Defending champions, the Adelaide Thunderbirds, kicked off their 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season with a comprehensive 66-53 victory over the Melbourne Vixens at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday morning.

The Thunderbirds, home of the Sunshine Girls trio Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, Romelda Aiken-George and Latanya Wilson, won the first period 16-13 before a strong second quarter saw then enter the halftime interval with a 37-23 lead.

The Vixens played much better in the third quarter which was tied at 14 before they had a 16-15 advantage in the final stanza, albeit too late as the Thunderbirds’ lead was too big to overcome.

Aiken-George, the MVP of last season's Grand Final, was sensational, hitting 34 of her 35 goal attempts while also pulling down three rebounds for a game high 85 Nissan Net Points.

Sterling-Humphrey, last season’s MVP, and Wilson were both excellent on the defensive end, with six and four gains, respectively.

Elsewhere, Sunshine Girl Shimona Jok’s 37 goals from 43 attempts weren’t enough to prevent the Melbourne Mavericks from going down 59-69 to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in their season opener at the John Cain Arena.