Live: Thunderbirds and Vixens vie for first Super Netball grand final spot

ABC News

SportsABC News·Jun 21, 2026·9 min read

Live: Thunderbirds and Vixens vie for first Super Netball grand final spot

The Adelaide Thunderbirds have beaten the Melbourne Vixens 58-44 in the major semifinal at the Adelaide 36ers Arena to be the first team through to the grand final.

Coming up, the West Coast Fever and Melbourne Mavericks meet in the minor semifinal in Perth.

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Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:56pm

We'll wrap things there

Thanks for tuning into ABC Sport's live coverage of the Super Netball semifinals. What a cracking day! We'll have more analysis for you at the top of the page in due course, but we'll wrap the blog here.

Thunderbirds through to the Grand Final.

Vixens and Fever set to contest the Preliminary Final.

Mavericks knocked out of the race.

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:56pm

FT stats

By Brittany Carter

It's clear the penalty count went against the Mavericks here. A big difference between their final count and the Fever's. That's honestly the only real difference here, the gains, time in possession and turnovers are all pretty even. So those 16 extra penalties were costly for the visitors.

The centre pass and goal to gain success rate indicates the Fever were slightly better with ball in hand. Mavericks wasted their defensive wins, there was a lot of long passing that played right into the hands of the Fever. They had a maximum five goal lead in the first quarter and were uable to keep that stammina up throughout the full 60 minutes as the Fever came roaring home like a freight train. Finals experience was a key factor too. Would the result have been different with a more experienced goal attack on court for the Mavs and Shimona Nelson in GS? Both the Mavs players and coaches will learn a lot from this game.

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:43pm

Alice Teague-Neeld named MVP

By Brittany Carter

The Fever wing attack can barely hear the host broadcaster in her player of the match interview, the 12,332-strong crowd is so loud in Perth. After 60 minutes on court, she finishes the game with a whopping 45 feeds, 29 goal assists, 15 centre pass receives, three pickups.

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:40pm

FT: Fever win 56-52

By Brittany Carter

The Fever are through to the preliminary final!

An insane final couple of minutes saw both teams throw the ball away, some insane bits of defence. A few missed attempts at the super shot from the Mavs and two clutch rebounds from Fever goal keeper Kadie-Ann Dehaney to see out the game.

"SETTLE!" was yelled on both occasions by Glasgow and Dehaney at the end. The Mavericks are in tears, they threw everything at it but unfortunately some of the tactics and execution were off at the end there. They relied on a very young moving circle to try and get them back in front with the high-risk, high-reward super shot. But in finals like this a tall holding shooter like Aiken-George is always going to be the steady and safe option. She was a key difference at the death.

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:35pm

McDonald super shot

By Brittany Carter

McDonald gets a super shot to bring the game within three goals and just two minutes left in the minor semifinal. THIS IS TENSE!

SCORE: Fever lead 55-52

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:34pm

Palavi super shot

By Brittany Carter

A crucial intercept from Mavs captain Amy Parmenter has sparked some energy for her side. They convert the opportunity. While a Uneeq Palavi super shothas got them a crucial two points back on the scoreboard.

SCORE: Fever lead 55-50

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:31pm

Mavs timeout

By Brittany Carter

Mavericks coach Gerard Murphy has called a timeout with 4:48 on the clock as the game has entered its final super shot period. It was very calm and level headed. If this was another team like the Vixens it would be all about the rev up and we can still win this. Instead it was a very casual approach to chatting tactics.

"How are we going to get the ball into the super shot?"

"Come on, let's go have some fun this last bit."

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:28pm

Can the Mavs comeback?

By Brittany Carter

The Mavericks have seriously slipped in standards in this final quarter and the game is starting to get away from them as the Fever smell a home win. A 10-goal scoreline can be brought back with the super shot, but the Mavs have also got their youngest stars out on court. Can they deliver in a big-time game? There's a reason most coaches look to experience in these moments.

SCORE: Fever lead 54-44

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:26pm

Offensive contact

By Brittany Carter

My goodness, Ruth Aryang is having a field day. In her first season back from an achilles injury, she is relishing the opportunity to be out on court in a finals game. Her impact is clearly rattling the Mavericks too, as McDonald is called for an offensive contact while trying to get away from Aryang and gifts the ball to the Fever.

SCORE: Fever lead 53-43

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:19pm

Palavi is on

By Brittany Carter

Uneeq Palavi has been given the nod by coach Gerard Murphy to start this fourth and final quarter. Palavi was named in the Tonga Tala Commonwealth Games team this week. With her team down by four, she is known for her super shot distance and playing with a lot of flair. Palavi has also combined with McDonald in the shooting circle at the end of several succesful Mavericks games. Once again they turn to their younger shooting combo. Will it work this game?

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:14pm

3/4T: Fever lead 44-40

By Brittany Carter

Mavericks waste a chance to score one more goal before the final break of the game, completely spraying the ball out of court. Fever jump on the opportunity and Glasgow slots another goal for them right on the whistle. The Fever have won both of the middle quarters now. There were four lead changes in that third quarter. How crazy! This game is a grind and they're in it for the long haul.

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:12pm

Williams intercept

By Brittany Carter

The English captain Fran Williams spotted that from a mile away. Flying backwards against the flight off the ball she intercepts a ball meant for Maddie Hay.

SCORE: Fever lead 43-40

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:11pm

Replay ball

By Brittany Carter

The Fever had the ball in hand close to the post and with the lead, they didn't necessarily need to go after the super shot. But Romelda Aiken-George passed back to the edge of the circle looking to set up in the two-point zone and it was fumbled by Alice Teague-Neeld.

SCORE: Fever lead 41-39

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:07pm

Glasgow cops a stinger

By Brittany Carter

Taking a ball mid-air and sailing into the circle she lands on the foot of the new GK on court Charlotte Sexton. It clearly hurt and Glasgow ends up on the ground grabbing at her leg, but it wasn't intentional. Good news is Glasgow looks happy to continue. She suffered a horrific leg break a couple of years ago when she was playing at the Mavericks, so it's always a bit worrying when she goes down.

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:04pm

Timeout Mavs

By Brittany Carter

Nelson collected a pass but was off balance after a challenge from Aryang. She fell backwards and lost the ball and next thing you know the Fever pick it up, run off with it and manage to get back in front. This score keeps too-ing and fro-ing. Mavericks head coach Gerard Murphy calls a tactical timeout and speaks with his midcourters, asking them to refine their approach to the feed into the circle. Then to Nelson, addressing her fall on court he said:

"Don't worry about that, shit happens."

He always seem to be pretty chilled in his approach. Nice to know that doesn't change in finals. Coming out of that break in play, Sacha McDonald enters the game at GA replacing Batcheldor.

SCORE: Fever lead 35-33

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 5:01pm

Mavs back on top

By Brittany Carter

Intercepts from Jessie Grenvold and Amy Parmenter see the Mavericks get themselves back in front. It feels like the desperate, relentless efforts of these two players may pull the Mavericks through the tougher moments of this semifinal. Both of them named in the Aussie Diamonds squad for 2026/27 and with good reason.

SCORE: Mavs lead 33-31

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 4:49pm

HT stats

By Brittany Carter

The Mavericks are on the wrong end of the penalty count here. Six extra penalties. They do lead the gain stat though, so they're in the contest. It's just whether that'll come back to bite them as the game goes on. Not much else to comment on here.

The Mavericks gain to goal rate is excellent. Sitting at 100 per cent they are rewarding their defenders and making sure they turn their efforts to win ball into goals. They do need to up their execution in attack though, there's barely anything in the game but the Fever have been slightly more accurate on that front. With an extremely tall holding shooter, they can score quickly. So as the opposition you've got to make sure you match them in that area and convert your own centre pass.

Key Event

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 4:44pm

HT: Fever lead 29-28

By Brittany Carter

A nine-goal turnaround for the Fever in that quarter felt like it came out of nowhere. The injections of 22-year-old defender Ruth Aryang into GK midway through the quarter has lit a fire in the home side. With fresh legs and a hit of energy, Aryang has been getting a touch on everything and keeping Mavericks goal shooter Shimona Nelson on her toes. Nelson looked really comfortable to start the game, so it was important they found a way to stem her flow of goals. The Cransberg swap in the middle also had immediate impact. Jordan Cransberg has been safer with ball in hand at C.

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 4:39pm

Glasgow super shot

By Brittany Carter

It's a super shot off. Sasha Glasgow says anything you can do, I can do too. She levels the score.

SCORE: 27-all

Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 4:38pm

Batcheldor super shot

By Brittany Carter

The Mavericks shoot looonggg. And score a two-point goal from the wide arc.

SCORE: Mavs lead 27-25

View original source — ABC News ↗

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