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So there we have it, Round 14 marks the end of the regular Super Netball season and the finalists are now locked in.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds may have sat third for the majority of this campaign, but they were able to pounce on the number one spot when it counted to clinch the minor premiership.
It's been 11 years since they last pulled off this feat and an even longer wait of 25 years since they won back-to-back titles. The defending champions could very well do both this season as the most in-form team.
They enter the finals on a six-game winning streak, after defeating the Sunshine Coast Lightning, 64-62.
However, it was the West Coast Fever and Melbourne Vixens that set the standard early and are still in with a strong chance to take out the crown.
Solid victories for them in Round 14 against the Melbourne Mavericks, 76-57, and the Queensland Firebirds, 62-52, meant they finished equal with the Thunderbirds for points. They just couldn't beat them out on for and against.
Lastly, you'd think the Giants and Swifts would be happy to put their seasons to bed after tough campaigns, as the Swifts scored inside the last 10 seconds to take out the NSW Derby, 72-71.
Yet they're the ones campaigning for more games, but more on that later. If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up.
Attendance at an all-time high
Record-breaking crowds have been an ongoing theme this year and on the final weekend of the regular season, that trend continued.
Over the four games a total 34,726 people turned up to cheer on their teams – setting a new high for a round of Super Netball and smashing the previous best set eight weeks ago by more than 7,000.
There were sell-outs in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney. But again, the club that has outperformed the rest has been the Fever in Perth.
Last season they broke their attendance record twice for a regular home game.
This season, they've done that three times.
Even two weeks ago, when their Round 12 match clashed with a West Coast Eagles AFL game, they attracted 10,000 through the gates. Which is impressive, as a decent portion of their members cross over between the two sporting clubs.
So, what's been their key to success?
Well, their game-day experience is something that obviously makes netball fans want to come back and bring their friends.
Interestingly, they've made a point of maintaining full price for their ticket sales – so the typical two for one kind of deals you might see elsewhere are not in action.
Instead, what has performed well has been their 'Take your Team' deal which encourages netball teams to show up together and gives you added benefits for things like food and drink at the game, rather than a ticketing discount. Birthday parties are also a big hit.
This is something that netball could potentially learn from as a whole when it comes to commercial agreements. By refusing to discount the product, you can actually add value.
Momentum has been building in the west ever since the side won the Super Netball Grand Final in 2022 and set an overall attendance record for the league of 13,908 people.
It feels unlikely the sport will be able to break that anywhere else, given most of the indoor venues it plays at can't hold this many people.
This weekend's semi-final between the Fever and Lightning in Perth may be its best chance this season to raise the bar, as Netball Australia now takes over the responsibility of ticket sales for finals.
It'll be the Fever's last home game of the year with the Eagles off playing interstate.
| Crowd | Game | Round | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11,841 | Fever v Mavericks | Round 14 | 2024 |
| 11,267 | Fever v Swifts | Round 10 | 2024 |
| 11,119 | Fever v Vixens | Round 7 | 2024 |
| 11,013 | Fever v Giants | Round 13 | 2023 |
| 10,764 | Fever v Lightning | Round 12 | 2023 |
Curtain falls on legend's career
Speaking of clashes with the footy, it was unfortunate Kim Ravaillion's partner and Western Bulldogs player Adam Treloar was unable to attend her final netball game.
Named for his AFL side at Docklands on the same day – in an important match ahead of finals – Treloar ended up being a late scratching anyway due to a calf injury sustained in the warm-up.
Still, a large group of Ravaillion's family was in the crowd, as was the couple's daughter Georgie, and plenty of tears were shed.
It was hard not to well up watching her father cry and the Firebirds captain said she kept looking up to him throughout the game as he was "her safe place".
Although her team could not get over the line, it was still a lovely send-off.
The Firebirds fought their hearts out in the final quarter to draw the period, inspired by their retiring player.
"This is Ravy's last seven and a half minutes of her career," interim co-coach Katie Walker addressed the huddle in a timeout.
"C'mon. It is not over. We fight, just like Ravy has her whole career."
After the match, the World Cup and Commonwealth Games champion struggled to compose herself, as she spoke through sobs about how much the club meant.
"It means everything to be honest, I can't believe I'm here," Ravaillion told Fox Netball.
"To think early in my career that I had setback after setback and to have now achieved what I have here in Queensland is the best feeling in the world.
"I got the opportunity here at centre when I was 19 to play with some bloody incredible players.
"I was so lucky, and to finish here in front of this incredible crowd, it's surreal."
The Firebirds are hoping to announce their next head coach before the contracting window opens on August 5, after Bec Bulley departed mid-season.
Swifts 'toughest' season ever
The Swifts were able to snap a seven-game losing streak to narrowly avoid the wooden spoon. Instead, handing it straight to their cross-city rivals the Giants.
Neither side had finished at the bottom of the ladder before now and yet there was still a strong show of support at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Both have experienced big lows this season, but you could argue the Swifts have had it tougher emotionally, after the club parted ways with their long-standing player Sam Wallace-Joseph due to behavioural reasons.
The Trinidad and Tobago shooter was still part of the group back in Round 7, when their losing streak started.
Here, the Swifts succumbed to the lowest-ever score in Super Netball history of 33 goals and head coach Briony Akle spoke about the group being angry at training the following week as they reflected on the poor performance.
That loss would end up being the last time Wallace-Joseph would represent the Swifts, as she was dropped from the team the next two rounds, before exiting officially on June 13.
Neither the club or Wallace-Joseph has specified what the behavioural issue was, but it's been obvious that there has been a major breakdown in the relationships amongst the group.
The player that has been most affected has been English import Helen Housby.
Not only was Housby her shooting partner, but it's well known that the pair lived in Sydney together and were each other's support network abroad.
Housby was also a bridesmaid at Wallace-Joseph's wedding in March before the season start.
The usually reliable Roses shooter has appeared out of sorts on court and vacant during team chats ever since – as if her mind is elsewhere.
But in this final game, Housby was able to turn it around to win the Player of the Match award. Wiping away tears, she tried to sum up how she was feeling.
"That's our first win since all of it happened and it meant a lot," Housby said.
"I don't think anybody from the outside world knows exactly what we've been through … There's been a lot of things go on publicly and behind the scenes … It's been my least favourite season yet and the most challenging of my career.
"Our fans have been fantastic and being able to repay them with that win is special.
"This group is super strong, it has made grand finals before, so I think we navigated it as well as possible and it's something I don't want to ever go through again.
"But I don't think there's any real issues with the squad now, I think we're closer than ever and if we get a good pre-season under our belt and back to playing netball without the shackles on, we'll be fine."
"The adversity part of it is the fact that you've lost a friend and a player," Akle added.
"So for us that's the adversity, we've got through it now."
Still, to go from runners-up in 2023 to this has been quite shocking for their fans, especially as a team with a reputation for being so close-knit. There's a fair bit of work to be done in the off-season to get back on track.
The majority of the team is locked in for the next couple of years, but they'll still need to settle on a tall holding shooting replacement for Wallace-Joseph to spearhead their attack.
Temporary replacement and Tongan star Uneeq Palavi put her best foot forward for that spot with 43 goals and one super shot at 92 per cent in this game, including the winning goal with nine seconds on the clock.
Mavericks impress in first season
The Mavericks haven't got everything right in their inaugural year.
There's been misjudgement around some important cultural moments such as warning off training partner Uneeq Palavi from representing Tonga in the Pacific Aus Sports Netball Series and also their decision to miss last week's smoking ceremony during First Nations Round.
But, for a start-up club that had to scramble to put together a team, only had a short pre-season to work out their combinations, and suffered what has felt like a revolving door of injuries – they still managed to apply pressure to more established sides and have a crack at the top four.
Former Commonwealth Games-winning Roses coach Tracey Neville has also conceded she hasn't always got it right, after taking on the reins for the first time of a Super Netball club.
There's been plenty of sprays, some of which have been better received than others, and she has joked about how she is going grey while learning the ropes.
But the Mavericks' identity and what they stand for has become apparent in the way they fight during games. With a real never-say-die attitude in their approach to the competition.
"I've got so much love for this team and sometimes they break my heart with the things that they do in critical moments, but they've definitely got soul," Neville told Fox Netball earlier in the season.
"The relationships are really starting to come through, but we've struggled in respect to the fact that players have come to us wanting to play a certain position and we've been trying to do that as well as win games.
"At times we've had individual struggles and we've had coach to player struggles, but we work hard to make sure we have those conversations.
"I've never had so many individual meetings because I need to know how they work and I'm still learning, I make mistakes and they definitely pull me up on it.
"That has been quite emotional on this journey, but I think the resilience that we've had has been really pleasing."
The team will be back at full strength for their second season, and we'll get a better indication then of what the Mavericks are capable of.
Do we need a third round?
An interesting question posed by both teams in the NSW Derby was whether the competition is long enough? Currently, the 14 rounds allows each of the eight teams to play each other twice.
As the Swifts and Giants bowed out of the race for the title, they suggested a third round of games would be great, sparking a conversation amongst the league.
"I'd love to play a third round and it could be just random whether you're home or away for the third time you play teams, because 14 rounds goes so quick when we do have such a long pre-season," Housby said.
"It would be exciting to see if we could work that into the league."
The opposition agreed.
"I'd give anything for a third round," Giants head coach Julie Fitzgerald said.
"If you look at how much we've improved, I'd give anything to start another now."
Although we acknowledge the majority of fans and players would probably jump at the chance to see more games, we need to step back for a moment.
ABC Sport spoke with several other clubs today, who aren't taking this idea super seriously and with the greatest respect, it has been suggested by two teams at the bottom of the ladder.
Those that are readying to play finals aren't considering this at all.
Each of the clubs are in different positions financially, and right now, it is pretty well-known that none of them turn a profit.
There would be extra costs involved, especially for those that don't make a return on game-day via ticket sales and we've already seen some clubs choose to drop out of the Australian Netball Championships this year with the additional responsibility of fielding a Super Netball Reserves team.
The general consensus has therefore been that more games will naturally come with expansion, whether that be Australian or New Zealand teams. Which Netball Australia is looking to do beyond 2026 when the current broadcast deal ends.