Netball: Injured absentees give leaders a shake-up

Jodi Brown of the Magic. Photo / Getty Images

After an extraordinary week of off-court dramas in the transtasman league, attention now turns to how the teams will respond on the court as the race for playoff spots heats up.

The Adelaide Thunderbirds have in-house issues after it emerged disciplinary action was being taken against four players who took off to Bali during their bye week.

They now face a tough test to put all the churn behind them when they face the Melbourne Vixens in a grand final rematch in Adelaide on Sunday.

But the defending champions are experiencing a rough patch of their own. The Vixens have collapsed in a heap with three straight losses on the back of an injury to star midcourter Natasha Chokjlat and rumours of division in the camp.

The news didn't get any better for the Vixens this week, with athletic defender Julie Corletto ruled out for up to six weeks with knee concerns. The loss of the Australian defender has virtually written off the Vixens' hopes of defending their title.

Now New Zealand's glamour side the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic are tipped to follow suit after losing hard-working midcourter Peta Scholz with a season-ending knee injury.

Even without their star import the Magic should be relatively untroubled against the Canterbury Tactix in Hamilton on Saturday.

But cracks may start to appear in the Magic's armoury further down the track with a difficult run in to the finals, which includes three games against Australian sides.

With three of the competition's heavyweights in turmoil, the make-up of the top four could be very different from what was predicted at the beginning of the season. At this stage the only team assured of a place in the finals are the NSW Swifts, who are unbeaten after eight rounds.

But they are set for arguably their toughest test of the season on Monday night, when they take on the other in-form team of the competition, the Queensland Firebirds.

After a shaky start to the season, the Firebirds have been travelling along nicely and are eager to avenge their first round loss to the Swifts. In Monday night's other match-up the Northern Mystics look set to continue their climb up the ANZ Championship ladder when they face the Central Pulse in Auckland.

GAME TIMES
ANZ Championship - Round 9.

* Saturday: 2.20pm Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic v Canterbury Tactix, Hamilton.

* Sunday: 4.50pm Adelaide Thunderbirds v Melbourne Vixens, Adelaide.

* Monday: 7.20pm Northern Mystics v Central Pulse, Auckland; 9.05pm NSW Swifts v Queensland Firebirds, Sydney.