Hosts set for giant rematch

NETBALL: Sydney midcourter Jamie Lee Price says the Giants are excited, not daunted, by the challenge of having to beat defending champions Lightning in Sunday’s preliminary final to keep alive their quest for an inaugural Super Netball crown.

The Giants and Lightning will meet in a repeat of last year’s grand final after the Geva Mentor-led side outmuscled the Firebirds 57-56 in a physical minor semi-final in Brisbane yesterday.

A year ago, Lightning thrashed the Giants 65-48 to claim the 2017 Super Netball crown, a thumping Price said she and her teammates had not forgotten.

“I don’t want to ever feel like that again,” Price said after watching the Lightning/Firebirds thriller on TV.

“I think it’s exciting we get a shot at avenging what happened last year.”

Price said she and her teammates were desperate to prove they were a better team than the one which fell to West Coast Fever by six goals in Saturday’s major semi-final.

“We’re very disappointed with that and we don’t want to waste this opportunity to show we are better than that,” she said.

West Coast Fever defied all the odds to claim the first spot in the grand final on Saturday.

The Perth-based side had to travel back and forth to Sydney twice in just seven days while star shooter Jhaniele Fowler missed almost a quarter of the semi-final with a knee injury.