The Lorna Jane Queensland Firebirds will officially christen the new Queensland State Netball Centre this Saturday afternoon in their Round two Suncorp Super Netball clash against the Collingwood Magpies.
The Firebirds are coming off the back of a tough loss to competition heavyweights the Melbourne Vixens, but are looking forward to bouncing back against the ladder leading Magpies. The Firebirds will head into the match as underdogs, a tag the Queenslanders relish.
With 464 national league games under their belt they will face up against a Magpies team with eight current or former internationals and nearly twice the national league experience (873 national league games).
Young defensive duo Kimberley Jenner and Tara Hinchliffe impressed against the Vixens picking up 4 gains, 3 intercepts and 5 deflections between them. They will come up against former Firebird Nat Medhurst who, with 220 caps, is one of the most experienced players in the Suncorp Super Netball.
Firebirds Captain Gabi Simpson spoke to media today, and is looking forward to seeing a sea of purple at the team’s new Nathan home.
“I’m so excited to have our first game here. Not only for us for us to step out on the court for the first time but our fans, our loyal fans to step into this amazing court and start a new era for us,” she said.
Simpson is confident that the team is prepared for the Magpies, despite the heavy loss to the Vixens in round one.
“From the disappointment came an extremely motivated week at training. Every has really stepped up so it’s going to be exciting. They’ve got some amazing players right across the court,” Simpson said.
Defender Kim Jenner is looking forward to working on her combination with fellow youngster Tara Hinchliffe and isn’t fazed by the considerably more experienced Magpies team.
“It’s really exciting to go out there and get a bit more court time and really test myself against those really experienced players.” Jenner said.
They have a lot of experience in their team and they are coming off a really great win last week. It’ll be a really big challenge to come up against them, but it will allow us to really test ourselves against the best.”
Tickets still available via Ticketek.
Queensland Firebirds v Magpies Netball
#SSNFirebirdsMagpies
QLD State Netball Centre, Brisbane
Sat 4 May – 3.00pm
Watch: Nine + Netball Live Official App
Umpires: Tim Marshall, Emma Donaldson
