The Melbourne Mavericks have hit the court for the first time in 2025, facing up against the Victorian Open Men’s team at the Waverley Netball Centre.
With the Mavs preparing for their assault on their second ever Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) season - beginning on April 5 - and the Vic Men preparing for Nationals at Easter, it was the perfect time for a hit out for both teams in their pre-season schedule.
With the match played under full SSN conditions – including with the Super Shot in play – a huge cheer from the crowd went up as Sasha Glasgow started on court in Goal Attack – her first return to official match play since her horrific leg injury, obtained in a similar match at the same venue almost a year ago to the day.
In other player news, Molly Jovic led the team out as captain and starting Centre for the match, with Amy Parmenter being rested due to loading, whilst Kim Brown (née Jenner) played her first game under her married name, after getting married in January.
The Vic Men started confidently, drawing first blood with the first score of the match, before dashing out to an early 3-1 lead. However, once the Mavs found their momentum, they reeled the Vic Men back in, to produce what was ultimately a very strong first quarter. With Shimona Jok (Goal Shooter) offering strong leads from inside the circle, the mid court fed the ball in to her swiftly and cleanly.
Fittingly, it was Glasgow who shot the first Super Shot of the match, getting the crowd to their feet, however when the Vic Men’s Goal Shooter, Liam Killey, responded with one of his own on the quarter time buzzer, the margin was reduced to the Mavs holding a narrow 17-16 lead.
Mavs head coach, Tracey Neville, continued with her pre-season rotation policy, shuffling all of her players to new positions for the second quarter. It turned out to be a clinical quarter from the Vic Men, with the imposing figure of Killey in the circle too much for the Mavs defence. On in Goal Attack, Nyah Allen shot two consecutive Super Shots to breathe some life back into the Mavs quarter, only for her counterpart in the opposition – Tom Hardwick – to respond with two consecutive long bombs of his own.
A third Super Shot from Allen narrowed the deficit at the main break, with the Vic Men taking a 37-28 lead into half time.
The third quarter continued where the second left off as far as the Vic Men’s dominance, however the return of Jovic, Jok and Tayla Fraser (Wing Attack) provided some stability up the Mavs attacking end. With the Vic Men not playing with the Super Shot in their competition, the last five minutes of the term gave the Mavs a chance to once again narrow the gap, and they went into the final change trailing the Vic Men, 38-52.
The Vic Men were not taking their foot off the gas in the final term, intercepting any ball that was in their path. A couple of huge intercepts from Liv Lewis in Goal Keeper got the crowd on their feet, as did another set of back-to-back Super Shots from Allen in the last five minutes of the term. The Mavs kept fighting, but the Vic Men were too strong, taking out a 19-point victory; 71-52.
Post-match Neville said there were plenty of positives for her side to take from the match.
“I think there was some really good stuff at the start, and really, a lot of things we need to work on,” Neville said. “We ran a lot of our Training Partners tonight and they obviously got a realisation of and respect to the step up of where we needed to be. I think there was some really positive stuff from the contracted 10 [players] and what we’ve been working on, and hopefully we can build in on that going into the end of the pre-season.”
Neville also referenced the significance of Glasgow’s return to the court.
“This was going to be a big moment, a big game for her,” Neville continued. “Last time she [played a game] here it wasn’t a happy ending for her, but tonight I asked her to go out there and play like that little girl who loved netball and there was no pressure on her. I said, ‘just go and enjoy yourself’, and I think she did herself well. She’s put some really good work in in pre-season, and she’s coming back strong.”
The Mavs next pre-season game will be in two weeks’ time, when they take on fellow SSN team, West Coast Fever, at Waverley Netball Centre.
Tickets for the match on Thursday 27 February are available for purchase here, with all 2025 Mavs members going free.
