Finals series are defined by big moments.  

Across the history of the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) League, successful sides have had players who stand up when those big moments come along and Adelaide Thunderbirds, West Coast Fever, Melbourne Vixens, and Sunshine Coast Lightning are all equipped with such quality.

Throughout the 2024 season, these players made it their mission to push not only themselves, but also their teammates towards ultimate glory, and with the business end of the campaign now on the horizon, nothing less is expected.

In fact, it would be hard for many to disagree with the fact that these four players—Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, Kiera Austin, Alice Teague-Neeld, and Steph Fretwell—will be key in shaping their respective team’s chances in the bid to be crowned 2024 champions.

The top two teams, Thunderbirds and Vixens, will lock horns in the major semi-final, while Fever and Lightning will cross swords in the minor semi-final. Both are scheduled for Saturday.

Shamera Sterling-Humphrey

There is no denying the Adelaide Thunderbirds have the best defence in the competition, marshalled by one of the world's best, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey. 

Sterling-Humphrey has been sending shivers down shooters’ spines for years, but has become the games ultimate x-factor in recent times as she gains more big game experience. 

She played a crucial role in Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls success at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and decided to make that a habit in 2023.

The superstar defender was named the 2023 SSN Most Valuable Player and played a starring role in the Thunderbirds unlikely premiership, finishing the finals series with 13 gains, 9 deflections, 6 intercepts, 5 rebounds, 4 pick-ups and 158.5 Nissan Net Points across two inspirational wins. 

Jamaica went deep in the 2023 World Cup, going down to Australia by three goals in a nail-biting semi-final. Sterling-Humphrey had 4 gains, 2 rebounds and 2 intercepts as she tried to push her side into their first ever World Cup final. But it wasn’t to be.

She hasn’t slowed down in 2024, leading the league in gains (108), deflections (96), intercepts (44), and defensive rebounds (36), contributing to the Thunderbirds standing as the number one goals from gain side in the competition.  

The 28-year-old’s presence behind the ball is intimidating, with sides forced to alter their ball movement in an attempt to nullify her influence on the game.  
 
Sophie Garbin and Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard are likely opponents for Sterling-Humphrey and her dynamism not only allows to negate their influence, but also start the Thunderbirds attacks through flying intercepts and outrageous deflections, an integral part of the Adelaide side’s push for back-to-back championships.

Kiera Austin (right) prepares to shoot under pressure from Jamaican Kadie-Ann Dehaney of West Coast Fever.

The World Cup final is the biggest stage in netball, and in 2023, Kiera Austin owned it. 

After not experiencing any court time in the Diamonds semi-final win over Jamaica, Austin was thrown on mid-way through the second quarter of the final against England, with Australia holding a one-goal lead. 

The Vixens superstar was unstoppable, finishing the game with 15 goals from 17 attempts, 18 feeds, 16 assists, one gain and one deflection in a player of the match performance, combining beautifully with now Vixens teammate Sophie Garbin in attack. 

However, SSN glory has evaded Austin to this point in her career, but she still has plenty of SSN finals experience to go alongside her big game credentials with the Diamonds, having appeared in both the 2022 and 2023 finals series. 

Austin is the most complete goal attack in the competition, if not the world, with her elite work rate allowing her to influence the game in both defence and attack. 

She’s the highest ranked in her position across the SSN in 2024 for intercepts (11), and gains (18), while only Sophie Dwyer (25) has more deflections this season than Austin (22). 

Austin is still one of the biggest attacking threats in the competition, sitting 8th for goals scored (293), 4th for super shots (55), 15th for goal assists (192) and 15th for feeds (265), as she has seemingly saved her best performances for the big sides this year. 

The 26-year-old is averaging 23.7 goals, 4.7 super shots, 17 feeds, 12.5 assists, 2 deflections, one gain and one intercept per game against the Thunderbirds and Fever, two sides she’ll likely have to face along the way to the ultimate prize.

Alice Teague-Neeld 

When you think West Coast Fever, you think about Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. How could you not? But the Jamaican superstar can’t do much without the ball, and Fever's wing attack, Alice Teague-Neeld, is her main source.

Fowler-Nembhard’s abilities mean that most of the time, Teague-Neeld doesn’t get the credit she deserves. 

Teague-Neeld was named wing attack in 2023 SSN Team-of-the-Year, after averaging 85.5 Nissan Net Points across the campaign, and she has carried that form into 2024, fulfilling the role of chief creative outlet for the Fever. 

She is ranked second behind Diamonds captain Liz Watson for total feeds (494), assists (353), and a superior conversion rate, with 71.4% of her feeds resulting in goals.  

Teague-Neeld also rates highly for centre pass receives, ranked second with 294, and second phase receives, ranked 7th with 146. Her other strength is her durability and reliability.  

Interestingly, Teague-Neeld has recorded just 36 turnovers and only Fowler-Nembhard and Jess Anstiss have played more minutes for the Fever this season. 

The 28-year-old has tasted success at SSN level before, as a member of the Fever’s victorious 2022 side, and was one of their most consistent finals performers over the past two seasons, averaging 76.7 Nissan Net Points, 36.3 feeds, 22 assists and 29.5 centre pass receives across four finals appearances. 

Flair might not be her strong suit, but consistency is, and her Fever teammates love her for it.

Steph Fretwell 

The Lightning have been well off the pace set by the top three this season, but they still pose a huge finals threat. Such is the match-winning quality on their list, headlined by World Cup winner Steph Fretwell.

Fretwell has an enormous amount of finals experience, having played in five straight national league grand finals from 2015 to 2019, winning back-to-back premiership in 2017 and 2018 with the Lightning. 

Fretwell was as important to the Lightning then, as she is now, averaging 16.5 goals, 24.5 feeds, 18.5 assists and 22.5 centre pass receives in those dual premiership glories. 

Known for being one of the best ball handlers in the competition, Fretwell’s ability to find space and remain calm under pressure makes her the perfect player for the big moments, something she displayed in the Diamonds 2023 World Cup semi-final against Jamaica. 

Fretwell played the entire match and shot her 29 goals at 90.6%, as well as providing 14 assists and receiving 19 centre passes to help drag the Diamonds into another World Cup decider. 

The 32-year-old remains one of the best sharpshooters in the league, sitting in the top 10 league-wide for one-point goals and super shots, as well as doing plenty of work out the front, contributing 175 assists (17th) and 234 feeds (17th). 

Her connection with Liz Watson and Cara Koenen was built over a lengthy period of time, across multiple teams, and that synergy will come to the fore as the pressure intensifies across the finals series. 

Simply put, if Lightning requires a last second super shot to ice the game, they would certainly want the ball in Fretwell’s hands. 

Another stellar shooting exhibition from Jamaica’s Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard assisted West Coast Fever to another clinical performance in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) League, as they toppled Melbourne Mavericks 76-57 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 11,841 at RAC Arena, in Perth, on Saturday.

While the 19-goal victory didn’t push the Fevers to the top of the standing as they had hoped, it did ensure they ended the regular season on a high heading into the finals. They provisionally sit second on the standings on 44 points, same as leaders Melbourne Vixens, who were 62-52 winners over Queensland Firebirds.

However, reigning champions Adelaide Thunderbirds (40 points), could overtake both to finish regular season as minor premiers, with a win over Sunshine Coast Lightning on Sunday.

Still, Fowler-Nembhard, who shot 69 from 69, including a solitary Supershot worth two goals, and her team have much to celebrate as they have regained some semblance of rhythm when it matters most. Alice Teague-Neeld (five goals from six attempts) and another Jamaican Shanice Beckford (two goals from three attempts) supported the top-rated shooter.

Meanwhile, another Jamaican Shimona Jok led the Mavericks with 30 goals from 34 attempts, with support from Eleanor Cardwell (21 goals from 24 attempts) and Gabrielle Sinclair (six goals from eight attempts), but it was not enough for them to make the finals in their inaugural SSN season.

Both teams started the game strongly, with the Jamaican shooters as Fowler-Nembhard and Jok exchanging goal-for-goal at opposite ends of the court. However, Fever gradually asserted some authority on the contest and opened up a five-goal lead to end the first quarter at 20-15.

The second quarter was a stark contrast to the first as both teams struggled to maintain possession due to some unforced errors, before the Mavericks regained their composure and scored a few unanswered goals to reduce the deficit.

That shift in momentum forced Fever’s Head coach Dan Ryan to move Sunday Aryang into goal defence, while Jess Anstiss took the wing defence bib, and Kelsey Browne entered the game in centre. Those changes had immediate impact, as Aryang picked up a rebound off a missed effort from Jok.

From there, Fever ensured they remained on top at 34-30 at the half-time interval, though they were outscored 14-15 in what was a strong second quarter for the Mavericks.

Like they did in the first, the two teams traded goals for most of the third quarter until Aryang picked up an incredible intercept for the Fever. That, along with a few missed efforts on the Mavericks’ part, allowed Fever to widen the gap to a 13-goal lead at 56-43 heading into the final quarter.

In chase of a 24-goal winning margin to secure top spot, the Fever threw it all on the line in the final quarter, as they applied consistent pressure to the Mavericks, who never really had a response, but did well enough to deny the host a wider margin of victory.

Adelaide Thunderbirds produced what was arguably their best performances of the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) League season so far to turn the tables on leaders West Coast Fever, with an emphatic 68-50 victory at a sold-out Entertainment Centre, on Saturday.

Having lost the first meeting between the two by one goal in a nail-biting encounter, the Thunderbirds –comprising Jamaicans Romelda Aiken-George, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson –were out for revenge against their Jamaican counterparts Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, Shanice Beckford and Kadie-Ann Dehaney, and they delivered it in a swift and vicious manner with the 18-goal romp that handed Fever their second loss of the season.

In fact, the win for the Thunderbirds also marked a rebound from last week’s shock defeat to Queensland Firebirds, as they capitalised on 19 gains against the uncharacteristically careless, out-of-sorts Fever.

Aiken-George, as always, led the Thunderbirds from the front with 50 goals from 60 attempts, backed by Lauren Frew, who had nine goals from 13 attempts, while Georgie Horjus had five goals from six attempts, and Lucy Austin scored four goals from five attempts.

Meanwhile, Fever’s attacking front saw Fowler-Nembhard tally 41 goals from 46 attempts, as Alice Teague-Neeld (four goals from five attempts), and Olivia Wilkinson (three goals from four attempts) offered some support. Beckford failed to score from her three attempts.

As expected, the encounter started at a decent tempo, as Fever accounted for the first two goals, before Thunderbirds responded, finding free targets and keeping pace in a goal-for-goal opening term.

Sterling-Humphrey made her presence felt early, when she got her hands on the ball within the first two minutes, though she couldn't quite secure it to make it count. Still, she went on to Sterling-Humphrey tally eight intercept possessions by halftime.

Jamaican Shamera Sterling-Humphrey of Adelaide Thunderbirds soars above her West Coast Fever opponent to win possession.

The Fever defenders focused on protecting the backspace with a split circle, aiming to stifle the tall timber, Aiken-George, but it was to no avail.

Latanya Wilson later pulled off a crucial intercept, which assisted Thunderbirds, the reigning champions, to a two-goal lead heading into the Power Five, where they added three more goals to open a five-goal lead a 20-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Tayla Williams also shone early for Thunderbirds, as she racked up 53.5 Nissan Net Points, with eight goal assists, 11 feeds, and a deflection in the first term alone.

Much like she ended the first, Wilson started the second quarter in a similar vein, as she soared for another intercept, and kept possession in play even as she flew out of bounds. That play extended the Thunderbirds' lead and they duly maintained the momentum from there to take the quarter 19-9 for a 39-24 lead at half-time.

The Fever stepped up their game in the third quarter and that resulted in a slight momentum shift.  For the first and only time in the contest, they outscored Thunderbirds 17-12 to cut the deficit to 10 goals at 51-41 heading into the final quarter.

Though Fever showcased moments of fluid play that signalled a notable shift in energy and momentum at the top of the final quarter, their hopes of a comeback victory dwindle, as Thunderbirds regained their rhythm just before the Power Five and accelerated to cap a tidy victory.