Teammates key to third player of the year honour, says Fowler
KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) — Jhaniele Fowler has praised her teammates at West Coast Fever for their support after winning a third-successive Suncorp Super Netball Player-of-the-year Award.
The Sunshine Girls superstar was rewarded for another outstanding season where she scored 979 points, scored more than 50 points in 16 of her 17 matches and registered 94 per cent accuracy.
“It is pretty hard [to maintain the same standard every year] because I come up against some pretty tough opponents,” Fowler told the Australian Netball Awards staged virtually over the last week.
“But it’s self determination and the people that surround me that helps me to maintain my standard.”
Her efforts helped West Coast Fever finish third in the standings on 34 and qualify for the play-offs where they beat New South Wales Swifts and Sunshine Coast Lightning en route to the final.
They tasted disappointment in the championship game, however, when they were edged out 66-64 by eventual champions Melbourne Vixens.
For Fever, it was their second defeat in a final, following their 2018 loss to Lightning but Fowler said she believed the side possessed the hallmark of a championship-winning side despite their inability to win a title to date.
“I think we have the method to get [to the final] but honestly it’s just to finish off,” the 31-yearold explained.
“I cannot really say exactly what [more] we need to do because we have it, we have what it takes to go all the way. It’s just for us to make sure that when that opportunity comes again, we take it with both hands.”
Fowler, who was brilliant in last October’s final, shooting 54 from 55 attempts, said she valued winning a third-straight award.
“To have won the Suncorp Super Netball Player-of-theYear Award for the third-consecutive year, it’s no longer the mere feeling of being elated, it’s much more,” she noted.
“I’m beyond honoured and moved by this, and I’m not easily moved, pun intended, to be recognised for something I’m extremely passionate about.”