The 2025 season has seen the Bull Sharks footy clubs rewrite the endings to their stories, and this weekend it's time for netball to do the same.
The Sapphire squad will take on the Thunder in a preliminary final, a team we have never beaten in the Bec Stower coaching era at Bond.
We drew with them in round four and fell just six point short in round 11, but all that’s behind us – this weekend a grand final berth is on the line, win and it would be the first time our Sapphire squad has ever made the decider, lose and it's all over.
Bull Sharks v Thunder at Nissan Arena
Preliminary Final
The opposition
Thunder are coming off a gritty one goal win over the Titans in the minor semi. They’ll be hungry and confident after a result like that.
The challenge
Thunder have been our bogey team. In my three years coaching, we’re yet to beat them. Every match has been tight, but we’ve fallen short. It’s time to change the narrative.
Shuffling the magnets
At this stage all players are available for selection, but we are monitoring Kaylin van Greunen who has come down with a virus.
Ones to watch
Some big match-ups are set:
Kaylin van Gruenen v Jada Delaney
Lauren Aubrey and Tehya Hysett v Sally Jenkins
Sasha-May Flegler v Maddie Hinchliffe
The focus
Post-match, we agreed to leave the semi-final behind us. We don’t have time or energy to debrief a game that was outside our control. Our focus is on Thunder – doing our analysis, preparing the game plan, training hard, and most importantly, repairing the punctures in our bubble.
The final word
We know what Thunder brings. We know where we’ve fallen short in the past. This week is about belief, composure, and rewriting the ending.
With Bec Stower