The NSW Swifts proved the better team on the day of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final, defeating the Giants by four points, earning the title of champions.
Come the final siren, the scores were Swifts 63 to Giants 59. The Giants looked to be forging a comeback late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.
The Swifts were on top from the get-go, scoring the first goal of the game after a free. Sam Wallace scored a shot from under the post. Due to a couple of Giants turnovers, the Swifts got out to a six-point lead before the Giants managed to score their first goal via Sophie Dwyer.
The Giants slowly found their mojo as the first quarter progressed, Sophie Dwyer sinking the first super shot of the game, 15 seconds into the Power 5 to put the Giants up by a point. At quarter time, the Swifts lead the Giants by two-points, 17 to 15.
Giants’ Amy Parmenter turned the game on her hand in the second term, with multiple intercepts creating turnover in the Giants favour. She worked her way into the game as part of the Giants defence who upped their pressure on the Swifts attack. The Swifts put down 15 goals in the second quarter, while the Giants managed 13. Half time again saw the Swifts in the lead this time by four points, 32 to the Giants 28.
Despite sinking the first two goals of the second half, the Giants fell away in the third term, with no defensive answers to the magic that Sam Wallace was creating in the Swifts’ attacking circle. The Swifts sunk 17 goals while the Giants hit their lowest in the quarter for the game, with just 12. At three-quarter time the Swifts held their biggest lead of the game, 49 to the Giants 40.
The Giants fought back hard in the final term, winning the quarter 19 goals to the Swifts 14. It was a notoriously back-and-forth quarter, the Giants downing the last two goals of the game, both super shots, in the last 35 seconds, but it wasn’t enough. The Swifts were dominant from the first whistle, and from that they won their seventh premiership title by four points.
The Swifts’ Maddy Turner was named the Grand Final’s Most Valuable Player, for silencing Giants Sophie Dwyer. Turner kept Dwyer, the usually dominant 19-year-old goal attack, to just 16 goals for the game and her defensive efforts were impeccable and a big part of the Swifts victory.
Full time score – NSW Swifts 63 defeated Giants 59.
This article was first published on 1 September 2021.
