Pretty Black and White Wrap Up Gold Coast Lightning V Collingwood Round 8 Saturday 15 June 2019, USC Stadium

Both teams started confidently, and Lightning quickly took control of the game, but the Pies were still in it. Medhurst shot a long bomb and Mentor was quick to pick up a loose ball. Unfortunately, it was not converted. The Goal Shooter for Lightning, Proscovia, bounced the ball off the post in order to get closer for a goal and scored leaving Mentor a little surprised but it was legal. At the 8.40-minute mark the Magpies were trailing by 4 points and took a time out. The Pies returned to the court and worked hard to claw back 2 goals. The bonus point went to Lightning at the end of the 1st quarter and the Pies trailed by 2 goals.
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The start of the second quarter saw the Pies chasing Lightning until they settled and got their game into full swing. The Magpies applied strong defensive pressure in the circle resulting in turn overs and the Pies had levelled the score. The Pies then started to force the ball into the circle and a lack of vision saw the easy option to Medhurst missed. Lightning had a time out at 7.18 minutes and came back on in full force. At this time the Lightning Goal Shooter had it all over the defenders. The Magpies called another late time out but failed to improve their score line.
The bonus point went to Lightning at the end of the second quarter and Collingwood trailed by 6 goals at the main break.

The Magpies looked as though they were ready to play their game at the start of the 3rd quarter with Brandley showing great vision with a beautiful pass to Browne at the top of the circle then into Nelson for a goal. This momentum shifted backwards, and the Magpies had trouble finding their groove. Brazill threw herself into the game in an attempt to inspire her teammates. At this stage of the game the penalties were 26 to 46 with the Pies copping the brunt of the infringements. Mentor kept fighting and picked up a defensive rebound and sent it to the attack end for another Magpie goal. Collingwood trailed by 13 goals and Lightning picked up another bonus point.

The final quarter saw Sinclair on for Medhurst and Garrett on for Brandley and the Magpies struggled to find their own game. Medhurst came on for Nelson to hopefully introduce a different style of shooting game (both Sinclair and Medhurst are under 6foot tall) however old habits die hard and players were still trying to feed the ball over the back only to be easily picked off by tall, eager defenders. Garrett had a run but racked up the penalties and Medhurst tried to share the goaling with Sinclair, but the lack of familiarity was their undoing. Lightning collected the final bonus point and the Pies were defeated by 23 goals.
 
Final score  Lightning 64   Pies 41
Player of the match: Karla Pretorius

My Take
Collingwood seemed to start well but there appeared to be a shift in mindset about halfway through the game. I’m not sure if there was fatigue from travel or the lack of calls got to them, but this was not the same side we saw and loved last week. I always argue that if you can watch a game of netball and barely notice the umpires then they are doing a great job. However, there were many calls missed and Collingwood seemed to be on the end of them. The penalty count at half time speaks volumes. Some would argue they were given a few, yes a few but what about the Lightning GK arms across Nelson and Sinclair? Last time I checked that was obstruction and the penalty was out of play and a pass or shot to the affected shooter. The GK also was touching the ball as the shooters were about to shoot. That is contact and again the player should stand out of play. And that penalty when apparently Nelson ‘pushed’ Pretorius and as Liz Ellis said “She milked that” was upon replay, inflicted by her own player. And I know that you can’t blame the umpires for the way that Collingwood played but I think that it went a long way to dampening their enthusiasm especially when they knew they were not going to get the calls. One spectator commented “It’s 50% Collingwood and 50% the umpires.” Liz Ellis commented “They are such a talented line up. What is going on in that club?”  On the surface all appears to be well at Collingwood and I don’t think they need to go back to the drawing board. I think they have a good game. Maybe they need a bit of mental toughness when it comes to poor umpiring decisions or a better travel recovery program. That’s another game that can be chalked up to experience even for these players.
Looking forward to next week against the Firebirds in Melbourne. Go Pies!
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