Linda Pearce is the Chief Tennis Writer and general sports reporter for The Age. She writes about a range of sports, including football, netball, and gymnastics. Linda has twice been named Australian tennis writer of the year.
After close to 50 tennis grand slams and a handful of Davis Cup deciders, a dozen AFL grand finals, Olympic and Commonwealth Games both home and away, Boxing Day cricket and a score of world championships, including various one-goal netball thrillers, this, for me, is the finish line.
Q: When is a home grand final not played at home? A: When you are the Sunshine Coast Lightning, and yours is what is quaintly described as a "boutique" 2200-seat stadium at Sippy Downs. Thus, for the purposes of the inaugural Super Netball decider, "home" for the Lightning is a 90-kilometre drive south down the M1.
Veteran Laura Langman does not plan to tutor less experienced Lightning teammates about what to expect in Saturday's Super Netball grand final.
Geva Mentor left Melbourne for the Sunshine Coast and a longer contract once the personal consequences of the Vixens' youth-focused intentions became clear. On Saturday night, the veteran defender nominated by rival coach Julie Fitzgerald as "the form player of the competition" will lead the Lightning into the inaugural Super Netball grand final against the rampaging Giants in Brisbane.
So much for the fairytale of the young establishment team upstaging the expansion clubs and defying the pre-season pessimism to sweep to glory.
Chloe Watson continues to grow into her current role as the Melbourne Vixens' long-limbed wing defence.
Vixens legends Sharelle McMahon and Bianca Chatfield have backed the minor premiers to bounce back in their preliminary final against the Giants on Saturday.
Sunshine Coast are through to the Super Netball grand final after upsetting minor premiers Melbourne Vixens with a 56-55 win at Margaret Court Arena.
As the Magpies prepare for a Super Netball semi-final showdown with the Giants, Shae Brown reflects on her journey from midcourt to the goal circle.
The first of just two losses this season for the Melbourne Vixens on their way to the minor premiership became a critical signpost in the pursuit of the Super Netball championship now within sight. It was round two, away, against the Sunshine Coast Lightning, and a six-goal defeat that vice-captain Liz Watson regards as the catalyst for much of what has followed.
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