ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP: Grand Final Preview

Congratulations and all the best to the Melbourne Vixens and the Adelaide Thunderbirds who will battle it out this Sunday to be crowed 2009 ANZ Championship Premiers.

Anticipation is building towards what will undoubtedly be a great conclusion to the season and as at 6pm Wednesday 22nd July, 7884 tickets had been sold.

Remaining tickets for the 2009 ANZ Championship Grand Final at Hisense Arena on Sunday between the Melbourne Vixens and Adelaide Thunderbirds are still available through www.ticketek.com.au or by call 132 849.
Match date; Sunday 26th July
Match time; 2.10pm (AEST)
Match venue; Hisense Arena, Melbourne.

DOT POINTS FOR THE GRAND FINAL;

 Melbourne Vixens v Adelaide Thunderbirds

This is the third time that the Vixens have played in the Thunderbirds this season.
The Vixens have won both previous matches; in Round 3 the Vixens won 49-43 and in Round 5, 50-42.
Last season the Thunderbirds lost to the Vixens once but beat them twice, including in the Minor Semi-Final (53-48)
Over the two seasons the Vixens have played the Thunderbirds five times, the Vixens have three wins and the Thunderbirds two.
The Vixens won the 2009 Minor Premiership and had last weekend off, the Thunderbirds finished third after Round 14 and have defeated the Southern Steel (51-45) and the Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic (51-37) to make it into the Grand Final.
It is the first time that either team has reached the ANZ Championship Grand Final. Last season the Thunderbirds finished third and the Vixens fourth.
Thunderbirds shooter, Kate Beveridge has scored an average of 28.6 goals per match this season at an average of 80% accuracy while Vixens shooter, Caitlin Thwaites has scored an average of 31.8 goals per match this season as an average of 84% accuracy.
Beveridge sits third on the table for offensive rebounds with 29 for the season. Thwaites has achieved onlyeight fewer with 21 for the season.
Thunderbirds mid-courter, Natalie von Bertouch sits eighth on the table in goal assists, with 138 for the season.
Vixens mid-courter, Natasha Chokljat sits ninth on the table in goal assists, with 131 for the season.
Thunderbirds shooter, Natalie Medhurst has received the most number of centre passes of the two teams with 259 over the season.
Vixens players Sharelle McMahon and Chelsey Nash have equally shared this role with 212 and 203 centre passes received respectively.
Thunderbirds defender, Geva Mentor sits second on the table for defensive rebounds with 44 for the season.
The two Vixens defenders, Bianca Chatfield and Julie Corletto sit just behind her with 40 and 36 respectively.
Both Vixens defenders sit in the top 10 for intercepts as well, Corletto (fourth on the table) has bagged the most intercepts of the two teams with 28 over the season, Chatfield has 21 (ninth).
Mo'onia Gerrard has achieved the most intercepts for the Thunderbirds with 24 (sixth)
Both teams have three players in the top 10 for pick-ups*, Vixen players; Natasha Chokljat, Renae Hallinan and Julie Corletto sit first, sixth and seventh respectively.
Geva Mentor sits second on the table for pick-ups and leads the Thunderbird players with 38, while Natalie von Bertouch and Mo'onia Gerrard have 34 each (third equal).

* A pick-up is when a player secures the ball after a bad pass, bad catch or deflection.

 GRAND FINAL PREVIEW;

Sixteen weeks of pure, exhilarating world-class netball have come down to this one last game – and Melbourne Vixens coach Julie Hoornweg is asking her side to pull out something exceptional to overcome rivals Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Grand Final of the 2009 ANZ Championship.

The top two performers of the season will meet in an all-Australian showdown on Sunday at Melbourne’s Hisense Arena – minor premiership winners Vixens having travelled the faster route by taking out the major semi final; Thunderbirds defeating two New Zealand challenges in successive weeks on the longer finals path.

After a week’s rest and this week back in a regular training regime, Hoornweg has asked Vixens to produce a full-team performance, with a little something special added in, for this final clash of the season.

“We have to have seven performers out on court at all times – everyone has to play quality netball. And there will be an element of ‘Wow!’ in the game too,” Hoornweg says.

“We walked away last season very disappointed knowing we didn’t play to our full potential. But we have learned, developed and grown from all those lessons and we’ve come together positively as a team. To win would be reward for all our hard work.”

Dubbed the “Dream Team” before the inaugural 2008 ANZ Championship, Vixens ended the season fourth overall – below their own expectations. The talent-laden Thunderbirds were not satisfied, either, with their third placing in ’08 and have gone all-out - including adopting a strict mental programme with hypnosis – hoping to better that standing by two this year.

The key to Vixens’ advancement this season has been a new-found confidence and more accurate shooting.

“We’ve targeted our shooting - it just wasn’t good enough last year,” Hoornweg says.

“We realised we had put up as many shots as the winning teams, but we hadn’t got enough in. The girls have worked on that, and the result has been fantastic. We’ve also worked hard at delivering the ball to them.”

Vixens shooters Caitlin Thwaites and Sharelle McMahon have had impressive seasons shooting 84% and 85% respectively. Thunderbirds shooter Natalie Medhurst has matched her rivals over the season with 86%, while team-mate Kate Beveridge is sitting just behind on 80%.

Part of the Vixens’ confidence boost has been spurred by the return to full-strength of Australian Diamond legend McMahon, back from last year’s knee surgery. Hoornweg rates her as “one of the world’s best players… maybe of all time.”

“To have her back to full-strength and confidence is fantastic for the team. Others have lifted around her, and taken the pressure off her too. She’s such a competitive player – she has the ‘wow’ factor. This is the fifth year I’ve worked with her and she still makes me go ‘Wow!’.”

Hoornweg knows to expect a fired-up and in-form Thunderbirds side on Sunday. She and assistant Vixens coach Carol Byers were in the Mystery Creek crowd last weekend to witness Thunderbirds roll over Colourplus Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic by 14 goals in the preliminary final, and Hoornweg was impressed by what she saw.

“The Thunderbirds’ win was a team effort. If you have one or two stars, they can be shot down, but theirs was a team performance of seven,” she says. On the question of the physical nature of the match, Hoornweg says it was no more than she expected.

“They [Thunderbirds] maintain the pressure on and off the ball - we’ve always known that. So you have to be focused on playing netball for a full 60 minutes, whether the ball is down your end or not.”

Vixens have been the victors in their two clashes with Thunderbirds this season – 49-43 in Round 3 and 50-42 in Round 5. “We still hold the same respect for them now as we did then; we know the attributes they bring to the game,” Hoornweg says.

Irrespective of who claims this year’s premier title, Hoornweg believes the ANZ Championship has been a huge fillip for Australasian netball, spawning a new respect from Australian media in particular.

“We now walk out on the street and people recognise us and stop to say well done. It’s making a bigger connection with kids playing weekend netball who can see they can aspire to this.”