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The Adelaide Thunderbirds have claimed their maiden super netball championship at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, defeating NSW Swifts 60-59 in extra time in front of a bumper 10,000-strong sold-out crowd.

It’s the first time a grand final has gone into extra time in any incarnation of the national leagues (Suncorp Super Netball or the ANZ Championship).

The Swifts were denied their third premiership, which would have been a first for any team in the competition, after heading into the finals as minor premiers and with the most experience under their belt.

Jubilant scenes for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images

It was always going to be a close one as underdogs Adelaide went up against the warm favourites. But few could have expected the season-decider to extra time – a repeat of what happened between the pair in the major semi-final, also narrowly won by the Thunderbirds.

Adelaide held the lead for the majority of the match before the Swifts took it for the first time with just over seven minutes left.

The game was a reverse of the last two meetings between the sides. Whereas the Swifts dominated early in the last two occasions and then the Thunderbirds flexed their muscle in the final quarters, this time Adelaide took and held the lead until the final quarter.

From then, it was a nail-biting arm wrestle. The game squared up thrice in the final ten minutes before back-to-back goals by Eleanor Cardwell, one of those of super shots meant the Thunderbirds again led by three goals.

But a super shot down the other end from Swifts’ Helen Housby squared things right back up and sent the match into a final, tense five minutes.

Tight tussle: Eleanor Cardwell of the Thunderbirds competes for the ball against NSW’s Maddy Turner.Credit: Getty Images

Pre-match the overriding question was what would happen when the best attack in the competition, the Swifts, who score the most goals of any team, come up against the best defence, the Thunderbirds, who concede the least goals of any team.

The answer on the season’s biggest stage? Defence.

The Thunderbirds scored the least out of any team this season, so to be in the grand final shows how strong their backline is, spearheaded by Jamaican duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.

The Adelaide defence got to work early, out muscling the NSW forward line, while the Thunderbird attack chipped away at their lead and looked more in control than at any other point this year. Lucy Austin, the Thunderbirds’ hero who sent the game into extra time in the major semi-final, remained calm and composed despite the pressure.

Adelaide took a four-goal lead into the first break and extended it to eight goals at half-time, 35-27. This was then reduced to just three goals heading into the final quarter, with the score 43-40.

For the Swifts, it looked like it all could come down to star shooter Housby and the loved and hated super shots. Housby, with the best long-range shot in the competition and most super shot attempts and scores of any super netball player, helped to cut the Thunderbirds’ margin down on the eve of each break.

In the final five minute before half-time, the Swifts scored four super shots, three from the hands of Housby and one from Sophie Fawn.

The Swifts’ co-captains Paige Hadley and Maddy Proud were prolific in the mid-court and manoeuvring the ball towards the post.

Adelaide will now get to defend their title on their home turf next year as the grand final has been locked in for their state, while the NSW will go home to lick their wounds and regroup for next season.

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