ROUND 1 of the Suncorp Super Netball 2021 season kicked off on the weekend, with West Coast Fever, Sunshine Coast Lightning, NSW Swifts and the GIANTS coming out on top. Over the ditch, the Southern Steel, Northern Stars and Northern Mystics were the winners of Round 3 of the 2021 ANZ Premiership season. We take a look at some of the standout performances and highest stats from the week.

Goals:

Fever goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler put up the most shots in the 2021 SSN season opener, shooting 55 goals from 60 attempts. The most accurate of the round goes to the Swifts Sam Wallace, who didn’t miss a single of her 49 goals. Mwai Kumwenda maintained 96.9 per cent accuracy, sinking 31 of 32 shots, including one Super Shot, which is worth two goals. Sam Gooden put up the most Super Shots, attempting 11 of them and scoring five. Lightning goal attack Steph Wood showed her dominance in setting up play with 20 goal assists, and the much anticipated return of Gretel Bueta to the Queensland Firebirds was worth it with her 17 goal assists.

Northern Mystics goal shooter Grace Nweke has again put up the most goals of the round, sinking 49 goals from just 56 attempts. Tiana Metuarau, goal attack for Southern Steel, takes out the highest percentage of the round, maintaining 100 per cent accuracy with her eight goals. She also tops the leaderboard for the highest number of goal assists at 29. Steel’s George Fisher also made quite an impact, putting up 52 shots with 48 going through the ring. Aliyah Dunn from Central Pulse kept her accuracy at 97.4 per cent, only missing one of her 39 attempts, and gaining two intercepts along the way. Shooter Ellie Bird from the Mainland Tactix pulled off six rebounds during Round 3, with Nweke just behind her on 5 rebounds.

Midcourt:

The GIANTS centre Jamie-Lee Price was a standout this week, with a massive 24 goal assists from 38 feeds. Just behind her is Lightning’s midcourter Laura Scherian, who fed 30 balls into the ring and managed 22 goal assists. Having a run in both centre and wing attack, Fever’s Verity Charles showed off her attacking skills with 18 goal assists from 33 feeds. Firebirds captain Gabi Simpson had a good run in wing defence this round, managing three gains, two intercepts and six deflections. Jodi-Ann Ward had a run in wing defence for the Collingwood Magpies, gaining five deflections, two intercepts and six gains.

Northern Mystics wing attack Elisapeta Toeava remained her consistent, reliable self during Round 3, with 39 feeds into the ring, 28 of those with a goal attempt, and 21 of those resulting in a goal. The Stars Gina Crampton was also a standout, with a massive 50 feeds and 20 goal assists. Fellow Stars mid-courter Mila Reuelu-Buchanan also managed 20 goal assists, with 43 feeds into the ring. Tactix wing defender Charlotte Elley made an impact in her game, with two gains and two intercepts.

Defence:

Fever young gun defender Sunday Aryang was a standout during Round 3, with seven gains, five deflections and two intercepts. Ever reliable Vixen’s defender Jo Weston kept them in the game with seven deflections, combining with Kadie-Ann Dehaney who was on fire with five gains for the game. Lightning’s defensive duo in Phumza Maweni and Karla Pretorius worked well together to manage two intercepts and four deflections each for the first round.

WBOP Magic keeper Temalisi Fakahokotau was a standout in the defence end during Round 3, with seven gains, three intercepts and seven defections but with no gain. Elle Temu from the Stars also managed seven gains and three intercepts, as well as three rebounds. Pulse’s defensive duo of Kelly Jury and Kelera Nawai showed off their impressive skills, both gaining four gains and two intercepts. Stars goal defender Anna Harrison topped the charts for intercepts, with an impressive four for the round, as well as four gains.