The Victorian Fury will commence their pursuit for a historic seventh premiership at the Australian Netball League (ANL) finals at Netball Central in Sydney this weekend.
The finals will be played in a knock-out format and will commence on Saturday when the Fury take on the Western Sting in the first semi-final from 5pm AEST.
If they win that match, the Fury will play the winner of the second semi-final between the NNSW Waratahs and the Southern Force in Sunday’s Grand Final at 12pm AEST.
Last time they met in Round 4, Sting defeated Fury in game one, claiming a 57-46 win. In the second game of the same round, Fury came out on top, taking the game 63-49.
Fury Captain Fiona Themann anticipates a fired-up Western Sting outfit.
“We expect them to come in with a bit of confidence after they beat us in one game earlier this year, but going in we know what we need to do, we have worked the processes and now it will just be like going into any other game,” Themann said.
“The girls are very excited and looking forward to the challenge that awaits.”
Fury finished the ANL season as minor premiers and they enter the semi-final feeling refreshed, having not played since their victory against the Queensland Fusion on 5 June.
“The break has been fantastic as it has allowed some of us to rest our bodies and allowed those who missed a few games through injury time to recover and get back to 100 per cent fitness.”
Themann has been a standout at Goal Keeper for the Fury this season. Her combination with Melbourne University Lightning teammates Shannon Eagland and Elle Bennetts has helped the Fury to the best defensive record this year.
The trio will have an important role to play again to shut down a potent Sting attack which ranks third this season.
“The Sting have got mobile goalers and an aerial goal shooter that we will need to make sure that we can shut down,” Themann said.
“Their mid-court is really fast as well so it will be important that the likes of Lara Dunkley and Ella Bayliss are able to slow them down and restrict the quality feeds going into their attackers.”
In Jane Cook and Mikaela Vaughan, the Fury have their own potent attacking options with the pair currently ranked fourth and sixth respectively for goals scored this season.
Being patient and feeding them the ball in strong positions to score will be a key focus for the team.
“A big focus for us this year has been on making sure we can reset the ball back and have time to think about where to place the ball instead of just trying to force it in. Even though all of our goalers are over six foot, we don’t need to force it in, we need to be patient with it,” Themann said.
The Victorian Fury are currently the most successful team in ANL history with premierships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015.
