Netball: Thunderbirds put week to good use

The Adelaide Thunderbirds believe their extra week of preparation gives them a supreme advantage in Sunday's title decider against the Magic.

The Adelaide side earned direct passage into the ANZ Championship grand final with a shock 14-goal win over minor premiers the NSW Swifts in their semifinal showdown. While the Swifts and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty side thrashed it out in the preliminary final, the Thunderbirds spent the week preparing for their assault on the title.

While her side don't have the same intensive match-play under their belts, Thunderbirds coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson has no fears her side will come out flat on Sunday.

"The two-week preparation has been gold for us," she said. "It just allowed us that extra time for our niggles to get attention."

Woodlands-Thompson made no secret of the fact that she was expecting a rematch with the Swifts in the grand final. But when the NSW side were outclassed by the Magic in last week's preliminary final, it did not mean the Thunderbirds scrapped their gameplan altogether.

"The Magic are a different team to the Swifts, so obviously we had to tweak it, but it's been more tweaking rather than had to create something from scratch."

Sunday's game is shaping as an intriguing match-up between the two form sides who have both come good at the right time of the year.

The Magic conquered the Adelaide side by nine goals in their final-round match-up in Rotorua just three weeks ago. But that result is unlikely to dent the Thunderbirds' confidence.

The Thunderbirds were facing a Magic team who were fighting for their lives in the competition and determined to produce their best netball. The Waikato side also had a helping hand from the local officiating, who penalised the Thunderbirds heavily.

Since then both sides have gained strong momentum with their impressive displays in the playoffs.

The Adelaide side also made a couple of key changes to their starting lineup in the playoffs, with Australian international Kate Beveridge benched in favour of the more mobile Erin Bell, who plays a more traditional goal attack game. The move paid, with Bell and wing attack Emily Beaton creating a lot more movement in the forward line and providing beautiful feeds to Jamaican shooter Carla Borrego.

However Woodlands-Thompson has not ruled out using the "twin towers" approach against the Magic, a tack she says they took against the Swifts to try to split their defenders.

"Whether we go with the two talls to exploit the height advantage or go with mobility is going to be a really, really tough call."