2014 Queensland Firebirds season

Queensland Firebirds
2014 season
Head coach	Roselee Jencke
Captain	Laura Geitz
Main venue	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Season results
Wins–losses	10–6
Regular season	2nd
Finals placing	2nd
Team colours
Queensland Firebirds seasons
← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 Queensland Firebirds season saw the Queensland Firebirds netball team compete in the 2014 ANZ Championship. Firebirds finished second during the regular season and in the overall championship. Firebirds lost both the major semi-final and the grand final to Melbourne Vixens. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Players

Player movements

Gains and losses

Gains	Losses
Clare McMeniman (returning player) [8] Stephanie Puopolo (Adelaide Thunderbirds) [9] Verity Simmons (West Coast Fever) [10] [11] Amorette Wild (New South Wales Swifts) [12]	Abbey McCulloch (New South Wales Swifts) [13] Natalie Medhurst (West Coast Fever) [14] Chelsea Pitman (West Coast Fever) Gretel Tippett (New South Wales Swifts) [15]

Sources: ^{[16] [17]}

2014 roster

2014 Queensland Firebirds roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Romelda Aiken GS, GA (1988-11-19)19 November 1988 (aged 25) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Laura Clemesha GK, GD (1992-01-21)21 January 1992 (aged 22) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Laura Geitz  (c) GK, GD (1987-11-04)4 November 1987 (aged 26) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Nicola Gray GA, WA – Demelza McCloud GD, GK (1980-08-05)5 August 1980 (aged 33) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Clare McMeniman GD, WD (1985-07-11)11 July 1985 (aged 28) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Jacinta Messer GD, GK (1986-08-13)13 August 1986 (aged 27) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Stephanie Puopolo GA, GS – Kim Ravaillion C, WD, WA (1993-07-26)26 July 1993 (aged 20) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Gabi Simpson WD, GD, C (1992-10-17)17 October 1992 (aged 21) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Verity Simmons WA, C (1991-05-19)19 May 1991 (aged 22) 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) Ameliaranne Wells GS, GA (1991-01-11)11 January 1991 (aged 23) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Amorette Wild GA, GS, WA (1989-08-10)10 August 1989 (aged 24) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Head coach Roselee Jencke Notes (c)– Captain (cc)– Co-captain (vc)– Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP)– Temporary Replacement Player

Sources: ^[8]

Milestones

• Romelda Aiken became the first player to score 3500 ANZ Championship goals when she scored 46 from 53 in Round 13 against Central Pulse. ^{[18] [19] [20]}
• Clare McMeniman made her 100th senior club appearance.

Sources: ^[1]

Three international captains

Laura Geitz, Romelda Aiken and Clare McMeniman all captained their national teams in medal winning performances. Geitz captained Australia when they won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The squad also included Kim Ravaillion. Aiken was co-captain of the Jamaica team that won the bronze medal. Clare McMeniman co-captained the Australia team that won the silver medal at the 2014 Fast5 Netball World Series. Gabi Simpson, Amorette Wild were also members of the team. ^{[1] [21]}

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Sunday 2 March	Southern Steel	44 – 60	Queensland Firebirds	Stadium Southland Velodrome
7:20pm	Jodi Brown  11/17 (65%) Jhaniele Fowler-Reid  20/22 (91%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  13/16 (81%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  35/44 (80%) Amy Wild  25/31 (81%)

Round 2

Sunday 9 March	Queensland Firebirds	48 – 55	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
1:18am	Romelda Aiken  ? Amy Wild  18 Ameliaranne Wells  ?	Report Stats	Carla Borrego  29 Erin Bell  26/31 (84%)  ?  ?

Round 3

Sunday 16 March	Melbourne Vixens	47 – 48	Queensland Firebirds	Hisense Arena
12:18pm	Tegan Caldwell  18/22 (82%) Karyn Bailey  29/37 (78%)	Report Stats	Romelda Aiken  38/46 (83%) Amy Wild  10/16 (63%)

Round 4

Sunday 23 March	New South Wales Swifts	53 – 48	Queensland Firebirds	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
12:18pm	Caitlin Thwaites  29/32 (91%) Susan Pratley  23/30 (77%) Carla Dziwoki  1/1 (100%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  36/50 (72%) Amy Wild  12/14 (86%)

Round 5

Sunday 30 March	Queensland Firebirds	58 – 50	Northern Mystics	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
1:18pm	Romelda Aiken  35/41 (85%) Amy Wild  16/22 (73%) Ameliaranne Wells  7/10 (70%)	Report	Maria Tutaia  20/24 (83%) Cathrine Latu  30/30 (100%)

Round 6

Monday 7 April	Queensland Firebirds	38 – 50	Melbourne Vixens	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
7:48pm	Romelda Aiken  25/31 (81%) Amy Wild  9/12 (75%)  ?  ?	Report	Tegan Caldwell  28/32 (88%) Karyn Bailey  13/17 (76%)  ?  ?	Attendance: 3,100

Round 7

Sunday 13 April	West Coast Fever	48 – 42	Queensland Firebirds	Challenge Stadium
12:18pm	Caitlin Bassett  39/43 (91%) Natalie Medhurst  ? Kate Beveridge  ? Chelsea Pitman  3/7 (43%)	Report Stats	Romelda Aiken  24/33 (73%) Amy Wild  ?	Attendance: 2,700

Round 8

Sunday 20 April	Queensland Firebirds	55 – 40	New South Wales Swifts	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
12:18pm	Romelda Aiken  36 Ameliaranne Wells  10 Amy Wild  9	Report	Caitlin Thwaites  13 Susan Pratley  24 Gretel Tippett  3	Attendance: 3,000

Round 9

Sunday 27 April	Queensland Firebirds	50 – 48	West Coast Fever	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
12:18pm	Romelda Aiken  ? Amy Wild  ?		Caitlin Bassett  ? Natalie Medhurst  ?

Round 10

Sunday 4 May	Queensland Firebirds	69 – 52	Mainland Tactix	Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
2:18pm	Romelda Aiken  54/57 (95%) Amy Wild  8/12 (67%) Ameliaranne Wells  7/8 (88%)	Report Stats	Mwai Kumwenda  40/45 (89%) Anna Thompson  12/17 (71%)

Round 11

Sunday 11 May	Adelaide Thunderbirds	52 – 58	Queensland Firebirds	Netball SA Stadium
11:48am	Carla Borrego  25/30 (83%) Erin Bell  27/31 (87%)	Report Stats	Romelda Aiken  40/48 (83%) Amy Wild  18/21 (86%)

Round 12

Queensland Firebirds received a bye.

Round 13

Saturday 24 May	Queensland Firebirds	60 – 33	Central Pulse	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
2:18pm	Romelda Aiken  46/53 (87%) Amy Wild  14/22 (64%)	Report	Donna Wilkins  13/16 (81%) Irene van Dyk  12/13 (92%) Paula Griffin  8/12 (67%)

Round 14

Monday 2 June	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	55 – 59	Queensland Firebirds	Claudelands Arena
7:40pm	Joanne Harten  29/35 (83%) Ellen Halpenny  26/34 (76%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  40/45 (89%) Amy Wild  19/20 (95%)

Sources: ^[22]

Final table

2014 ANZ Championship ladder v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	G%	Pts
1	Melbourne Vixens	13	9	4	746	592	+154	126.0	18
2	Queensland Firebirds	13	9	4	694	623	+71	111.4	18
3	New South Wales Swifts	13	9	4	707	652	+55	108.4	18
4	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	13	8	5	727	672	+55	108.2	16
5	Southern Steel	13	7	6	792	809	−17	97.9	14
6	Central Pulse	13	7	6	658	675	−17	97.5	14
7	Northern Mystics	13	6	7	706	752	−46	93.9	12
8	Adelaide Thunderbirds	13	5	8	663	706	−43	93.9	10
9	West Coast Fever	13	4	9	689	724	−35	95.2	8
10	Mainland Tactix	13	1	12	694	871	−177	79.7	2
Updated 2 May 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

Sources: ^[23]

Finals

Semifinals

Preliminary final

Grand final

9 June – Hisense Arena

22 June – Hisense Arena

Melbourne Vixens

52

Melbourne Vixens

53

Queensland Firebirds

47

16 June – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Queensland Firebirds

42

Queensland Firebirds

54

8 June – Allphones Arena

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic

50

New South Wales Swifts

49

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic

50

---

Major semi-final

Monday 9 June 5:48pm	Stats	Melbourne Vixens	52–47	Queensland Firebirds		Hisense Arena	Fox Sports Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter:16–11, 11-13, 14–13, 11–12
		Tegan Caldwell  27/36 (75%) Karyn Bailey  25/29 (86%)		Romelda Aiken  35/41 (85%) Amy Wild  12/15 (80%)

Sources: ^[24]

---

Preliminary final

Monday 16 June 7:18pm	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	54–50	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Attendance: 3,200	Fox Sports Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter:14–13, 15–13, 11–11, 14–13
		Romelda Aiken  36/44 (82%) Amy Wild  18/21 (86%)		Joanne Harten  29/38 (76%) Ellen Halpenny  21/24 (88%)

Sources: ^{[25] [26] [27]}

---

Grand final

Sunday 22 June 2:28pm	Stats	Melbourne Vixens	53–42	Queensland Firebirds		Hisense Arena Attendance: 9,345	Fox Sports Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter:13–11, 11–11, 13–12, 16–8
		Tegan Caldwell  30/33 (91%) Karyn Bailey  17/22 (77%) Catherine Cox  6/7 (86%)		Romelda Aiken  25/30 (83%) Amy Wild  17/21 (81%)

Sources: ^{[2] [3] [4] [28] [29] [30]}

Award winners

Mission Queensland Firebirds Awards

Award	Winner
Mission Foods Player of the Year	Romelda Aiken (Note 1)
Mission Foods Player of the Year	Laura Geitz (Note 1)
Firebirds Players' Player	Laura Geitz
Firebirds Spirit Award	Verity Simmons
Firebirds Members Award	Gabi Simpson

Notes

• ^1 Romelda Aiken and Laura Geitz shared the award.

Sources: ^[1]

Australian Netball Awards

Award	Winner
Australian ANZ Championship Player of the Year	Laura Geitz
Joyce Brown Coach of the Year	Roselee Jencke

Sources: ^{[1] [31] [32]}

References

1. "Netball Queensland – Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
2. "Melbourne Vixens win ANZ Championship grand final against Queensland Firebirds". www.news.com.au. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
3. "Vixens crowned 2014 Premiers". vic.netball.com.au. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
4. "Vixens' veteran Cath Cox goes out on a high". www.smh.com.au. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
5. "Melbourne Vixens - Our history". melbournevixens.com.au. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
6. "Netball in the 2010s (Part 2)". netballscoop.com. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
7. "Vixens re-sign premiership netball coach". www.sbs.com.au. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
8. "Southern Downs represented in Firebirds". www.qt.com.au. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
9. "Thunderbirds premiership player Stephanie Puopolo signs with Queensland Firebirds". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
10. "Queensland Firebirds sign Verity Simmons from West Coast Fever". www.perthnow.com.au. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
11. "Verity on fire and ready to fly". www.qt.com.au. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
12. "New recruit Amorette Wild thrilled to join the Firebirds". www.northernstar.com.au. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
13. "Abbey McCulloch". nswswifts.com.au. 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
14. "West Coast Fever sign Natalie Medhurst in recruiting coup". www.smh.com.au. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
15. "NSW Swifts sign star defender Sharni Layton". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 30 July 2013.
16. "Firebirds sign Amorette Wild as Medhurst joins Fever". www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au. 12 August 2013. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
17. "ANZ Championship Round One Review". www.netballnz.co.nz. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
18. "Romelda Aiken set to pass 3500 goals in ANZ Championship". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
19. "Firebirds rock Pulse to lock in top four spot". www.netballnz.co.nz. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
20. "Firebirds teach Central Pulse very hard lesson". www.stuff.co.nz. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
21. "Australian Fast5: Clare McMeniman named captain of Fast5 Flyers less than a week after debut for Australia". www.news.com.au. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
22. "ANZ Championship 2014 – Results". www.flashscore.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
23. "ANZ Championship 2014 – Standings". www.flashscore.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
24. "Melbourne Vixens through to trans-Tasman netball grand final after 52-47 win over Queensland Firebirds". www.abc.net.au. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
25. "Firebirds book Grand Final date with Vixens". www.netballnz.co.nz. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
26. "Queensland Firebirds beat Magic to book place in trans-Tasman netball grand final". www.abc.net.au. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
27. "Firebirds make it all-Australian netball grand final against Vixens after holding off Magic". www.news.com.au. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
28. "Queensland Firebirds lose final bout in ANZ Championship grand final". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
29. "Melbourne Vixens beat Queensland Firebirds in netball final". www.smh.com.au. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
30. "Winning end for Cox as Vixens seal 2014 title". www.netballnz.co.nz. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
31. "Australian Netball Awards". netball.com.au. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
32. "Netball Australia – Directors Report 2014" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 9 September 2021.