Romelda Aiken George

The towering Jamaican goal shooter scored 60 of 61 shots as the defending champions outscored their opponents 25-15 and 18-15 over the first two quarters to take a 13-goal lead into the half-time break. Sasha Glasgow who was a perfect five for five and scored three of six super shots was also key to the victory as the Firebirds provided the champions with a genuine scare.

Whereas the Fever were dominant in the first half, the Firebirds showed that they too could play that game in the second.

Donnell Wallan, who scored 48 goals from 53 attempts and sunk seven of 10 super shots in the game, helped the Firebirds storm back to outscore the Fever 21-15 in the third and 25-20 in the final stanza. She got support from Emily Moore who was perfect inside the circle and who hit one of two super shots and Mia Mayer (2/2) and scored one of two super shots to come within two goals of the champions.

However, that was as close as they would get as the Fever desperately held on for the win.

Fowler has missed only four attempts on goal in five matches this season, scoring 280 goals from 284 attempts.

Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken-George scored 43 goals from 49 attempts to lead the New South Wales Swifts to a close 64-63 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the UniSC Arena.

Over at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Shimona Nelson scored 36 goals from 38 attempts but her Collingwood Magies lost 59-55 to GIANTS for whom Jo Harten scored 33 from 35 and Sophie Dwyer 20 from 22.

Aiken-George, entering her 16th season in the national league, delivered an extraordinary performance in 2024. She racked up a staggering 736 Nissan Net Points, netted 517 goals, and pulled down 69 rebounds. Her impact was undeniable, culminating in a Player of the Match performance during the Grand Final, where she amassed 57.5 NNP, 42 goals, and 10 rebounds to lead the Thunderbirds to victory.

Her debut in Round 1 against the Queensland Firebirds was nothing short of spectacular, scoring 48 goals and officially becoming Thunderbird #108. With 230 games to her name, Aiken-George's experience and skill set make her an irreplaceable asset for the Thunderbirds' attack end.

Thunderbirds General Manager of High Performance, Jace Bode, expressed his excitement about Aiken-George's return. "Romelda was a dominant target for us under the post in 2024 and once again showed why she is one of the best shooters the sport has ever seen," Bode remarked. "Her competitiveness on court and ability to take ball in the air and convert to goal was second to none. She added invaluable experience to our attack line and built strong connections with the players around her. We look forward to welcoming her back in 2025."

Aiken-George's re-signing is more than just a continuation of her journey; it's a statement of intent from the Thunderbirds. With her at the helm of their attack, the team is poised to defend their title and continue their reign as the league's top team.

Fans can expect nothing less than brilliance from Aiken-George as she dons the pink once more, ready to lead the Thunderbirds to further glory in 2025.

Three-time champion Romelda Aiken-George who led the Swifts’ scoring with 27 goals had to settle for the position of runner-up in a match-up that will be remembered for ages.

Sterling was the first to make her mark on the match battling Aiken-George for the ball and drawing the offensive contact to put the Thunderbirds ahead.

Following suite, her teammate Wilson controlled the ball for another gain and the Thunderbirds then blitzed out to a five-goal lead.

Swift Helen Housby had her eyes firmly locked on the goal when she entered the Suncorp Super Shot zone during the Power Five to confidently narrow the Thunderbirds’ lead.

However, Sterling prevented the Swifts from getting too close with an intercept before the end of the quarter allowing the Thunderbirds to head into the break in front 16-12.

Eleanor Cardwell led the scoring for Adelaide with 31 goals and Lucy Austin had nine goals as Adelaide extended their advantage to eight points at half time after outscoring their opponents 19-15 in the second stanza to take a 35-27 led into the break.

The break proved to be a welcome one for New South Wales, who had eliminated last year’s champions West Coast Fever in last week’s preliminary final.

They emerged from the break with renewed focus and cut decisively into Adelaide’s lead after outscoring them 13-8 in the third quarter and was only down by three heading into the final stanza.

They used that momentum to outscore Adelaide 14-11 in the final quarter as the final whistle sounded with the scores locked at 54-54.

Overtime proved just as intense both Helen Housby and Cardwell stepping up to the challenge early slotting Super Shots for their respective teams.

However, the Thunderbirds’ defensive pressure forced the Swifts into a held ball and Cardwell capitalized again but then an offensive contact had the Swifts charging.

Fawns levelled the scores for the Swifts but Sterling showed why she’s the best interceptor in the league burying the Swifts dreams as her teammates made the intercept count.

The Swifts tried their hardest, however, were unable to halt the pink tide with the Thunderbirds winning by one goal.

Shimona Nelson scored 44 goals and Sophie Garbin nine, in a 100 per cent shooting effort as the Magpies in their final season in the Suncorp Super Netball league overcame the defensive efforts of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.

Collingwood led 16-12 after the first quarter and held a 27-23 lead at half time.

Collingwood widened their lead with another 16-12 effort in the third quarter and held on for the win despite a fourth-quarter rally from Thunderbirds who outscored Collinwood 15-10.

Eleanor Cardwell scored 27 goals from 29 attempts in the loss that saw Thunderbirds’ record fall to second place in the league table with eight wins, one draw and three losses this season.

The new league leaders are the New South Wales Swifts who defeated GIANTS 68-63 thanks in part to Romelda Aikens-George’s 32 goals from 39 attempts and Helen Housby’s 100 percent shooting for 18 goals.

Matisse Leatherbarrow and Jo Harten each scored 13 goals while Sophie Dwyer had 11 from 13 in the losing cause.

The Swifts now boast a record of nine wins, one draw and two losses after 12 rounds.

In the other game on Saturday, Queensland Firebirds defeated Melboune Vixens 76-71.

Fowler, the Suncorp Super Netball League’s leading scorer, converted 42 of 43 attempts but it was not enough to prevent the reigning champions from falling to their fourth defeat of the season.

Wilson earned 74.5 Nissan Net Points and Sterling 63 for defensive play that held off the defending champions who led 20-12 after the first quarter. However, the league leaders managed to close the gap by the half-time interval after outscoring Fever 14-11 in the second.

The low-scoring encounter saw the Thunderbirds win the third and fourth quarters, 13-10 and 15-12, respectively to snatch another close win. Eleanor Cardwell converted 26 of her 30 shots and Lucy Austin scored six from six in the hard-fought victory.

Adelaide Thunderbirds now have eight wins and just two losses from their 11 games this season while Fever dropped to seven wins and four losses and are only third on goal difference over Melbourne Vixens who also have a record of seven wins and four losses.

The Vixens suffered their fourth loss of the season going down 70-62 to New South Wales Swifts, who got 29 goals from Romelda Aiken-George from 34 attempts and a perfect 16 from 16 from Helen Housby.

Mwai Kumwenda scored 33 of her 35 attempts for the Vixens.

Meanwhile, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from 56 attempts for the Collingwood Magpies, whose miserable season will be their last in the Suncorp Super Netball League, as they suffered yet another defeat.

The Magpies were outscored 66-62 by the Sunshine Coast Lightning in what was their ninth loss of the season.

Cara Koenen scored 34 from 35 and Steph Wood 20/24 for the Lightning who were picking up their fourth win of the season and are current fifth in the league standings.

The number four-ranked Jamaicans were dominant from the start and didn’t relent against their number 15-ranked opponents for a minute with the towering combination of Romelda Aiken-George and captain Jhaniele Fowler sharing goal shooting duties across two quarters apiece.

Though the Sunshine Girls usual bad habit of making unforced errors kicked in at one point, Aiken-George with 33 goals from 34 attempts and Fowler with 42 goals from 43 attempts, spared their blushes, as goal attacks Rebekah Robinson and Shanice Beckford, contributed 17 and 13 goals respectively.

With the win, the Jamaicans assume pole position in Pool C, ahead of host South Africa, who were 61-50 winners over Wales.

Jamaica’s Head coach Connie Francis started with two debutants in Latanya Wilson at goal defence and wing defence Crystal Plummer, as Robinson and Aiken-George got the starting goal attack and shooter roles ahead of Beckford and Fowler.

The potent attack of the Sunshine Girls saw them open a brisk five-goal lead inside the first 30 seconds, as they displayed their usual speed and flair that delighted crowd, especially when Aiken-George scored a lay-up shot.

In fact, the Jamaicans were so dominant that Sri Lanka’s first goal came almost seven minutes into the opening quarter, which eventually ended 26-5.

Jodi-Ann Ward joined Kadie-Ann Dehaney and the dynamic Plummer in defence for the second quarter and the trio proved too formidable for Sri Lanka’s attackers, as their consistent deflections resulted in the Jamaicans firing in 14 unanswered goals, before the opponents belated got their first almost nine minutes in.

From there, they went on to register a 52-11 half time lead, which all but signalled the writing on the wall for Sri Lanka.

The Jamaicans signalled their intent to hit the century mark with the introduction of Fowler at the start of the third quarter and she flawlessly scored her first 14 attempts, with Beckford providing the necessary support to again outscore Sri Lanka 23-7 for a 75-18 lead heading into the final quarter.

That final quarter represented the best display from Sri Lanka in the shooting circle as the matched the Jamaicans goal for goal in the early exchanges.

However, once the defence lead by Shamera Sterling and player of the game Wilson, found back their rhythm, they forced a number of turnovers and orchestrated some quick transitions for Fowler and Robinson to finish off and propel Jamaica to the 14th 100-plus goal scoreline in the tournament's history.

It was also the first 100-plus score by a team at the World Cup since 2015, when Malawi achieved the feat ironically, also against Sri Lanka.

While the Sunshine Girls scored at 89 percent, they also had 17 turnovers, an issue that Francis is hoping to correct going forward.

“From the first day when we assembled here, I saw the hunger and the will to execute well, and I am very impressed with my team. We made a number of changes just to work on combinations and also to manage the workload because the thing that we are trying to work on mostly is our turnovers.

“We know we have players that can hunt and win balls which makes them dangerous, so it is just to minimize the turnovers some more and we will be good,” Francis said.

For Fowler, the execution was on par for the most parts.

“We wanted to come out and practice some of our strategies and make sure we are cementing some of our plays. Romelda and I are both amazing shooters so either one starting a game is fine, we are just more focused on gelling as best as we can and just going one game at a time,” the captain shared.

The Sunshine Girls will next face Wales on Saturday at 4:00 am Jamaica time.

Romelda Aiken-George led the way on this occasion with 37 goals from 42 attempts, getting support from Shanice Beckford, who chipped in with 20 goals from 24 attempts early on.

Captain Jhaniele Fowler, who was only introduced for the third quarter of the match, added 17 goals from 19 attempts, while Rebekah Robinson had 15 goals from 17 attempts in the blowout win.

Afeisha Noel expectedly led Trinidad and Tobago with 20 goals from 22 attempts.

After celebrating the Reggae Girlz historic feat of progressing to the knockout stages of the Fifa Women’s World Cup at the expense of Brazil in Australia, the Sunshine Girls entered their contest brimming with confidence and that was on display from the opening whistle.

With another strong start, both in attack and defence, the number four-ranked Jamaicans, forced a number of early turnovers and at one point, opened an 8-1 lead in the early exchanges.

Their fast and fluent transitions, coupled with that defensive pressure proved too much for the number 11-ranked Calypso Girls, who struggled to maintain composure, resulting in the Sunshine Girls taking a 20-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same, as Trinidad and Tobago again struggled for rhythm. In fact, so high was the Jamaican tempo and flair that they scored 12 unanswered goals with the Calypso Girls only scoring one, in the first 10 minutes of the quarter.

They eventually found three more late on, but by then, the Jamaicans had raced to a 34-point gap, to enter the half-time break 44-10 up.  

Fowler entered the contest at the start of the third quarter and kept the scoring momentum going, so even though Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed their best scoring period with nine goals at that point, they found themselves 69-19 down and with too much to do heading into the final stanza.

As such, Sunshine Girls Head coach Connie Francis, used the opportunity to feel out a few other combinations, throwing rising sensation Crystal Plummer at centre and Adean Thomas back at wing attack to feed Aiken-George and Robinson, who scored at free will to complete the rout.

The Jamaicans, who last won one of their three bronze medals at the tournament in 2007, are aiming to not only break that drought, but to do so by winning the coveted gold medal and, by all indications, they are on course to do so.

Sunshine Girls assistant coach Shawn Murdock, believes the performance was a glimpse of how lethal the team can be when fresh and focused, as the brace for reigning champions and number two-ranked New Zealand in their Pool G top of the table clash on Thursday.

“We were so happy for the rest day to have the ladies rest and go again and the performance was proof of that recovery. We were actually using this game to prepare for the game against New Zealand tomorrow, so we wanted to get the ladies tuned in, limit turnovers and penalties to get ourselves ready for the game tomorrow,” Murdock said.

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel rued the lack of concentration from her team in another loss.

They are scheduled to take on Wales on Thursday.

“I don’t think we executed our game plan, I thought we had moments of brilliance, but indiscipline worked against us. It was a pleasure to come up against a Caribbean team, but we need to be better. We won some balls in defence which is good, so it is just to create more opportunities and put some shots up,” Greene-Noel said.