After a fiery opening quarter, the Melbourne Vixens were up by one point at the break, sending the 10,000 strong crowd at John Cain Arena a message, ‘We’re capable of winning this’.
Despite entering the Super Netball Grand Final as the reigning premiers, the Vixens were statistically the underdog, facing Adelaide Thunderbirds, who clinched the minor premiership with a near flawless season of 13 wins.
Vixens look on after their grand final loss Getty Images
After the first quarter, it looked like the grand final match could be a proper clash of the titans; a nail bitingly close finale that could go down to the wire.
Then the siren signalled the start of the second quarter, and the Adelaide Thunderbirds inflicted irreparable damage – an extraordinary 21 goal blitz the hometown heroes were never going to recover from.
Leading the ruthless goal onslaught was 191-centimetre, South African-born shooter Elmere van de berg, who was a force to be reckoned with. The top scorer in the UK’s Netball Super League in 2025, Van der Berg made her debut for the Thunderbirds this season and has risen to become one of the league’s deadliest players.
Out of her 52 shots at goal on Saturday evening, van de Berg scored 51 of them.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds now have three premierships – the most successful team in the SSN era. Getty Images
Despite winning the minor premiership, the Thunderbirds travelled to Melbourne for the decider, thanks to Netball Australia’s ongoing $15 million sponsorship deal with Visit Victoria, which expires in June 2027.
The visitors at times battled a hostile home crowd, copping jeers and boos, but ultimately had the last laugh, triumphing 61-40. The result marked their third titles in four years – the most successful club in the Suncorp Super Netball era.
In a post match press conference, a devastated Vixens captain Kate Moloney was brief but succinct,saying “the second quarter killed us”.
“They’re team [The Thunderbirds] that when they get on top of you they really start to come out of their skins and win ball.,” she said.
“And I felt we didn’t stand up to it.
“We weren’t strong enough in that moment, we didn’t have enough fight and enough hunger to go and get the ball back, and I think that’s what hurts so much.”
Vixens coach Di honey was equally critical of the team’s performance and said her message to the Vixens at half-time was to be “more accountable, disciplined and composed.”
“There was 36 turnovers or something. It’s ridiculous for this level,” she said.
“You’re not going to win games with that many turnovers.”
Moloney said she was proud of the team for making three consecutive grand finals, but was adamant tonight’s performance was not good enough and said her teammates would be hurting.
“Obviously, I think what hurts the most today is that the performance we put out there wasn’t good enough for the people who turned up to watch,” she said.
“We’ve got the most loyal supporters, who come each and every week, and to lose by 20 something goals is really tough, but to think that we’ve been consistently at the top, is a credit to our club, to the organisation, and what they put into it.