GIANTS Netball is on the way back to the Suncorp Super Netball finals, officially claiming a spot in the top four with a nine-goal win over a struggling Melbourne Vixens outfit at Nissan Arena, Brisbane.

The GIANTS’ midcourt and defensive end were near-unstoppable with 11 intercepts and 16 gains between centre Jamie-Lee Price (two intercepts, two gains), Wing Defence Amy Parmenter(two intercepts, four gains) and defenders April Brandley (one each), Tilly McDonell (three each) and Sam Poolman (three intercepts, six gains).

GIANTS defender Parmenter said her birthday – which is on Sunday, 1 August – present had come early as the club qualified for the finals for the first time in her career and since 2018.

“It is hard not to get ahead of ourselves – but today was a huge day. We’ve locked ourselves into finals and now we can work on what we need to work on,” she said after the match.

“I feel like we’ve been away for five weeks… we’ve been all over the place so it feels like it is broken up a bit. It is a bit of a blur, to be honest – next few weeks we’ll get back to our groove.

“Everyone can see the end [of the season]. We see our family and friends locked up at home… just being out there is a real privilege.”

Vixens struggled to find consistency in crucial moments with 31 turnovers for the match.

There were moments throughout the match, but the Melbourne side couldn’t keep the pressure on GIANTS for sustained periods.

Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said she wanted her side to finish strong after a tough season off the back of a historic grand final win in 2020.

“We have two games to play and we have the opportunity to play out this season in the best possible way… for our fans, our supporters, for the club and for our self-respect,” she said.

“That should be motivation enough.

“You can’t be comfortable with where we are at and with what it looks like at the moment, I never will be. I want to be walking away from the competition at the end of this season with some pride in what we put out on the court.”

GIANTS Shooting Statistics:
Jo Harten: 30/38 – 79%, G1: 29/34, G2: 1/4
Sophie Dwyer: 20/27 – 74%, G1: 20/26, G2: 0/1
Matisse Letherbarrow: 2/3 – 67%, G1: 1/2, G2: 1/1

Vixens Shooting Statistics:
Mwai Kumwenda: 34/43 – 79%, G1: 29/34, G2: 5/9
Kaylia Stanton: 4/11 – 36%, G1: 4/9, G2: 0/2
Ruby Barkmeyer: 2/2 – 100%, G1: 2/2, G2: 0/0

Quotes courtesy of The Goal Circle Podcast