HEADING into finals Draft Central assess the best midcourters of the four teams set to take part in the postseason proceedings in Melbourne Vixens, Sunshine Coast Lightning, West Coast Fever and NSW Swifts. When determining the best centre court players from the respective teams we will take into consideration elements such as goal assists, turnovers, centre pass receives and defensive aspect such as the deflections and intercepts they have collected across the 14 rounds of Suncorp Super Netball.

Wing attack:

Melbourne Vixens spearhead Liz Watson is a lynchpin in attack with her impressive vision and dynamic movement a key reason for her sides success. Watson is near-on unstoppable when she is around circle edge given her precise ball movement and accuracy on the pass into the shooters. Her work at the centre pass and second phase play is exceptional, often allowing the Vixens plenty of time to set up in the goal circle. She is crafty with ball in hand and has a wealth of composure to let the pace settle and then weave her magic across the court. Watson leads the way when it comes to goal assists with 303, highlighting just how devastating she can be for opposition teams.

Another important wing attack is Laura Scherian with the Sunshine Coast Lightning veteran plying her trade across the court and continuously presenting at the centre pass. Scherian has speed to burn in the attack half for the Lightning and holds the number one spot for centre pass receives in the competition with 294 such is her work rate and innate ability to pop out at the right time.

Centre:

The Swifts have a highly versatile midcourt but seem to fire the most when either Paige Hadley or Maddy Proud don the centre bib. Proud is on the return from injury and has not skipped a beat, relishing the extra space in centre to amass 192 goal assists and 19 deflections. Hadley’s versatility and ability to provide both an attacking and defensive impact sees her continue to star.

Recognised with an Australian Diamonds call-up for her efforts throughout the 2020 season, Verity Charles is another fancy-footed midcourter to keep an eye out for heading into the finals. Charles has been a key cog for the Fever, often providing that link between the defence and attacking thirds with her speed and well-timed drives. She has been a real ball magnet and has taken the load in the front half with Ingrid Colyer going down with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The centre is clever with ball in hand, able to sight Jhaniele Fowler with great ease and release the ball, thus earning her third spot in goal assists with 265 to her name while only registering 53 turnovers.

It is also hard to go past the likes of Melbourne Vixens captain Kate Moloney who also earned a call-up to the Diamonds credit to her offensive and defensive attributes. The hard-running centre is a real barometer for her side, able to inject plenty of speed and then double down with her composure and class with ball in hand. She has racked up 195 goal assists throughout the season along with 13 intercepts and 17 deflections testament to her defensive style of play.

The other centre that must not be overlooked is former Silver Fern and veteran Laura Langman. The Lightning centre is by far one of the most damaging prospects through the midcourt, able to run all day and night and is most importantly clean with ball in hand with 51 turnovers to her name across the 14 rounds. Langman is quick off the mark able to seamlessly link up the defence and attack in the blink of an eye while her experience allows her to use a variety of passes to deliver into the goal circle and amass 225 goal assists, the highest of her side. Her defensive traits also must not be underestimated with the centre collecting 14 intercepts and 22 deflections.

Wing defence:

As spoken about in the previous article, Kate Eddy is one of those players you love to have given her versatility to swing between wing defence and goal defence. Spending majority of her minutes out in wing defence, her long arms have paid dividends blocking the view of her shorter opponents and allowing her to collect plenty of ball with 18 intercepts and 27 deflections for the season.

An unsung hero for the Lightning is Maddy McAuliffe with the wing defence often used as an impact player – and for good reason given her ball winning capabilities. McAuliffe is not afraid to give anything a red hot crack, contesting every single pass and using her quick footwork to dance around the body of her opponent and pick up ball as shown through her 14 intercepts and 28 deflections while only recording a mere 13 turnovers.

For the Fever, Jess Anstiss is the lock in wing defence although she has proven more than capable to swing into that centre position. Anstiss is an exciting prospect who injects plenty of speed and tenacity, not afraid to throw her body on the line and win the hard ball as shown in her stats with nine intercepts and 20 deflections. Her cleanliness with ball in hand is also another focal point with only 17 turnovers to her name while her efforts in attack are also strong with 45 goal assists, given the limited court time she has spent in centre.