Tappenden was the best in court as the Futures recorded their first win of the 2025 campaign against GIANTS Academy at Nissan Arena on Saturday night, defeating the visitors 64-38 in a comfortable win.
The Bond University Bull Sharks recruit notched 21 goals as she combined with Elsa Sif Sandholt (18 goals) and another Firebirds training partner in Abigail Latu-Meafou (19 goals) in the attacking end while Lily Cubby also saw some time on court to score six goals in the 26-point win.
Latu-Meafou was backing up after earlier in the evening making her first Suncorp Super Netball appearance in six years for the Firebirds against the Adelaide Thunderbirds, with Ashlee Barnett also getting some valuable court time in the big victory as the young defender played the entire game.
The Firebirds Futures returned to Nissan Arena on Sunday to host an Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures outfit fresh from a big win over the Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts the day before.
The visitors made it two-from-two for their Queensland trip as the Firebirds Futures fell to a 61-50 loss.
Tappenden though was again solid with a game-high 29 goals as the Thunderbirds Futures made the most of some late errors by the hosts to win the final term 13-7 and secure their third win from four fixtures this season.
Firebirds Futures Head Coach Jess Whitfort praised Tappenden's quality despite the defeat and also had time to highlight the defensive efforts of Lillyana Rennie and Jess Milne to keep her team in the contest until the dying minutes.
The Firebirds Futures have a bye this weekend before returning to action with another home double-header weekend at Nissan Arena against the Swifts Academy and Vixens Academy on Friday May 23 and Sunday May 25 respectively.
