The most successful season in Super Netball history has ended in heartbreak for the West Coast Fever with coach Dan Ryan admitting his side’s grand final defeat is a “tough pill to swallow”.
The Fever were outplayed by the Melbourne Vixens in Saturday’s 59-58 decider to register their lowest ever score in a final.
Superstar five-time Super Netball MVP Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard was also kept to 51 goals – in one of her lowest 60-minute tallies in recent history.
Watch the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final replay on Kayo | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Ryan, who was close to tears at the final whistle amid the wild Vixens celebrations, conceded execution let his young side down.
“We have to accept the fact we didn’t play our best netball today on the day it mattered the most,” he said.
“We just weren’t making the most of moments when we had them.
Moloney inspires with epic speech late | 00:52
“Grand finals are all about small margins and small moments – we just weren’t the team that was owning them when they were there.
“It wasn’t our day … We got ourselves in great moments and created opportunities – we weren’t executing in those moments.
“The game plan was there.”
The Fever were guilty of uncharacteristic errors, throwing away 20 balls in signs the side were off in the decider.
They scored only 12 goals in the third term – a near season-low for a side that had run through a Super Netball record 13-straight wins heading into the grand final.
“When do you ever see that from this West Coast Fever side?,” Fox Netball’s Bianca Chatfield said of that third term goal figure.
“Quite simply they could not score the volume they’re used to doing.
“(Jhaniele) Fowler-Nembhard was put under a lot of pressure … they just couldn’t get it into her.”
Fellow Fox Netball expert Kelsey Browne said Fever “got in their heads early” and never recovered.
“They became quite hesitant and really stuck in attack,” she lamented.
“For Fever, it’s a really disappointing one.
“They had uncharacteristic turnovers and let themselves down.”
The Fever will be left to rue the decision to not take supershots in the three quarters – in fact the side’s only attempt came from Fowler-Nembhard in the dying seconds of the match.
Ryan was also lamenting a third quarter fade out that saw his side trail by five goals at the final break – despite drawing level minutes earlier.
“We put ourselves in those uncomfortable situations,” he said.
“It wasn’t the performance we were capable of which is a tough pill to swallow.
“We won one-point netball and lost two-point netball.
‘We’re going to the pub!’ | 02:06
“We still had a chance in that last quarter to level the game and put them under enormous pressure. We had two cracks at that moment and didn’t nail it.
“You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re forcing supershots because you feel the pressure to have to take them.
“I thought we were doing enough in those three quarters (without needing to take the supershot).
“It’s something we’ll have a look at and reflect on.”
Fever captain Jess Anstiss said it was “pure devastation” within the side after letting victory slip.
“We didn’t show up and execute,” she conceded.
“We know if we did come and play our best game, we would have won. We lost by one and we did not come and play any of our best netball. Disappointed.
“We had turnover ball and had opportunities to go down and convert that and we didn’t.
SCENES as Vixens hold on in 1-point epic | 01:49
“It just wasn’t going our way.
“The feeling out on court – it was hard. Every time we won ball it felt like it was coming back down.
“Obviously losing the grand final is not the one loss you want to have.
“We’ve done so well all season – we really thought we could do it today. We had the belief and confidence.”
While the Fever rallied in the final term to close within one-goal, the Vixens experience showed in the dying stages as they held on for the thrilling premiership win.
Discussion about this post