ANZ Championship Semi-Final Preview

FINALS SCHEDULE.

Semi-Final 1:
Melbourne Vixens v Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic
Sunday 12th July
Hisense Arena, Melbourne at 2.30pm (AEST)

Semi-Final 2:
Adelaide Thunderbirds v Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel
Monday 13th July
ETSA Park, Adelaide at 6.30pm (CST)

Preliminary Final:
Date – Sunday, July 19th
Venue – To be confirmed

Grand Final:
Date – Monday, July 27th
Venue – To be confirmed

* Please note all times are local area times.

An updated ladder can be found below and at www.anz-championship.com


DOT POINTS FOR SEMI-FINALS;


Melboure Vixens v Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic

This is the second time that the Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic have played the Melbourne Vixens in the 2009 ANZ Championship. In Round 10 the Magic defeated the Vixens 55–48.
The two teams met once in 2008 in Round 11. The Vixens won 47-40.
The Vixens won the 2009 Minor Premiership, the Magic won the 2008 Minor Premiership.
In Round 14, the Vixens had a 41 goal win over the Pulse, scoring the most number of goals in any ANZ Championship match (81-39).
In Round 14, the Magic had a 19 goal loss to the Thunderbirds in Adelaide.
The Vixens have a 100% winning record at home, the Magic have a 71% winning away record.
This is the second time that the Magic have reached the Major Semi-Final.
In 2008 they played and lost to the NSW Swifts, then beat Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Preliminary Final before losing to the Swifts again in the Grand Final.
This is the first time that the Melbourne Vixens have played in the Major Semi Final.
In 2008 the Vixens played the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Minor Semi-Final and lost, finishing fourth place overall.
In Round 13 this season, the Magic were the first team in New Zealand to win on Australian soil.
Magic goal shoot Irene van Dyk has kept her position at the top of the goal shooting percentage stakes since Round 2 with 93%, however she shot 79% in Round 14.
The Melbourne Vixens are the only team with three shooters in the top 10 for accuracy. Ashlee Howard (third at 90%), Caitlin Thwaites and Sharelle McMahon (seventh equal at 84%)
The Vixens are the only team whose goal attack and wing attack share almost the same amount of centre passes received. Wing attack Chelsea Nash has received 194 passes and Sharelle McMahon has received 193.
van Dyk has taken two more offensive rebounds than her opposite in Vixens, goal shoot Caitlin Thwaites. They sit in seventh and eighth place respectively.
Magic defender Casey Williams still heads the defensive rebounds with eight more than any other defender in the Championship. She has 51 rebounds.
Vixens defender Bianca Chatfield is sitting at fourth equal for defensive rebounds with 39 while her fellow defender Julie Corletto sits in fifth with 35.
Casey Williams still heads up the intercept count (51) and the deflection count (72)
Vixens defender, Julie Corletto is fifth for intercepts (25) and fifth for deflections (53)
Her teammate and fellow defender, Bianca Chatfield is ninth equal for intercepts (21) and seventh equal for defections (49)


Adelaide Thunderbirds v Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel

This is the second time that the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel has played the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the 2009 ANZ Championship. In Round 13 the Steel defeated the Thunderbirds, 58-49.
The two teams met once in 2008 in Round 4. The Thunderbirds won that game 54-41.
The Thunderbirds finished third on the 2009 ladder, Steel finished fourth.
In 2008, the Thunderbirds finished third on the ladder at the end of the Round 14. They won their first Semi-Final against the Vixens, 53-48 and then lost their Preliminary Final against the Colourplus Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, 51-49.
Both teams had wins in Round 14 with the Steel defeating the NSW Swifts at home, 55-34 and the Thunderbirds defeating Magic in Adelaide, 54-35.
The Thunderbirds have an 86% winning rate at home while the Steel have a 43% winning rate away.
Steel shooter Donna Wilkins shot 299 goals this season shooting at 83%, teammate Megan Dehn has shot 59 goals in three games, shooting at 82%.
Thunderbirds shooters Natalie Medhurst has shot 281 goals this season at 85%, teammate Kate Beveridge has shot 370 at 79%.
Thunderbirds keeper Geva Mentor finished sixth in the competition for rebounds with 39.
Mentor finished equal second in the competition on the deflection list with 65.
Steel shooters Donna Wilkins finished sixth in the competition for offensive rebounds with 23.
Steel’s Katrina Grant and Thunderbirds Mo’onia Gerard both finished the home and away season with 22 intercepts, eighth in the competition overall


SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW;

With the ANZ Championship Minor Premiership title safely tucked in their belts, Melbourne Vixens have their work cut out for them this Sunday when they take on the Colourplus Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in the first Semi-Final at Hisense Arena. The Magic is the only team to have beaten the Vixens this season.

Celebrations have been put on ice as the victorious Vixens take on this next crucial chapter of the championship as if it was “a whole new ball game”.

“We haven’t had any celebrations yet. Although it’s great to finish the Minor Premiership on top, it’s business as usual this week,” says Vixens’ versatile midcourter Renae Hallinan. “We have normal training – no more, no less – and we’re concentrating on one game at a time.”

Don’t take the Vixens as party poopers. The team that immediately stamped their authority on this competition from the early rounds are steadfast in their determination to win the 2009 champions title, and improve markedly on their fourth place in last year’s inaugural series. And that means revision, pouring their concentration into breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of the Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic – the only team to have stolen a win off Vixens so far this year.

It’s fair to say trans-Tasman rivalry will be at a peak when Vixens take on last year’s finalists Magic at Melbourne’s Hisense Arena on Sunday, and Adelaide Thunderbirds welcome the challenge of Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in Semi-Final 2 at ETSA Park on Monday.

“We’ve known for a couple of weeks that it was more than likely we would play Magic in the semifinal, so we’ve been watching footage of all of their games of the season,” Hallinan says.