The GIANTS will join the league’s seven other Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) teams on the Gold Coast this weekend for the official pre-season tournament, Suncorp Team Girls Cup.
The annual competition provides fans with a feast of netball, with all eight teams playing in the one venue, across three days, in preparation for the SSN season.
This weekend’s matches will mark the GIANTS’ third trip of pre-season preparations, having previously played the Lightning on the Sunshine Coast and the Vixens and Thunderbirds in Bendigo just a fortnight ago.
Head Coach Julie Fitzgerald said she is looking forward to another opportunity to face some SSN teams.
“The opportunity to come up against SSN sides this time of the year is so invaluable,” she said.
“We’ve had a couple of good weeks on the training track and I’m looking forward to seeing them put that into action this weekend.”
The GIANTS will participate in pool B and will face the Melbourne Vixens (Friday), Queensland Firebirds (Saturday AM) and Adelaide Thunderbirds (Saturday PM) before the conferences cross over for play-offs and finals.
Despite having played two of those teams already, Fitzgerald found the positives in the fixture.
“I think it works quite well,” she said.
“The two teams that we’ve played already, it gives us a chance to implement our lessons and learnings so quickly since playing them and the opportunity to fine tune our strategy before coming up against them in season.
“And Firebirds, they are an unknown quantity so that’s another challenge for us and I’m looking forward to that one.”
Jo Harten (knee), Amy Parmenter (knee) and April Brandley (foot) won’t participate because of injury management. The trio will travel with the team and will support from the secondary bench.
The GIANTS will once again travel with their four training partners – Jemma Donoghue, Ang Frketic, Charli Fidler and Erin O’Brien – as well as Academy player Nat Sligar.
“We’re really happy with how Jo is progressing, and Amy and April are in modified training and should be fully fit for the end of pre-season and round one,” Fitzgerald said.
“Nat provides a really good option for us this weekend to fill the gap and help balance the team.
“She can play both circle or wing attack, so is a really valuable inclusion considering we might need some additional coverage.”
Team Girls Cup is not only a feast of netball for fans but also gives coaches the opportunity to suss out all the opposition heading into the new season.
“This competition is very close and every team is a threat,” Fitzgerald said.
Games will consist of four 10-min quarters with the Super Shot in play for the final three-minutes of each quarter.
All games will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo Freebies.
Team List
Jemma Donoghue
Sophie Dwyer
Charli Fidler
Ang Frketic
Maddie Hay
Matisse Letherbarrow
Tilly McDonnell
Lauren Moore
Erin O'Brien
Jamie-Lee Price
Amy Sligar
Nat Sligar
Schedule
Friday, 24 February
Vixens v GIANTS
6:00pm AEDT
Saturday, 25 February
GIANTS v Firebirds
3:00pm AEDT
Saturday, 25 February
Thunderbirds v GIANTS
9:00pm AEDT
Sunday, 26 February
Finals
TBC
