2016 Queensland Firebirds season

The 2016 Queensland Firebirds season saw the Queensland Firebirds netball team compete in the 2016 ANZ Championship. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Laura Geitz and featuring Romelda Aiken, Clare McMeniman and Kim Ravaillion, Firebirds won the Australian Conference, the Challenge Trophy and the overall championship. Firebirds became the first and only team to retain the title. In a repeat of 2015, Firebirds defeated New South Wales Swifts in both the Australian Conference Final and the Grand Final.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Queensland Firebirds
2016 season
Head coach	Roselee Jencke
Captain	Laura Geitz
Vice-captain	Clare McMeniman
Main venue	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Season results
Wins–losses	14–2
Regular season	1st (Australian Conference) Challenge Trophy holders
Finals placing	1st
Team colours

Players

Player movements

Gains and losses

Gains	Losses
Hulita Haukinima (Queensland Fusion)[7] Chelsea Lemke (Southern Force)[8][9][10]	Rebecca Bulley (Retirement) Laura Scherian Verity Simmons (West Coast Fever) Amorette Wild

Sources:^[11]

2016 roster

2016 Queensland Firebirds roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Romelda Aiken GS, GA (1988-11-19)19 November 1988 (aged 27) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Mahalia Cassidy WA, C (1995-10-09)9 October 1995 (aged 20) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Laura Clemesha GK, GD (1992-01-21)21 January 1992 (aged 24) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Beryl Friday GA, GS, WA (1994-01-19)19 January 1994 (aged 22) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Laura Geitz (c) GK, GD (1987-11-04)4 November 1987 (aged 28) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Hulita Haukinima WD, C (1995-09-14)14 September 1995 (aged 20) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Chelsea Lemke GA, GS – Clare McMeniman (vc) GD, WD (1985-07-11)11 July 1985 (aged 30) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Caitlyn Nevins WA, C (1987-06-01)1 June 1987 (aged 28) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Kim Ravaillion C, WD, WA (1993-07-26)26 July 1993 (aged 22) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Gabi Simpson WD, GD, C (1992-10-17)17 October 1992 (aged 23) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Gretel Tippett GA,GS (1993-07-03)3 July 1993 (aged 22) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	Head coach Roselee Jencke Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Sources:^[11][12]

Debutants

• Hulita Haukinima made her ANZ Championship and Firebirds debut in the Round 1 match against Mainland Tactix.^[13]
• Chelsea Lemke made her ANZ Championship and Firebirds debut in the Round 6 match against Northern Mystics. She came on for the injured Gretel Tippett and subsequently scored 10 from 13.^[14]

Milestones

• Romelda Aiken scored her 5,000th ANZ Championship goal in the grand final.^[15][16]
• Having previously been members of the 2011 and 2015 Queensland Firebirds teams, Romelda Aiken, Laura Geitz and Clare McMeniman all win their third ANZ Championship.^{[4][17][18][19][20]}

Pre-season

Between 18 and 20 March 2016, Queensland Firebirds played in a three-day event hosted by Northern Mystics at The Trusts Arena. Other participants included Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, Southern Steel and Adelaide Thunderbirds.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Fri 1 April	Queensland Firebirds	70 - 55	Mainland Tactix	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
6:18 AM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  45/49 (92%) Gretel Tippett  25/32 (78%)	Report	Mwai Kumwenda  37/39 (95%) Bailey Mes  18/28 (64%)

Source:^[25]

Round 2

Mon 11 April	Queensland Firebirds	61 - 45	Central Pulse	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
7:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  38/41 (93%) Gretel Tippett  22/25 (88%) Beryl Friday  1/3 (33%)	Report	Ameliaranne Wells  22/24 (92%) Maia Wilson  21/30 (70%) Te Amo Amaru-Tibble  1/1 (100%)

Source:^[26]

Round 3

Sat 16 April	Melbourne Vixens	47 - 58	Queensland Firebirds	Hisense Arena
5.18 PM (AEST)	Alice Teague-Neeld  15/22 (68%) Kimberley Commane  10/14 (71%) Emma Ryde  22/25 (88%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  42/45 (93%) Gretel Tippett  16/21 (76%)

Source:^[27]

Round 4

Sat 23 April	Adelaide Thunderbirds	46 - 58	Queensland Firebirds	Priceline Stadium
4.48 AM (ACST)	Kristina Brice  28/34 (82%) Erin Bell  18/27 (67%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  37/46 (80%) Gretel Tippett  21/32 (66%) Beryl Friday  0/1 (0%)

Source:^[28]

Round 5

Sat 30 April	Queensland Firebirds	61 - 51	New South Wales Swifts	Brisbane Entertainment Centre
5:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  52/63 (83%) Gretel Tippett  9/16 (56%)	Report	Susan Pettitt  19/23 (83%) Caitlin Thwaites   32/36 (89%)

Source:^[29]

Round 6

Sat 7 May	Queensland Firebirds	70 - 42	Northern Mystics	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
5:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  52/57 (91%) Gretel Tippett  8/10 (80%) Chelsea Lemke  10/13 (77%)	Report	Maria Tutaia  23/33 (70%) Cathrine Tuivaiti  9/9 (100%) Megan Craig  10/15 (67%)

Source:^[14]

Round 7

Sat 14 May	West Coast Fever	52 - 61	Queensland Firebirds	HBF Stadium
3:18 PM (AWST)	Caitlin Bassett  38/46 (83%) Natalie Medhurst  14/21 (67%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  50/57 (88%) Chelsea Lemke  11/16 (69%)

Source:^[30]

Round 8

Sun 22 May	Queensland Firebirds	62 - 51	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
12:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  45/50 (90%) Gretel Tippett  17/26 (65%)	Report	Carla Borrego  33/36 (92%) Erin Bell  18/22 (82%)

Sources:^[31][32]

Round 9

Sun 29 May	New South Wales Swifts	58 - 54	Queensland Firebirds	Qudos Bank Arena
12:18 PM (AEST)	Susan Pettitt  33/39 (85%) Caitlin Thwaites  10/14 (71%) Stephanie Wood  15/19 (79%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  46/51 (90%) Gretel Tippett  8/12 (67%)	Attendance: 13,314[33]

Sources:^[34][35]

Round 10

Sat 4 June	Queensland Firebirds	56 - 44	Melbourne Vixens	Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
5:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  39/43 (91%) Gretel Tippett  17/23 (74%)	Report	Alice Teague-Neeld  11/17 (65%) Karyn Bailey  19/25 (76%) Kimberly Commane  14/19 (74%)

Source:^[36]

Round 11

Sat 11 June	Southern Steel	66 - 51	Queensland Firebirds	Edgar Centre
4:10 PM (NZST)	Jhaniele Fowler-Reid  51/57 (89%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  15/17 (88%) Brooke Leaver  0/1 (0%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  27/32 (84%) Gretel Tippett  16/19 (84%) Beryl Friday  8/9 (89%)

Source:^[37]

Round 12

Queensland Firebirds received a bye.

Round 13

Mon 27 June	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	47 - 71	Queensland Firebirds	Claudelands Arena
7:40 PM (NZST)	Joanne Harten  32/38 (84%) Paula Griffin  15/21 (71%)	Report	Romelda Aiken  50/59 (85%) Gretel Tippett  21/27 (78%)

Sources:^[38][39]

Round 14

Sun 3 July	Queensland Firebirds	63 - 52	West Coast Fever	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
12:18 PM (AEST)	Romelda Aiken  49/54 (91%) Gretel Tippett  14/18 (78%)	Report	Caitlin Bassett  39/41 (95%) Natalie Medhurst  8/10 (80%) Kate Beveridge  5/7 (71%)

Source:^[40]

Final standings

2016 Australian Conference v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	G%	Pts
1	Queensland Firebirds	13	11	2	0	796	656	140	121.3%	22
2	New South Wales Swifts	13	10	2	1	828	670	158	123.6%	21
3	Melbourne Vixens	13	8	5	0	731	679	52	107.7%	16
4	West Coast Fever	13	7	6	0	756	707	49	106.9%	14
5	Adelaide Thunderbirds	13	2	11	0	660	775	-115	85.2%	4
2016 New Zealand Conference v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	G%	Pts
1	Southern Steel	13	11	0	2	852	732	120	116.4%	24
2	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	13	6	7	0	665	755	-90	88.1%	12
3	Northern Mystics	13	3	9	1	674	743	-69	90.7%	7
5	Mainland Tactix	13	2	10	1	708	825	-117	85.8%	5
4	Central Pulse	13	2	10	1	676	804	-128	84.1%	5

  Qualified for Conference finals
  Qualified for Elimination finals

• Pld = Games played
• W = Win (2 points)
• D = Draw (1 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:^[41]

Challenge Trophy

Queensland Firebirds began their defence of the Challenge Trophy in Round 1 against Mainland Tactix.^[25][42] Firebirds were unbeaten at home throughout the season and, as a result, retained the Challenge Trophy.

Round	Holders	Score	Challengers
Round 1[25][42]	Queensland Firebirds	70–55	Mainland Tactix
Round 2	Queensland Firebirds	61–45	Central Pulse
Round 5	Queensland Firebirds	61–51	New South Wales Swifts
Round 6	Queensland Firebirds	70–42	Northern Mystics
Round 8	Queensland Firebirds	62–51	Adelaide Thunderbirds
Round 10	Queensland Firebirds	56–44	Melbourne Vixens
Round 14	Queensland Firebirds	63–52	West Coast Fever

Finals

Conference Final

18 July 2016 7.18 (AEST)	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	63–52	New South Wales Swifts		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
		Scoring by quarter: 16-12, 16-15, 15-10, 16-15
		Romelda Aiken  49/55 (89%) Gretel Tippett  14		Caitlin Thwaites  17 Susan Pettitt  30 Stephanie Wood  5

Sources:^{[2][43][44][45]}

Semi-finals

24 July 2016 12.18 pm (AEST)	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	67–64	Southern Steel		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
		Scoring by quarter: 19 - 16, 13 - 19, 15 - 14, 20 -15
		Romelda Aiken  57/68 (84%) Gretel Tippett  10/13 (77%)		Jhaniele Fowler-Reid  51/52 (98%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit  13/20 (65%)

Sources:^[46][47][48]

Grand Final

31 July 2016 12.10 pm (AEST)	Stats	Queensland Firebirds	69–67	New South Wales Swifts	ET	Brisbane Entertainment Centre Attendance: 10,312	Fox Sports Sky Sport
		Scoring by quarter: 12-15, 17-12, 12-15, 13-12, ET: 15-13
		Scoring by half: 29-27, 25-27 ET: 15-13
		Romelda Aiken  63/89 (71%) Gretel Tippett  6/11 (55%)		Susan Pettitt  30/39 (77%) Caitlin Thwaites  34/41 (83%) Stephanie Wood  3/4 (75%)

Source:^[3][4][5][6]

Award winners

Queensland Firebirds Awards

Award	Winner
Player of the Year	Romelda Aiken
Firebirds Players' Player	Clare McMeniman
Firebirds Spirit Award	Caitlyn Nevins
Firebirds Members Award	Gabi Simpson

Sources:^[16]

ANZ Championship awards

Award	Winner
ANZ Championship Finals Series MVP	Kim Ravaillion[1]

All Star Team

Position	Player
GS	Romelda Aiken
C	Kim Ravaillion
GD	Clare McMeniman

Sources:^[49][50][51]

Australian Netball Awards

Award	Winner
Australian ANZ Championship Coach of the Year	Roselee Jencke[1][52]

Gallery

• 
  6 August 2016; Romelda Aiken, 2016 ANZ Championship All Star and Firebirds Player of the Year.
• 
  6 August 2016; Laura Geitz captained Queensland Firebirds to the 2016 ANZ Championship
• 
  6 August 2016; Roselee Jencke, the 2016 Australian ANZ Championship Coach of the Year guided Queensland Firebirds to the 2016 ANZ Championship
• 
  6 August 2016; Clare McMeniman, 2016 ANZ Championship All Star and Firebirds Players' Player
• 
  6 August 2016; Kim Ravaillion, 2016 ANZ Championship All Star and ANZ Championship Finals Series MVP.

References

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