Premiership favourites the Adelaide Thunderbirds have thrown down the gauntlet to their Super Netball rivals with a record-breaking 20-goal win over the NSW Swifts.
Led by new recruits Elmere van der Berg, who finished MVP with a club-record 59 goals in just 53 minutes of game time, and Kate Heffernan (14 goal assists and three intercepts) the Thunderbirds were unstoppable in Saturday night’s clash to take a 74-54 win.
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Their 74 goals – with the final goal coming on the final whistle – is now the highest total by the Thunderbirds in Super Netball history, and came despite Adelaide coach Tania Obst benching her stars in the final quarter.
“The icing on the cake in Round 1 setting a new record,” netball great Catherine Cox praised.
“Really sending some threats to the rest of the competition straight up.”
“This Thunderbirds side didn’t beat the NSW Swifts last year – they have ripped out a 20-goal win in Round 1,” Fox Netball’s Emily Beaten added.
“This is a scary thought for the competition.”
While it was pure elation for the Thunderbirds, there’s big questions early for Swifts coach Briony Akle and her attack end.
Without Sophie Fawns to turn to in 2026, goal attack Helen Housby (8/16) struggled to have an impact before being benched.
Kiwi star Grace Nweke still finished with 40 goals at 93% but it wasn’t enough as the Swifts coughed up 29 turnovers.
“You won’t be winning games with a stat like that,” Beaton said.
Looking slick in their first outing, Thunderbirds stormed out of the gates, despite multiple new combinations before the Swifts could find their feet and draw to within one in the second quarter.
But from there, the Thunderbirds put the foot down, with a 22-11 third quarter setting them up for a dominant second half and eventual 20 point win.
All eyes were on the return of excitement machine Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, who missed the majority of the 2025 season due to pregnancy.
Taking time to build into the game, the Jamaican held the Swifts’ powerful Nweke to 40 goals, despite many expecting her to take over Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard’s mantle as the league’s most dominant shooter.
But on Saturday night, it was van der Berg who dominated at goal shooter.
“She has had one of the best debuts an Adelaide Thunderbirds has ever had,” Adelaide great Emily Beaton praised.
“I am losing words for her.
“What an entry into SSN.”
The Swifts welcomed back Maddy Proud from maternity leave, while Tayla Fraser returned after two years at the Melbourne Mavericks – but the pair struggled to have the impact they would’ve wanted, creating congestion outside the circle and struggling to supply their shooters with enough ball to turn the tide.
Mum’s club
With the Suncorp Super Netball currently experiencing a baby boom, three players stepped back out on court for the first time since becoming mothers. Thunderbirds defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey welcomed her son in October of 2025, while Swifts mid-courters Maddy Proud and Gina Crampton had their babies in May and July respectively.
Turner 150
Maddy Turner celebrated her 150th game at the domestic level, all of which have been played in the red dress. She joins the likes of Liz Ellis and Cath Cox as the sixth player to achieve this milestone for the Swifts. Hailing from Adelaide, she relocated east in 2016 and has been a defensive stalwart ever since.
Mannix to miss round one for Vixens | 01:32
STAR DOMINATES AGAINST FORMER TEAM IN FRANTIC MAVERICKS WIN
Earlier, the Melbourne Mavericks opened their 2026 Super Netball campaign with a frenetic 61-52 victory over the Giants in Bendigo.
After several injury-plagued seasons, the Mavericks are hoping to break their finals drought and reward incoming coach Gerard Murphy and captain Amy Parmenter, who celebrated her 100th national league match in the nine-point win.
And they began season 2026 with the club’s first ever round one win in Super Netball history.
“You can definitely tell that we’re a new team and we’re trying to figure each other out, but really proud of how we stuck fat today. I thought we did a really good job,” new recruit and MVP Jamie-Lee Price said.
“We were pretty careless today, but able to get lots of ball as well.”
Both new-look lineups were guilty of high error counts as Super Netball’s season opener unfolded at a chaotic pace.
Speaking post match, Parmenter said tongue in cheek, “I love how we threw away a lot of ball. It was scrappy, but we hustled and didn’t put our heads down.”
After a relatively even first quarter, the Mavericks threatened to run away with the game before Giants unleashed some of their customary supershots to keep the deficit to just six at half time.
With the introduction of shooter Lucy Austin (15/21 goals) and a rejigged midcourt, Giants narrowed the margin to one in the third term, before three clutch supershots by Uneeq Palavi (11/15) swung momentum back to the Mavericks.
Both sides exchanged long range shots in the last quarter, exciting the crowd but doing little to change the outcome.
It was the Mavericks’ defensive prowess that did most of the damage across the match. MVP Price, facing off against her old side for the first time, dominated the Mavericks’ midcourt alongside the hustling Parmenter.
Their stifling pressure created plenty of opportunities for the defenders behind them, with Tara Hinchliffe a stand out. The goal keeper finished with seven gains, as she pushes for a return to the Australian Diamonds in this Commonwealth Games year.
For the Giants, exciting youngster Erin O’Brien took up where she left off in 2025, finishing with three gains before finishing on the bench. The goal defence earned an invitation to the Diamonds’ camp last year, and will be another hoping to fill the national vacancy created by Sunday Aryang’s long term injury.
O’Brien teamed up effectively with New Zealand incomer Jane Watson who pulled in three gains despite a 14-centimetre height difference against Jamaican Shimona Nelson. However, her Kiwi compatriot Whitney Sounness had a tougher outing, coughing up an expensive 10 turnovers.
The huge error rate by both sides – Giants with 31 turnovers and Mavericks 28 – needs addressing if they want to be successful this season. New Giants’ coach Nerida Stewart blamed her side’s issues on that lack of consistency.
“There were some amazing passages of play from us tonight, on brand for what we wanted to deliver.
“The maturity in their (Mavericks) game was more consistent tonight with the thought processes and decision making.
Wallam’s unfinished business in SSN | 04:05
Giant shoes to fill
After playing just 27 minutes of Super Netball in 2025, former Thunderbird Lucy Austin shifted clubs in the hope of more court time. While many expected Austin to start, she didn’t enter the match until the third quarter. After two early misses, Austin mixed up her holding game with plenty of movement, and finished with 15/21 despite playing limited minutes.
Touted as a future Diamond, Austin managed to hold down her place as a national invitee last season despite her lack of playing minutes.
Price has a point to prove
Another athlete on the move was Jamie-Lee Price, who headed from Sydney to Melbourne to reunite with her AFL playing partner, Harry Perryman. The former Giant now bibs up for the Mavericks, adding plenty of spice to the opening match of the season.
Fans were eagerly waiting to see the recently crowned Liz Ellis Diamond winner in action, after nine seasons under coach Julie Fitzgerald. She didn’t disappoint, with a formidable and classy performance at centre.
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