With Adelaide’s Netball SA Stadium playing host to two visiting Derbys today, fans were always going to be in for a
Giant day of netball- and the NSW Swifts v Giants Netball certainly delivered.

With the Giants’ latest 59-55 victory showcasing the very best of NSW netball.

Coming off the back of their respectively strong performances last week, both NSW teams took the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with unchanged starting 7s.

With memories of the Swifts’ 12 goal win over the Giants in their last meeting fresh in everyone’s minds, the stage was set for some exciting matchups across the court.

Usually the queens of possession, the Swifts held the Giants to within 1 to 2 goals for much of the match, until their crosstown rivals beat them at their own game, establishing a 5 goal lead heading into the final quarter through some strategic Super Shots and defensive pressure that shut down the Swifts options across the court.

Tayla Fraser saw her second starting seven appearance of the season, stepping into that WD role in a tense match up against the Giants’ own exciting new young talent, Maddie Hay before moving into centre later on in the game as the Giants began to establish a strong lead.

Maddie Hay herself threatens to become a serial MVP-managing after achieving her second award in a row.

This game saw her go toe to toe with the very best of the Swifts’ defenders and come out on top.

In an attack that boasts a veteran of the game like Jo Harten, she slots in well; as does Sophie Dwyer, who looked unfazeable sharing that shooting circle.

On the Swifts end, Sam Wallace fought a physical battle with Sam Poolman, managing 28/32 of her shots and even sneaking in a super shot when she was able to find space, with both Garbin and Housby putting in a few of their own.

Maddy Proud and Jamie-Lee Price promised a strong contest with plenty of the trademark deck hittings that the Swifts centre has become known for.

Throughout the game, Proud did her best to navigate her more physical opponent, while Price often succeeded in holding her space.

While the Swifts midcourt struggled under the Giants pressure, credit has to go to Paige Hadley, who under a heavy work load fought her way to the top of the Nissan Netpoint count and showed off some clever ball work.

With balls, bodies and even Parmenter’s shoe flying, the Swifts found their lead slipping late in the third quarter and pulled out a series of positional changes to try and turn the tide, though their efforts to take the game to extra time were crushed in the dying minutes with some well-timed Giants shots.

With percentages in their favour, the Giants now move from third to take the top spot of the ladder from the Swifts- a spectacular way to mark their first win over a top 4 side this season.