2018 Southern Steel season

The 2018 Southern Steel season saw the Southern Steel netball team compete in the 2018 ANZ Premiership and the 2018 Netball New Zealand Super Club.^[1][2] With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Shannon Francois, Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit, Steel retained the ANZ Premiership title, winning their second consecutive premiership after defeating Central Pulse 54–53 in the grand final.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} In the Super Club tournament, Steel finished third.^[8]

Southern Steel
2018 season
Head coach	Reinga Bloxham
Asst. coach	Lauren Piebenga
Manager	Dayna Kaio
Captain	Wendy Frew
Main venue	Stadium Southland
Season results
Wins–losses	21–0
Regular season	1st
Finals placing	ANZ Premiership winners Super Club 3rd place
Team colours

Players

Player movements

Gains and losses

Gains	Losses
Jess Allan (Netball South) Courtney Elliott[9] (Waikato NNL) Taneisha Fifita (Netball South) Georgia Heffernan (Netball South) Kate Heffernan[10] (Netball South) Malysha Kelly[11][12] (Adelaide Thunderbirds) Kendall McMinn[13] (Netball South)	Aliyah Dunn[14][15][16] (Central Pulse) Jamie Hume[17] (Northern Mystics) Jhaniele Fowler-Reid[18][19] (West Coast Fever) Malysha Kelly[20][21] Jane Watson[22][23][24] (Mainland Tactix)

Notes

^1 Malysha Kelly was injured during pre-season.

Sources:^{[1][4][25][26]}

2018 roster

2018 Southern Steel roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Jess Allan GS – Olivia Bates GA, WA (1991-03-20)20 March 1991 (aged 27) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Gina Crampton (vc) WA, C (1991-12-07)7 December 1991 (aged 26) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Courtney Elliott GK, GD, WD (1998-09-25)25 September 1998 (aged 19) 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Abby Erwood GA, C, WA (1997-04-18)18 April 1997 (aged 21) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Taneisha Fifita (TRP) GK, GD (2001-02-03)3 February 2001 (aged 17) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Shannon Francois WA, C, GA (1990-10-12)12 October 1990 (aged 27) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Wendy Frew (c) WD, C, WA (1984-10-15)15 October 1984 (aged 33) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Dani Gray  WD, C (1995-11-03)3 November 1995 (aged 22) 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Georgia Heffernan GA, GS (1999-10-07)7 October 1999 (aged 18) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Kate Heffernan (TRP) WD, C, WA (1999-10-07)7 October 1999 (aged 18) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Kendall McMinn (TRP) GD, WD, C (1992-04-15)15 April 1992 (aged 26) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Jennifer O'Connell GS (1997-06-16)16 June 1997 (aged 20) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit GK, GD (1989-04-03)3 April 1989 (aged 29) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Te Paea Selby-Rickit GS, GA (1992-01-14)14 January 1992 (aged 26) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	Head coach Reinga Bloxham Assistant coach Lauren Piebenga Manager: Dayna Kaio Physiotherapist: Corina Ngatuere Strength and conditioning: Mike Jacob Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Notes

^2 Georgia Heffernan, Taneisha Fifita, Jess Allan and Kendall McMinn were included in the extended squad for the Super Club.^[27][28]

Sources:^{[1][3][4][7][29]}

Debuts

• Kendall McMinn made her senior debut for Steel in Round 3 against Northern Mystics.^[13][30]
• Kate Heffernan and Taneisha Fifita made their senior debut for Steel in Round 6 against Mainland Tactix.^[10][31]

Pre-season

Sunshine Coast Lightning series

In March 2018, Steel played a two match series against the 2017 Suncorp Super Netball premiers, Sunshine Coast Lightning.^[32]

15 March 2018	Southern Steel	46–50	Sunshine Coast Lightning	Edgar Centre
		Report

16 March 2018	Southern Steel	39–64	Sunshine Coast Lightning	ILT Stadium Southland
		Report

Pre-Season Tournament

Steel also participated in the official pre-season tournament at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Otaki from 20 to 22 April.^[33][34][35]

Fri 20 April	Southern Steel	53–44	Northern Mystics	Te Wānanga o Raukawa
1:00 pm		Report

Sat 21 April	Central Pulse	64–40	Southern Steel	Te Wānanga o Raukawa
12:00 pm

Sun 22 April	Southern Steel	66–53	Northern Stars	Te Wānanga o Raukawa
12:00 pm

ANZ Premiership regular season

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Steel's unbeaten run in competitive matches continued into the 2018 season. However, after defeating Northern Mystics in their opening match, they were beaten 62–51 by Central Pulse, ending a 22–match win streak. The streak included 17 ANZ Premiership matches and five Super Club matches.^[36][37][38]

Sun 6 May	Northern Mystics	47–55	Southern Steel	Fly Palmy Arena
2:10 pm	Tera-Maria Amani  19/21 (90%) Jamie Hume  14/20 (70%) Bailey Mes  14/27 (52%)	Report Stats	Olivia Bates  0/3 (0%) Jennifer O'Connell  20/23 (87%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  35/46 (76%)

Mon 7 May	Central Pulse	62–51	Southern Steel	Fly Palmy Arena
7:40 pm	Aliyah Dunn  41/45 (91%) Tiana Metuarau  21/22 (95%)	Report Stats	Jennifer O'Connell  33/39 (85%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  18/27 (67%)

Round 2

Wed 16 May	Southern Steel	64–60	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	More FM Arena
7:40 pm	Olivia Bates  3/3 (100%) Jennifer O'Connell  29/35 (83%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  32/39 (82%)	Report Stats	Monica Falkner  24/27 (89%) Amorangi Malesala  4/5 (80%) Lenize Potgieter  32/39 (82%)

Round 3

Mon 21 May	Southern Steel	56–52	Northern Mystics	ILT Stadium Southland
7:40 pm	Jennifer O'Connell  37/42 (88%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  19/24 (79%)	Report Stats	Tera-Maria Amani  6/7 (86%) Jamie Hume  15/24 (63%) Bailey Mes  31/31 (100%)

Round 4

Wed 30 May	Central Pulse	71–40	Southern Steel	Te Rauparaha Arena
7:40 pm	Aliyah Dunn  50/54 (93%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  12/19 (63%) Tiana Metuarau  9/12 (75%)	Report Stats	Olivia Bates  1/3 (33%) Jennifer O'Connell  21/26 (81%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  18/27 (67%)

Round 5

Sun 3 Jun	Southern Steel	63–61	Northern Stars	ILT Stadium Southland
4:10 pm	Olivia Bates  5/6 (83%) Jennifer O'Connell  21/27 (78%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  37/46 (80%)	Report Stats	Paula Griffin  19/22 (86%) Maia Wilson  42/45 (93%)

Round 6

Sun 10 Jun	Northern Stars	60–63	Southern Steel	Horncastle Arena
12:10 pm	Paula Griffin  12/13 (92%) Ellen Halpenny  10/13 (77%) Maia Wilson  38/46 (83%)	Report Stats	Jennifer O'Connell  37/44 (84%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  26/30 (87%)

Mon 11 Jun	Mainland Tactix	52–53	Southern Steel	Horncastle Arena
5:40 pm	Kate Beveridge  1/1 (100%) Ellie Bird  36/42 (86%) Brooke Leaver  15/22 (68%)	Report Stats	Olivia Bates  1/5 (20%) Jennifer O'Connell  28/33 (85%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  24/33 (73%)

Round 7

Wed 20 Jun	Northern Mystics	62–57	Southern Steel	North Shore Events Centre
5:40 pm	Maria Folau  29/35 (83%) Bailey Mes  33/37 (89%)	Report Stats	Jennifer O'Connell  41/46 (89%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  16/25 (64%)

Round 8

Sun 24 Jun	Southern Steel	52–53	Mainland Tactix	More FM Arena
4:10 pm	Jennifer O'Connell  42/52 (81%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  10/16 (63%)	Report Stats	Kate Beveridge  9/12 (75%) Ellie Bird  38/43 (88%) Brooke Leaver  6/9 (67%)

Round 9

Mon 2 Jul	Southern Steel	51–47	Central Pulse	ILT Stadium Southland
7:40 pm	Jennifer O'Connell  30/37 (81%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  21/28 (75%)	Report Stats	Aliyah Dunn  22/23 (96%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  11/12 (92%) Tiana Metuarau  14/20 (70%)

Round 10

Mon 9 Jul	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	60–76	Southern Steel	Claudelands Arena
7:40 pm	Lenize Potgieter  41/41 (100%) Monica Falkner  19/22 (86%)	Report Stats	Jennifer O'Connell  53/55 (96%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  23/26 (88%)

Round 11

Mon 16 Jul	Southern Steel	59–56	Mainland Tactix	ILT Stadium Southland
7:40 pm	Jen O'Connell  40/49 (82%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  19/23 (83%)	Report Stats	Ellie Bird  40/51 (78%) Brooke Leaver  16/22 (73%)

Round 12

Sun 22 Jul	Southern Steel	75–58	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	Vodafone Events Centre
6:10 pm	Jen O'Connell  51/63 (81%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  24/27 (89%)	Report Stats	Lenize Potgieter  42/44 (95%) Monica Falkner  16/20 (80%)

Round 13

Sun 29 Jul	Northern Stars	65–59	Southern Steel	Vodafone Events Centre
4:10 pm	Maia Wilson  41/44 (93%) Paula Griffin  24/26 (92%)	Report Stats	Te Paea Selby-Rickit  48/52 (92%) Olivia Bates  11/14 (79%)

Final standings

2018 ANZ Premiership ladder v t e
Pos	Team	P	W	L	GF	GA	GD	G%	BP	Pts
1	Central Pulse	15	12	3	850	679	+171	125.2	3	27
2	Southern Steel	15	10	5	874	866	+8	100.9	2	22
3	Mainland Tactix	15	7	8	746	761	−15	98	5	19
4	Northern Mystics	15	7	8	783	796	−13	98.4	3	17
5	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	15	5	10	804	878	−74	91.6	3	13
6	Northern Stars	15	4	11	832	909	−77	91.5	5	13

  Qualified for Grand final and the 2018 Netball New Zealand Super Club
  Qualified for Elimination final and the 2018 Netball New Zealand Super Club

Source:^[39]

ANZ Premiership Finals Series

Elimination final

Wed 8 Aug 7:45 pm	Report Stats	Southern Steel	53–49	Mainland Tactix		ILT Stadium Southland	Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter: 15-12, 13-17, 12-12, 13-8
		Jen O'Connell  38/40 (95%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  15/22 (68%)		Ellie Bird  42/45 (93%) Kate Beveridge  4/5 (80%) Brooke Leaver  3/3 (100%)

Grand final

Sun 12 Aug 4:15 pm		Central Pulse	53–54	Southern Steel		Fly Palmy Arena	Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter: 16–14, 14–14, 12–14, 11–16
		Aliyah Dunn  32/35 (91%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  17/25 (68%) Tiana Metuarau  4/4 (100%)		Jen O'Connell  40/44 (91%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  14/18 (78%)

Source:^[5][6][7]

Netball New Zealand Super Club

Group stage

19 August 2018	Southern Steel	61–65	Gauteng Jaguars
8.30pm	Jennifer O'Connell  28/36 (78%) Georgia Heffernan  12/26 (46%) Olivia Bates  8/18 (44%)	Report Stats	Ine-Marí Venter  40/48 (83%) Chantelle Swart  16/26 (62%)

Sources:^[40]

20 August 2018	Southern Steel	80–52	Sneakers
6.40pm	Jennifer O'Connell  40/51 (78%) Georgia Heffernan  24/38 (63%) Olivia Bates  5/11 (45%) Jess Allan  2/4 (50%)	Report Stats	Xin Yi Liu  13/22 (59%) Pei Ying Wong  12/27 (44%) Amorangi Malesala  8/15 (53%)

Sources:^[41]

21 August 2018	Southern Steel	66–51	Mainland Tactix
8.30pm	Jennifer O'Connell  44/51 (86%) Olivia Bates  9/13 (69%) Georgia Heffernan  7/13 (54%)	Report Stats	Ellie Bird  20/27 (74%) Brooke Leaver  11/21 (52%) Kate Beveridge  10/13 (77%) Jess Prosser  2/3 (67%)

Source:^[42]

Final ladder

Group A
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	%	BP	Pts
1	Southern Steel	3	2	0	1	207	168	123.2	1	7
2	Mainland Tactix	3	2	0	1	201	153	131.4	0	6
3	Gauteng Jaguars	3	2	0	1	173	172	100.6	0	6
4	Sneakers	3	0	0	3	150	238	63.0	0	0

  Qualified for Semi-finals
  5th/8th place classification

Source:^[2]

1st/4th Play offs

23 August 2018	Central Pulse	64–55	Southern Steel
8.30pm	Aliyah Dunn  34/39 (87%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  18/26 (69%) Tiana Metuarau  3/6 (50%)	Stats	Jennifer O'Connell  28/35 (80%) Georgia Heffernan  13/26 (50%) Olivia Bates  4/8 (50%)

Sources:^[43]

Third place play-off

24 August 2018 6.40pm	Report Stats	Southern Steel	54–45	NSWIS			Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter: 11–7, 26–22, 36–35, 54–45
		Jennifer O'Connell  31/34 (91%) Georgia Heffernan  12/21 (57%) Jess Allan  4/5 (80%) Olivia Bates  2/7 (29%) Shannon Francois  1/1 (100%)		Matisse Letherbarrow  16/22 (73%) Georgia Marshall  14/19 (74%) Kelly Singleton  8/15 (53%)

Award winners

Team of the season

Two Southern Steel players were named in Brendon Egan's Stuff Seven team of the season.

Position	Player
GA	Te Paea Selby-Rickit
WA	Gina Crampton

Sources:^[44]