Former Aussie Kelpies captain Heath Brown dives into a new series for all the ‘backseat coaches’ out there, analysing what went right and wrong for SSN teams across each round of the season.
Have a read and share your thoughts!
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A very wise global sports consultant once the old me “opinions are what makes sports go around.” Put another way, he said: “If the sport as an entertainment product is not stirring up a difference of opinion or fan interest and scrutiny, you’re just a sport, not a product”.
In this spirit of elevating opinion on our sport, we want to see you, our network of Aussie coaches, become the backseat drivers of SSN rounds, pondering the moves of the world’s best coaches, diving into why the winners are on the up, and why the losers may have hit poor form.
Let’s get the conversation started:
VIXENS VROOM
Watching the Vixens is like watching a work of netball art be created every week. It’s vintage Australian netball produced week in week out – full court tagging and nagging in defence and speed of hand and foot in attack. No one transitions the ball in short or long court better than the Vixens. Kate Eddy owns the transverse to transverse drive, and Mundy is the linebreaker transverse to circle edge.
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There are better individual players in the comp than most of the Vixens’ starting seven, but there are not better combinations, which is why they consistently beat starstudded sides. There were some games with ugly patches and boring netball to watch this week, but Vixens never fail at the entertainment product – they are the best team to watch by a mile.
Their winning ways and my backseat coach views on continuing this success into Round 2 and beyond? Austin for this team is their barometer. If she is shut down, which is the hardest task, the system breaks down for the frontline. There really wasn’t a plan B last year, but plan A was rarely beaten. This year an increase in defensive stocks across the league will force a plan B alternative line with Graham as an impact player, so it will be interesting to see when we get this!
TANYA’S TALENT TIME
Tanya Obst is yet again the winner of recruitment wars for season 2026. She’s still basking in the glory of her past recruitments of Jamaican superstars who have delivered her team the best defensive fortress in the comp (by a mile). Then she lifts the roster to even greater heights this year with two more internationals who set the fans’ tongues wagging and opposition teams’ hands to their heads.
Their winning ways and my backseat coach views on continuing this success this season? Last year they relied too heavily on Horjus to do the playmaking, which made the opposition’s job to shut their attack down one dimensional. Heffernan and Van Der Berg are the ultimate playmakers, which meant Horjus wasn’t needed as much in Round 1 and could play a Frew-like supporting role rather than always needing to be the starring role. Keep this balance between leading roles and supporting roles and the Tbirds will stay on the winners list.
FAMILIAR FEVER
The Fever are one of the franchises with small changes to their list, able to cover their two departures with similar-style players. Aiken-George replacing Fowler-Nembhard is a like for like swap out, while the defensive end was already rotating so Aryang won’t be as missed, given they’re used to rolling with any combination.
Their winning ways and the potential continuing this success into Round 2 and beyond? It’s all about Glasgow! We know their one-point game is going to beat or keep pace with all the top teams, which Aiken-George will do. But an over-focus last year on the one-point game left them short in key games to teams who were more prepared to pull the trigger from range. It’s their two-point game that gives them the sting they need, and Glasgow with ball in hand during the final five minutes will be key to continued success.
MAVS MOVIN’ ON UP
The Mavs have always been a side for me that lacked a brand of play. Like the Magpies before them – they’ve always had solid lists but lacked a consistent and coherent brand of netball. For example – their defensive line has great contested ball players who spent as much time out of play as they did in – creating a ‘get ball or go home’ style of defence and no in between. This has immediately changed with the addition of two workhorses – JLP and Hinchliffe. They are now a backline with grind and gusto – learning that wins come from shutdowns as well as ball gains.
I’m tipping their defence end to become second best to Tbirds this year for the reasons above. Gerard Murphy will keep adding dimensions to this backline and they will wear down and wreak havoc on most attacking lines this year. At the other end, Mavs are unlikely to win a flag with a game solely built around Nelson. She’s a force as a tall, but only with managed minutes, not full games. I’d like to see her as the impact player and Palavi as the mainstay in a few games to test it works both ways. Keep an eye out for the Palavi crosscourt drive in long court – where she angles up from non-ballside outside the circle to a bust up drive to the middle. Unconventionally brilliant is what we want to see more of, and she brings it!
LEARNING FROM LOSSES
The Swifts, Firebirds, Lightning and Giants started the season with losses. So what were some of the reasons for not being at their best?
The Swifts need to get Nweke and Housby clear on roles – having two chiefs is making the circle hit or miss and a game needs to be built around constant supply to Nweke, like how the Ferns use her.
The Firebirds need to use their Kiwi assets to turn their defence into an predominantly offline NZ style of system. Get the flair into the game. They stuck to ones most of the game and Jackson was restricted.
The Lightning have a list problem in the shooting circle. When Sinclair is back, I would be running her in as the mainstay GA and having Wallam and Koenen sharing the shooter bib. At the other end it was a mess – Burger plays offline, Bruce plays one on one. Pick one or the other as it was way too easy to score against that combination.
The Giants showed a lot of promise. The defence end was one of the few Aussie-with-a-Kiwi combos that worked for most of the game in Round 1. Watson plays a more Aussie style of defence and was probably the best form GK in Round 1. The other end got clunky. Souness was over-processing ball and basics were missing at crucial times. I think the team needs to pick Austin or Letherbarrow and not hedge bets on this. Neither coped well with being in and out of the game. For me, I’d give the bib for a few weeks to Austin and build a more reliable game around her. I’d then start a fight for the GA bib with the other two shooters – Dwyer needs competition for her position to take her game to a new level.
There’s my backseat coaching and unsolicited opinions! What moves would you make heading into Round 2?
