Swifts snuff out Fever campaign
UPDATE: West Coast Fever’s historic finals appearance ended in disappointment last night when they succumbed 60-53 to a clinical NSW Swifts.
Swifts now travel to Brisbane to play the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championship Australian Conference final tomorrow, while Fever’s record-breaking season is over.
West Coast were top of the Australian Conference for much of the season, but dropped four of their last five games, including last night in front of a crowd of 3017, to fall out of contention for the championship.
Despite the defeat, first-year coach Stacey Rosman, who led the club to its most successful season, believed the losing culture which had tormented Fever for several years was no longer an issue.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” Rosman said.
“We’ve gone from here to here and you see how quickly we did it and we’ve still got another 10 per cent at least in us to go.
“Not all is lost. This group’s created a dream.
“They’ve broken the history of Fever being unsuccessful and when you do that then this frees them to go on and not be afraid to go forward.”
Rosman said the players deserved to reflect on what they had achieved, but believed they would again emerge as a force in 2016.
“I think when you see the way they work and respond to each other, the culture will just get stronger and stronger,” she said.
“The whole organisation is building. I said to the girls that they’ve just got to stick on this journey because it’s going to be a long one.”
Josie Janz-Dawson was trusted to take on Swifts goal shooter Caitlin Thwaites, who was MVP last Saturday in Perth.
Thwaites nailed 32 goals from 34 attempts, while veteran goal attack Susan Pettitt (28 from 29) was solid against her former teammate April Letton.
Caitlin Bassett (37 from 40) found the going tough against Australian Diamond Sharni Layton, who recovered from a huge collision with Shae Brown in the opening term.
Nat Medhurst worked extremely hard for 16 goals.
NSW captain Kimberlee Green started strongly after sitting out last week with calf soreness, but was taken off for the second half as a precaution.
The teams could not be separated in an intense opening quarter, with both clubs treasuring possession and giving their opposition little opportunity on turnover.
NSW put their foot down early in the second term and West Coast struggled to handle the pressure.
