2011 Queensland Firebirds season

Queensland Firebirds
2011 season
Head coach	Roselee Jencke
Asst. coach	Tracey Robinson
Manager	Nannette Rigoni
Captain	Lauren Nourse
Vice-captain	Laura Geitz
Main venue	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Season results
Wins–losses	15–0
Regular season	1st
Finals placing	1st
Team colours
Queensland Firebirds seasons
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 Mission Queensland Firebirds season saw Queensland Firebirds compete in the 2011 ANZ Championship. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Lauren Nourse and featuring Romelda Aiken, Laura Geitz, Clare McMeniman and Natalie Medhurst, Firebirds finished the season undefeated. They became the first team in the history of the ANZ Championship to go through the regular season and the playoffs without losing a single match. In the major semi-final, Firebirds defeated Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and in the grand final they defeated Northern Mystics, winning their first premiership. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]} This marked the beginning of a golden age for Firebirds. Between 2011 and 2016, Jencke guided them to five grand finals and three premierships. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Players

Player movements

Summary of 2011 player movements

Gains	Losses
Candice Adams Elissa Macleod April Letton (NNSW Waratahs) [10] Chelsea Pitman (Canterbury Tactix) Ameliaranne Wells (Queensland Fusion) [11]	Alissa Castrisos Sophie Croft (Queensland Fusion) Laura Scherian (Queensland Fusion) Sarah Wall (Melbourne Vixens)

Source: ^[3]

2011 roster

2011 Queensland Firebirds roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Candice Adams GA, GS, WA (1988-11-23)23 November 1988 (aged 22) 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Romelda Aiken GS, GA (1988-11-19)19 November 1988 (aged 22) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Laura Geitz  (vc) GK, GD (1987-11-04)4 November 1987 (aged 23) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) April Letton  (TRP) GK, GD (1990-04-19)19 April 1990 (aged 20) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Elissa Macleod C, WD, WA (1984-03-19)19 March 1984 (aged 26) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Clare McMeniman GD, WD (1985-07-11)11 July 1985 (aged 25) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Natalie Medhurst GA, GS (1984-01-20)20 January 1984 (aged 27) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Lauren Nourse  (c)  WA, C (1982-08-10)10 August 1982 (aged 28) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Chelsea Pitman GA, WA (1988-06-08)8 June 1988 (aged 22) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Jacqui Russell C, WA (1988-08-01)1 August 1988 (aged 22) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Amy Steel GD, GK (1989-04-07)7 April 1989 (aged 21) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Keirra Trompf WD (1985-09-16)16 September 1985 (aged 25) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Ameliaranne Wells GS, GA (1991-01-11)11 January 1991 (aged 20) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Head coach Roselee Jencke Assistant coach Tracey Robinson Specialist coach: Nicole Cusack Manager: Nannette Rigoni Physiotherapist: Mark Stokes Strength and conditioning: Dirk Spits High Performance Manager: Brian Hopley Sports Physician: Dr Richard Brown Dietician: Kerry Leech Podiatrist: Janet Burns Notes (c)– Captain (cc)– Co-captain (vc)– Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP)– Temporary Replacement Player

Notes

• ^1 Candice Adams, Jacqui Russell and Ameliaranne Wells were all members of the 2011 Queensland Fusion squad.

Source: ^{[3] [12]}

Gold medallists

Laura Geitz, Natalie Medhurst and Chelsea Pitman were all members of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 2011 World Netball Championships. ^{[3] [13] [14]}

Pre-season

Between 28 and 30 January, Firebirds participated in the Queenstown Pre-Season Tournament, hosted by Southern Steel. They played five matches against Steel, Canterbury Tactix and Central Pulse. Firebirds won the tournament, defeating Pulse in the final. ^{[3] [15] [16] [17]}

Final

30 January	Queensland Firebirds	50–46	Central Pulse	Queenstown Events Centre

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Queensland Firebirds received a bye.

Round 2

Mon 21 February	Queensland Firebirds	51 – 48	New South Wales Swifts	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
18:40 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  28/37 (76%) Natalie Medhurst  23/26 (88%)	Stats	Catherine Cox  27/34 (79%) Susan Pratley  21/25 (84%)

Round 3

Sat 26 February	Queensland Firebirds	64 – 41	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
13:20 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  50/54 (93%) Natalie Medhurst  13/18 (72%) Chelsea Pitman  1/3 (33%)	Stats	Erin Bell  6/10 (60%) Carla Borrego  30/34 (88%) Bianca Giteau  5/6 (83%)

Mon 28 February	West Coast Fever	38 – 62	Queensland Firebirds	Challenge Stadium
19:10 (UTC+8)	Caitlin Bassett  30/35 (86%) Ashlee Howard  3/3 (100%) Leah Shoard  5/11 (45%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  20/25 (80%) Natalie Medhurst  39/45 (87%) Ameliaranne Wells  3/4 (75%)

Round 4

Sun 6 March	Queensland Firebirds	51 – 36	Southern Steel	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
13:20 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  30/36 (83%) Natalie Medhurst  21/24 (88%)	Stats	Paula Griffin  15/22 (68%) Daneka Wipiiti  21/26 (81%)

Round 5

Sun 13 March	Adelaide Thunderbirds	42 – 64	Queensland Firebirds	ETSA Park
13:50 (UTC+10:30)	Erin Bell  31/34 (91%) Carla Borrego  2/2 (100%) Bianca Giteau  6/11 (55%) Cody Lange  3/5 (60%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  39/47 (83%) Natalie Medhurst  25/27 (93%)

Round 6

Sun 20 March	New South Wales Swifts	53 – 57	Queensland Firebirds	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
14:20 (UTC+11)	Catherine Cox  31/36 (86%) Susan Pratley  22/25 (88%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  37/43 (86%) Natalie Medhurst  20/25 (80%)

Round 7

Sat 26 March	Northern Mystics	52 – 61	Queensland Firebirds	Trusts Stadium
16:20 (UTC+13)	Cathrine Latu  19/19 (100%) Maria Tutaia  33/38 (87%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  38/43 (88%) Natalie Medhurst  23/26 (88%)

Round 8

Thu 31 March	Melbourne Vixens	42 – 52	Queensland Firebirds	State Netball and Hockey Centre
19:40 (UTC+11)	Kate Beveridge  15/26 (58%) Kathleen Knott  16/19 (84%) Sharelle McMahon  11/14 (79%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  31/38 (82%) Natalie Medhurst  21/27 (78%)

Mon 4 April	Queensland Firebirds	53 – 49	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
19:40 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  36/39 (92%) Natalie Medhurst  17/21 (81%)	Stats	Julianna Naoupu  24/29 (83%) Irene van Dyk  25/26 (96%)

Round 9

Sun 10 April	Central Pulse	44 – 61	Queensland Firebirds	Te Rauparaha Arena
18:20 (UTC+12)	Caitlin Thwaites  35/44 (80%) Alanah Cassidy  3/6 (50%) Amber Bellringer  6/11 (55%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  37/44 (84%) Natalie Medhurst  24/29 (83%)

Round 10

Thu 14 April	Queensland Firebirds	57 – 36	Melbourne Vixens	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
19:40 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  35/42 (83%) Natalie Medhurst  22/30 (73%) Ameliaranne Wells  0/2 (0%)	Stats	Kate Beveridge  24/32 (75%) Tegan Caldwell  11/17 (65%) Chelsey Tregear  1/2 (50%)

Round 11

Mon 25 April	Queensland Firebirds	56 – 54	West Coast Fever	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
19:40 (UTC+10)	Romelda Aiken  26/31 (84%) Natalie Medhurst  30/36 (83%)	Stats	Caitlin Bassett  37/39 (95%) Ashlee Howard  4/4 (100%) Leah Shoard  13/17 (76%)

Round 12

Sat 30 April	Canterbury Tactix	52 – 69	Queensland Firebirds	CBS Canterbury Arena
16:20 (UTC+12)	Ellen Halpenny  26/35 (74%) Donna Wilkins  26/35 (74%)	Stats	Romelda Aiken  50/55 (91%) Natalie Medhurst  19/21 (90%)

Sources: ^{[1] [3]}

Final table

2011 ANZ Championship ladder v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	G%	Pts
1	Queensland Firebirds	13	13	0	758	587	171	129.13	26
2	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	13	10	3	647	578	69	111.94	20
3	New South Wales Swifts	13	9	4	677	606	71	111.72	18
4	Northern Mystics	13	9	4	684	619	65	110.5	18
5	Melbourne Vixens	13	8	5	664	610	54	108.85	16
6	Adelaide Thunderbirds	13	5	8	662	737	-75	89.82	10
7	Southern Steel	13	4	9	533	594	-61	89.73	8
8	Central Pulse	13	3	10	599	683	-84	87.7	6
9	West Coast Fever	13	3	10	646	754	-108	85.68	6
10	Canterbury Tactix	13	1	12	621	723	-102	85.89	2
Updated 8 March 2021

  Qualified for Major semi-final
  Qualified for Minor semi-final

• Pld = Games played
• W = Win (2 points)
• L = Loss (0 points)
• GF = Goals For
• GA = Goals Against
• GD = Goals Difference (= GF−GA)
• G% = Goal percentage (= 100 × GF/GA)

Pts = Points

Source: ^[18]

Playoffs

Semifinals

Preliminary final

Grand final

9 May – Gold Coast

22 May – Brisbane

Queensland Firebirds

50

Queensland Firebirds

57

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic

39

15 May – Hamilton

Northern Mystics

44

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic

42

8 May – Sydney

Northern Mystics

43

New South Wales Swifts

44

Northern Mystics

49

---

Minor semifinal

Sunday 8 May 14:20 (UTC+10)		New South Wales Swifts	44–49	Northern Mystics		Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre Umpires: Rachael Ayre (Australia) Mandy Nottingham (New Zealand) Reserve umpire: Jemma Carlton (Australia)	TEN SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 11-15, 9-13, 11–10, 13-11
		Catherine Cox  28/36 (78%) Amorette Wild  8/8 (100%) Susan Pratley  8/10 (80%)		Cathrine Latu  25/28 (89%) Maria Tutaia  24/29 (83%)

Source: ^[19]

Major semifinal

Monday 9 May 19:40 (UTC+10)	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	50–39	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre	TEN SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter:12–8, 11-8, 16–10, 11-13
		Romelda Aiken  29/33 (88%) Natalie Medhurst  21/27 (78%)		Irene van Dyk  17/19 (89%) Jamilah Gupwell  16/18 (89%) Julianna Naoupu  6/8 (75%)

Source: ^{[20] [21]}

---

Preliminary final

Sunday 15 May 18:20 (UTC+12)	Stats	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	42–43	Northern Mystics		Mystery Creek Events Centre	TEN SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter:13–9, 7-16, 12–10, 10-8
		Irene van Dyk  27/28 (96%) Julianna Naoupu  14/19 (74%) Jamilah Gupwell  1/3 (33%)		Cathrine Latu  15/17 (88%) Maria Tutaia  28/30 (93%)

Source: ^{[22] [23] [24]}

---

Grand final

Sunday 22 May 14:30 (UTC+10)	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	57–44	Northern Mystics		Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Attendance: 3,541 [3] Umpires: Sharon Kelly (Australia) Mandy Nottingham (New Zealand) Reserve umpire: Rachael Ayre (Australia)	TEN SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 12–12, 14–12, 18–8, 13-12
		Romelda Aiken  35/40 (88%) Natalie Medhurst  22/24 (92%)		Cathrine Latu  21/21 (100%) Maria Tutaia  23/31 (74%)

Source: ^{[4] [5] [25]}

Source: ^{[4] [5] [25]}

---

Statistics

Player	GS	GA	G%	A	R	CPR	I	D	P	T
Candice Adams	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	1	0
Romelda Aiken	523	607	86.2	24	65	0	1	16	46	59
Laura Geitz	0	0	0	0	41	0	57	92	264	22
April Letton	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0
Elissa Macleod	0	0	0	80	0	2	7	7	104	24
Clare McMeniman	0	0	0	0	2	32	4	24	86	7
Natalie Medhurst	338	404	83.7	141	8	256	8	23	39	41
Lauren Nourse	0	0	0	121	0	47	1	2	60	25
Chelsea Pitman	1	3	33.3	101	1	250	5	9	61	25
Jacqui Russell	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	7	2
Amy Steel	0	0	0	0	11	55	23	35	149	13
Keirra Trompf	0	0	0	0	1	69	10	31	128	9
Ameliaranne Wells	3	6	50.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Statistics key
GS	Goals scored	A	Assists	I	Intercepts
GA	Goal attempts	R	Rebounds	D	Deflections
G%	Goal percentage	CPR	Centre pass receives	P	Penalties
= Competition leader				T	Turnovers conceded

Source: ^[12]

Award winners

ANZ Championship awards

Award	Winner
ANZ Championship Most Valuable Player (Note 2) [26] [27]	Natalie Medhurst
ANZ Championship Grand Final MVP	Romelda Aiken
ANZ Championship All Star Team Member	Romelda Aiken
ANZ Championship All Star Team Coach	Roselee Jencke

Australian Netball Awards

Award	Winner
Liz Ellis Diamond	Laura Geitz
Australian ANZ Championship Player of the Year	Laura Geitz
Australian ANZ Championship Coach of the Year	Roselee Jencke
Australian Under-21 Player of the Year	April Letton

Firebirds awards

Award	Winner
Player of the Year	Romelda Aiken
Players' Player [28]	Laura Geitz
Members' Player of the Year	Natalie Medhurst
Spirit Award	Lauren Nourse

Notes

• ^2 Award shared with Leana de Bruin (Southern Steel)

Sources: ^{[2] [3] [29]}

References

1. "ANZ Championship - 2011 Season Fixture". www.anz-championship.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
2. "2011 Annual Report – Netball Australia" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
3. "2011 Netball Queensland Annual Report" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
4. "Queensland Firebirds crowned ANZ Champions". www.theroar.com.au. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
5. "Queensland Firebirds burn Northern Mystics". The Press . www.pressreader.com. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
6. "Roselee Jencke". firebirds.net.au. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
7. "Jancke to lead the Firebirds for a decade". thewomensgame.com. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
8. "'It's the right time': Roselee Jencke quits as Queensland Firebirds coach". www.theguardian.com. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
9. "Jencke farewells Firebirds". firebirds.net.au. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
10. "Netball NSW and NSW Swifts – 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
11. "Bundy product in Firebirds line-up". www.news-mail.com.au. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
12. "Queensland Firebirds - 2011 season statistics". www.anz-championship.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
13. "Women Netball XIII World Championship 2011 Singapore". www.todor66.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
14. "Australia at the Netball World Cup" (PDF). Netball Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
15. "Queensland Firebirds win preseason tournament". www.stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
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17. "Firebirds' confidence bolstered". www.abc.net.au. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
18. "ANZ Championship - 2011 Season Ladder". www.anz-championship.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
19. "New South Wales Swifts 44–49 Northern Mystics". www.anz-championship.com. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
20. "Waikato-BOP Magic trounced by Firebirds". www.stuff.co.nz. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
21. "Firebirds take win over Magic". www.netballnz.co.nz. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
22. "Mystics stun Magic to make final". www.abc.net.au. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
23. "Another black night for Waikato-BOP Magic". www.stuff.co.nz. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
24. "Netball: Mystics defy Magic history". www.odt.co.nz. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
25. "2011 ANZ Championship – Grand Final". www.netballnz.co.nz. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
26. "Leana de Bruin and Natalie Medhurst share ANZ Championship MVP Award". www.netballnz.co.nz. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
27. "Netball: De Bruin, Medhurst named netball MVPs". www.odt.co.nz. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
28. "Laura puts spotlight on Allora". www.warwickdailynews.com.au. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
29. "Geitz wins netball's top honours". www.smh.com.au. 19 November 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2021.