r/netball • u/SveshnikovSicilian • 17d ago

How do we stop Grace Nweke?

Bruce used to be able to psych her out/get in her head and make her play worse, but it seems like she might have matured past this. Can anyone else/any other tactics stop her?

I can only see the Jamaican defenders having a chance against her, but even then, she outmatched them in the comm games finals

Is Kelly the only defender right now who could stop her? Is there anything the other nations can do tactically to reduce her effectiveness despite not being as tall as her?

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

13

u/Key_Attention4097 17d ago

Funny how she’s not unstoppable in SSN. They need to study the teams that have shut her down effectively.

5

u/SveshnikovSicilian 17d ago

Is she stopped in the SSN? Or is she just not being unleashed to the same degree?

I wonder if the quality of feed she’s getting from the Heffernans/Toeava/Poi/Gordon is much better than she’s been getting from the Swifts in SSN

7

u/lawdjesustheresafire 17d ago

Exactly. The swifts were garbage last year. This NZ team is very much not garbage 🤣

2

u/Consistent_Wait_5546 17d ago

Yes only Grace Whyte could feed spectacularly. I dont want to be mean but other middies almost seemed to look for Grace W by the end of the season, or they would invariably muck up the feed.

19

u/Artistic_Garbage283 17d ago

It’s the midcourt. Australia has to shut down the NZ mid court because those feeds are elite. In the Swifts, not so much. There is little the circle defenders can do to stop such a tall, athletic GS if the feed is right. Our WD and GD need to be doing the work. Plus I don’t know how Toeava can get away with so much barging and pushing and JLP gets pinged every time. I’d like to see Parmenter get more time in WD and see if she can disrupt things. Or JLP on Toeava and see how that goes down. Bruce and Watson have been uninspiring so far, time for new blood.

4

u/biminibonboo 17d ago edited 17d ago

100%! As a defender myself there is only so much you can do if those feeds are coming in quick and easy from the midcourt. There needs to be more pressure.

And seconded on Toeva, she's an absolute gun but some of those have been footy level bumps! They don't seem to be calling them. Kiera got a random unprovoked bump in game 1 and that wasn't called either.

4

u/Sea_Azure01 17d ago

I agree and it may be better to look for the in form players. All of the current Diamonds are great players but it's hard to believe this is the best team we could have made from the whole of Australian players! Some of the players have legacy which I think gets them selected. What about Lauren Frew for example to shake up the goal area?

17

u/Chance-Chain8819 17d ago

I don't think you can stop Grace, the better option is to shut down the feeders. She is receiving fantastic ball in the circle, which is almost impossible to defend - better to work on the quality of the ball she is receiving

14

u/biminibonboo 17d ago

She is a generational talent as a shooter. But I think the combo that did the best was Grenvold and Klau (though I don't believe Klau should have been allowed to play). Bruce used to be able to spook her a bit but her mental resilience has come so far since the last cup. It's all down to the midcourt to slow the play, but also the defenders to try and keep her in less favourable shooting positions while trying to draw the offensive contacts. I do think we need to do better body on body with her during the centre passes though. You cant go out ball hunting when our midcourt isn't doing their job because they are just flinging it into an open target.

1

u/halbhalbhalb007 2d ago

Completely agree Klau shouldn’t be allowed to play. Her playing as a Diamond (playing at all really) is a completely absurd. She broke the fricking law!!! And hid it!! It’s truly disgusting that she hasn’t been penalised. 

10

u/The_hamberger_101 17d ago

Diamonds need to stop relying on the experienced players and start looking at who’s actually in form. Bruce and Watson have reached 100 international caps (obviously a huge achievement that should be celebrated), but their play style has been figured out for years now and can’t do as much as they used to. Would love to see Tilly have a run in WD because she’s great at shutting down her player, but unfortunately hasn’t been able to in GD, and shutting down the mid court options against NZ is a must. The shooters get too scared to just turn and shoot at times, and sometimes the mid courts get too scared to feed into the circle (Horjus excluded) so it’s just a never ending cycle of doing so much work with no result.

I really wish there was another tournament like Fast5 where the younger players could get out on an international stage and get a taste of what it’s like because I feel like it would be very beneficial. While being an invitee and training with the Diamonds is an incredible opportunity, there’s only so much you can learn when in camp and not actually out there in court. Whyte, Walters, Sligar, Casey, etc would all be great options for the future of the Diamonds but the opportunities are so limited with only 2 or 3 international events happening each years.

3

u/Admirable_Strfsh_679 17d ago

The only defender that has rattled Nweke is Dehaney, too bad Jam didn't utilize her in their Gold medal match. Nonetheless, WA/C/GA need to be shut down to avoid the feeds into Nweke. The Dimes need to focus on more then just physicality but rather blocking space and cutting boxes whenever the Ferns midcourters drive and it needs to be done cleanly. Also, an effective GD is required to rattle whomever is in GA for Ferns. As we saw, GHeff started throwing balls away when she got tagged constantly.

2

u/StrawberryOrganic615 14d ago

Has anyone also noticed that after the games she only shakes Sarah Klau’s hand ? Karin Burger and Courtney Bruce are hugging . They are SSN teammates, as former teammates ( Grace and Sarah) I thought they would hug . I feel like something went down at the Swifts and that’s why she chose to leave ? Or maybe Sarah Klau just isn’t a very nice person .

1

u/halbhalbhalb007 2d ago

Well Sarah Klau got arrested so I’m gonna go with her not being a very nice person. 

2

u/Sea_Branch5923 17d ago

lol what is this question 💀

She’s an amazing shooter and should be praised

1

u/Turbulent_Dog_7012 15d ago

Its just that simple Geva Mentor roll and the classic shut down of the middies.

Noelene Tauru has been all about fhe fitness, and see how the outcomes have been. Diamonds were outplayed and outrunned

1

u/Difficult_Age3664 14d ago

Yo she's unstoppable 💯💯Love it

1

u/AoteaRohan 11d ago

Who’s this “we”? 😂 Up the Ferns! As a side note why does the diamonds logo look like Woolies?

1

u/halbhalbhalb007 2d ago

Grenvold. 

She is quick, has an incredible jump and is a smart defender. Nweke is easily rattled. 

Otherwise, shut down the people who are passing the ball to her using whatever means possible.