Thunderbirds secure back-to-back glory on home court

Last year they dared to dream. This year, they dreamed bigger.

The Adelaide Thunderbirds have achieved what only one other club has in the Suncorp Super Netball era… back-to-back premiership glory.

The home side managed to ward off a fast-starting Melbourne Vixens outfit to come away 59-57 winners in front of an electric sold out crowd at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

It was once again a Jamaican masterclass with Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson’s relentless defence, and Romelda Aiken-George at the other end leading their side to victory.

Sterling-Humphrey and Wilson did what they do best. And while they didn't reach their usual heights on the stats sheet, they wore down the Vixens attack after their Melbourne-based opposition started in red hot form.

The duo combined for six gains while Aiken-George was named the grand final MVP for her stellar performance, shooting 42/51.

Rudi Ellis and Emily Mannix both had a crack on the superstar shooter, but could not subdue her impact.

There’s no doubt the Thunderbirds went into this game favourites and were the team to beat all season, but the hunted proved no one could catch them.

But they didn’t have everything their way in netball’s big dance.

The Vixens were on from the first whistle, forcing a turnover off the Thunderbirds’ initial centre pass. And they didn’t miss a beat during the opening quarter with Origin Diamond Kiera Austin leading the charge.

When Austin has her eye in early it spells trouble, even for the world’s best defenders.

Austin finished with 21/24 goals and 7/7 from the super shot zone.

Austin’s smarts in the circle, and Vixens quick ball movement proved a challenge for the world class Thunderbirds defenders. After trailing by five the Thunderbirds were forced to call a time out to reset.

The Vixens were in the box seat at the quarter time break and had kept Matilda Garrett, Sterling-Humphrey and Wilson quiet, forcing Tania Obst to make some changes.

Wilson was moved into goal defence, Tayla Williams into wing defence and skipper Hannah Petty was injected into centre to steady the ship.

And it worked.

Because the Thunderbirds forced the Vixens attack into a number of errors to claw back the margin.

You couldn’t split the pair at half-time with both teams entering the match at 28 apiece.

Sterling-Humphrey worked herself into the game in the second half, with Wilson by her side, wearing Austin like a glove down the court.

Simone McKinnis handed Emily Mannix the job of quelling Romelda Aiken-George while Rudi Ellis took a breather. But it didn’t work, with the height miss-match coming into play.

Georgie Horjus also made the move from wing attack to goal attack with her speed onto the ball a problem for Jo Weston. 

As suspected, spurred by the electric home crowd the Thunderbirds rattled the Vixens in the final term and ran over the top of the visitors.

To the Vixens credit, while the Thunderbirds stretched the lead to six at one stage, Austin was able to reel that in with her hot hand from the super shot range.

A late turnover gave the Melbourne team a sniff with less than two minutes to go, but Sophie Garbin missed a crucial super shot in the dying moments leaving not enough time for the Vixens to draw level and send the game into extra time.

Austin was a stand out for the losing side. Hannah Mundy was also good with 35 feeds and 18 goal assists.

For the Thunderbirds, it was captain Petty who impressed and youngster Lauren Frew who scored 10/10 during her stint on court.

It was an epic performance from the home side who managed to win back-to-back titles for the first time in 25 years, leaving a legacy on the South Australian state.