Having opened with mixed results against two formidable new rivals, the Melbourne Vixens renew an old acquaintance in round three. Yet the fact that the recast NSW Swifts are not such familiar foes may be a good thing, for no team has tormented the Vixens so often, over so long.
During the ANZ Championship, the Swifts dominated the Vixens 13-6, sweeping eight of nine matches in Melbourne, where the hosts' sole success came in 2009. But the Super Netball teams that play annually for the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup are now far different line-ups; even from last year, with the Sydneysiders having retained only three members of their grand final starting seven.
"That definitely makes them slightly more unpredictable than they have been in previous years – albeit their coaching staff is very similar," says Vixens defender Jo Weston. "But they're also quite a young team, really dynamic, they've got a really different style of play with their import goal shooter (Trinidadian Sam Wallace), much like ourselves (with Malawian Mwai Kumwenda), so it's going to be a really good contest on Saturday night."
What worked well in the round one upset of Collingwood went missing in the middle stages of the 58-52 loss to the Lightning on the Sunshine Coast, while the Swifts have logged a spirited loss to the Giants and a 10-goal defeat of the Thunderbirds.
"Last week's result was disappointing," Weston said. "We really didn't put out the performance we wanted to win our first away match. However we've reflected on that and put it in the past and we're really looking forward to getting out in front of our home crowd again and putting in a solid team performance."
The Magpies are also at home, hosting the first leg of a Hisense Arena double-header in which one key duel will pit Collingwood wing defence Ash Brazill against in-form Giants captain Kim Green. "She playing unbelievable netball at the moment; she had a year last year where she was hardly playing, she had injuries and now she's back stronger than ever," said Brazill of Green, her former Swifts teammate.
"Even just the change of speed ... Kim's come from an athletics background so the way she moves on court is so different to any other wing attack. I was lucky enough to play with her for two years so I feel like I know a bit about her game, but she knows just as much about my game, so if we're on each other I think it's gonna be a crazy match-up again."
The Magpies, like the Giants, are also a work-in-progress seeking to build combinations between great individual talents. "It's quite funny," said Brazill, a four-Test Diamond. "We have all this (dream team) talk but they have all these amazing players, so I'm like 'how do they not have this title, as well?' I'm sure they do. But I just think the name Collingwood, it just gets pushed out a bit harder."
With around 7500 tickets already sold, the Saturday night spectacle, too, is being heavily spruiked. Just as the Vixens produced an impressive round one heritage celebration to launch the new competition, so Collingwood has big plans for its inaugural pre-game show. "It's different to what everyone's done before, obviously," said Magpies' head of netball Jen McIntyre. "It's entertainment now, it's not just sport."