, delighting in the fierce energy of the contest to push further ahead. Wing attack Hannah Mundy made a much-anticipated return midway through the quarter to the roar of the crowd. Goal defence Jo Weston was at her inspirational best, throwing her body into every contest with incredible vigour. Most notably, she contested a high ball into Fowler-Nembhard and forced the shooter to knock the ball out of court.
It was then that Mundy’s attacking drive came to the fore, ensuring the turnover was rewarded with a goal and stamping Vixens’ ownership on the quarter, as they went into the final break up by five goals.
The final quarter continued where the last had left off, with the Vixens in control and finding the style of play more comfortable than their Western Australian counterparts. But a timeout midway through helped swing the momentum back towards the Fever and they closed the gap to three goals.
The last five minutes were so frantic they made the rest of the game seem calm in comparison. Ellis covered the front space of the circle so strongly as to shut down all viable options for the feeders and pulled off a deflection that was snapped up by the Vixens. Austin missed the ensuing supershot attempt but Weston won the ball back in a battle with Olivia Wilkinson. The ball moved end to end with increasing desperation.
Fowler-Nembhard brought the margin back to one with a rare supershot with under a minute left in the match, but the Vixens controlled the following centre pass, passing the ball around until time elapsed and the impossible victory was theirs.
And now, at long last McKinnis and her charges can go to the pub.
