In round eight we ticked over into the back half of the 2024 season, as teams came head-to-head for a second time.

Both Melbourne clubs got a win at home against visiting Sydney teams, as the Vixens beat the Giants 74-60 and the Mavericks outlasted the NSW Swifts 64-58.

The Sunshine Coast Lightning were much improved in their second battle against the West Coast Fever, but they'll be left with major regrets after a lacking super shot strategy meant they missed a chance to capitalise on a tight scoreline, 71-68.

Lastly, the Queensland Firebirds are fighting hard to avoid the wooden spoon, as they upset last year's premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds, 52-42, to move up a spot into seventh place.

If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up.

Swifts shooter Sam Wallace-Joseph 'dropped'

By far the biggest talking point of the round was the Swifts' decision to replace their three-time club MVP Sam Wallace-Joseph with teenager Grace Whyte.

As the team's 11th player, Whyte (GA/WA) has been elevated to the game-day 10 in recent weeks to plug the hole of injured midcourter Maddy Proud.

But in round eight, defender Jemma Donoghue took that spot and Whyte retained her place in the team as more of a shooter, leaving Wallace-Joseph on the outer.

Speaking with the host broadcaster, Helen Housby said it had been a "club decision" and that it was "out of players' hands".

Our initial thoughts were that Wallace-Joseph may be managing a niggle as she has spent the last two years out of the game rehabbing a serious knee injury.

Since her return, the Trinidad and Tobago import has had less game time than her previous campaigns and she also looked stiff in the Swifts' loss in round seven.

But head coach Briony Akle confirmed the change wasn't for injury reasons.

"She's not actually injured, we've just made a call on our 11th player this week, so we've brought Grace in halfway through the season and will see what we can do there," Akle told Fox Netball.

It's absolutely the Swifts prerogative to make tactical decisions around their 11th player – that's what it is there for, after all – and it does make sense to retain Whyte in the game-day squad if she's their best back-up for Proud at wing attack.

What doesn't make sense, is the Swifts specifically listed Whyte in the shooting end for the weekend, and yet she spent half of her 30 minutes on court in wing attack.

So why did they add another defender to the mix and sacrifice the experience of Wallace-Joseph? Were they trying to send her a message?

Earlier in the week, Akle had spoken about the anger the team had felt in the wake of recording the lowest-ever Super Netball total in round seven (33 goals).

The decision to omit Wallace-Joseph therefore feels like a move made under pressure and whether the change is a knee-jerk reaction or completely justified is still up for debate, as the Swifts ended up suffering a second straight loss.

It was a tighter game against the Mavericks where they masked a lot of their attacking problems with 12 super shots.

So, will we see Wallace-Joseph back next week and will she be fired up and ready to prove a point?

This comment from Kim Green on Pivot makes her guaranteed position in the line-up feel a bit more ambiguous, as the rumour mill runs wild with all sorts of theories.

"It's an interesting one," Green said.

"An omission just from the fact you can bring your 11th player in, for a player like Sam Wallace-Joseph … she was dropped and for mine, she brings a different element to the team, she's a gun, so watch this space, I think there's a little bit more to it."

Diamonds announcement imminent

Australian head coach Stacey Marinkovich has been spotted at several Super Netball games ahead of the 2024/25 Diamonds squad announcement this week.

The contracted list can be up to 22 names long and its anticipation has created a bit of buzz, as fans and pundits speculate about selection and share their picks based on recent form.

With no major tournament this year, there is more flexibility to trial things as we restart the next World Cup cycle and the team looks to build some fresh combinations.

Especially since Ash Brazill and Steph Fretwell have both retired from Marinkovich's 19-player contracted list for 2023/24, making way for some new faces to pop up.

Has young Georgie Horjus done enough to get her first call-up?

The 22-year-old pocket rocket has impressed across wing-attack and goal-attack in her fifth season, plus it was clear on the weekend how important she is to the Thunderbirds, who missed her dynamic play up front.

Will Lightning goal keeper Ash Ervin get the nod after a Player of the Match performance in round seven and a 15-minute period of dominance against Fever shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard a week later?

Four gains for the 192cm tall defender in the second quarter on Saturday saw her turn momentum but Fowler-Nembhard won the match-up overall. So maybe Ervin gets the call-up later on to be a camp invitee?

Then there's the older defending duo of Rudi Ellis and Emily Mannix, who have played a huge part in the Vixens top-two campaign so far. Mannix has already represented Australia six times before.

These are the kinds of questions floating around the netball traps with all to be confirmed shortly.

The need for bigger game-day squads

This season there have been injuries galore, testing the depth of club's wider squads. Training partners have been called upon frequently and some sides have coped better than others.

In round eight, a total 10 players across the league were unavailable to play due to injury. Cheekily, we've included Mavericks shooter Eleanor Cardwell here, who actually made it on court but sustained a quad injury in the first quarter against the Swifts and had to sit out the remaining 45 minutes with ice on her leg.

An extra two players were ruled out of the weekend on top of this due to illness.

One of them was co-captain Jo Harten, who was a late omission for the Giants against the Vixens.