Many sporting teams set a pre-season goal of winning a premiership, but the Melbourne Vixens can be one of the few to fulfill it when they host the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Netball Championship final at Hisense Arena on Sunday.
Vixens coach Simone McKinnis and her players have been focused on winning the club’s second title throughout the season, their self-belief only increasing after collecting the minor premiership.
McKinnis said the Vixens had so far performed to her lofty expectations. “We’re exactly where we wanted to be when we started the pre-season,” she said. “We’re exactly where we wanted to be throughout the year. Now it’s about grabbing hold of that opportunity and making it count.”
The Vixens beat the Firebirds a week ago in the major semi-final and have won two of the three games the clubs have played against each other this year. While respectful of the Firebirds’ talents, McKinnis said there would be few surprises on Sunday.
“There’s not too much unknown that we’re coming up against, but you have to be prepared,” she said. “We’ve still got to be very strong on what our game is and what we need to be doing and keep doing that really well. It just comes down to what happens on the day.”
Firebirds defender Clare McMeniman said her team had to improve on its last display against the Vixens to be any hope of toppling the Melbourne side. “We need to work a lot better as a unit,” she said. “We were definitely outplayed in the attack end last week against the Vixens. We need to cut down and force them a bit higher and force them to the top of the circle as that ball was getting into the circle a little bit too easily.”
