The Melbourne Mavericks have officially had their first hit out ahead of the 2025 season, when they took on the Giants in front of an appreciative home crowd in Ulverstone, on the north west coast of Tasmania.
With both teams hitting the court for the first time during the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball pre-season, they played an amended game format of five 10-minute periods, with no two-point Super Shot in play.
The Mavs were a little slow out of the blocks initially, as the Giants edged ahead to a 13-10 lead at the first break. Changing up the players and positions on court at the start of the second term – something the Mavs would do across every period of the match – their momentum seemed to grow across the second term, however, there was still a three-goal deficit at the end of 20 minutes, with the scoreboard reading 22-19 in favour of the Giants.
With captain, Amy Parmenter, moving into centre for the third term, she connected really well with both the attack and defence ends of the court, and turned the tide on the scoreboard, with the Mavs nudging ahead; 31-30.
The connections between the shooters – Shimona Jok, Uneeq Palavi and Nyah Allen (who was playing her first game in Mavs colours) – also built as the game went on, with all three combinations working well, which reflected favourably for the Mavs on the scoreboard. Heading into the final term, the Mavs led; 43-37.
The Mavs pulled away even further in the final term, running out 8-point winners.
In more encouraging news out of the game for the Mavs, Emma Walters took to the court for the first time as a Mav, playing across centre and wing attack, with some excellent feeding into shooters Jok, Palavi and Allen.
Kristiana Manu’a was also dominant in goal defence and goal keeper, winning lots of ball, and looking fast and strong coming off the pre-season training block.
The final score was 54-46 in favour of the Mavs, and head coach, Tracey Neville, was pleased with her side’s performance.
“I think we were a bit sticky at the start, but once we got our flow and we started to really think and consolidate some of the things we’ve been working on, I think we executed really, really well. We did probably throw a lot at them because obviously we changed [players and their positions] every single quarter, but I think it was great exposure for some of those new [players] to get out there and really get a feel for it.
“I think we looked physically strong out there, and I think we showed a lot of speed and quick to ball, and I think that was really positive.”
The Mavs and Giants will now travel to Launceston where they will partake in a community clinic, before their next pre-season clash on Saturday morning.
Tickets for the match at Launceston’s Silverdome are still available for purchase via Ticketek, with the first centre pass scheduled for 11am.
