The West Coast Fever have won their maiden national netball league trophy, clinching the Super Netball title with a 70-59 victory over the Melbourne Vixens in the grand final at Perth Arena.

In the 25 years the club has existed, first as the Perth Orioles (1997-2007) and later the West Coast Fever (2008-current), it has never quite been able to achieve the feat until now.

The team's most successful campaigns have come during the Super Netball era, where the Fever have played finals in three of their past four seasons and contested the grand final twice.

The Fever have made a habit of falling short at the last hurdle by the narrowest of margins.

However, the journey to greatness is rarely linear and the side has been building impressively during that time.

The Fever have maintained a core group of players since 2018 — Courtney Bruce, Jhaniele Fowler, Stacey Francis-Bayman, Verity Simmons and Jess Anstiss — and gained a reputation as one of the toughest teams to face in the Australian league.

As it happens, all they needed to take their game to the next level was a fresh set of eyes from incoming coach Dan Ryan who, with a couple of key tweaks, has proved the difference this year.

The Fever have a fierce rivalry with the Vixens that has only intensified during 2022, as the two teams fought relentlessly over the number one position on the ladder.

Vixens may have won the minor premiership and their two regular-season match-ups in Round 4 (75-66) and Round 10 (70-64), but the Fever ambushed them in major semi-final (71-62) to be the first team through to the decider. 

Now they've followed up on that incredible performance with more dominance in the grand final at Perth Arena, where 13,908 people turned up to set a new attendance record for a Super Netball crowd.

More to come.