Vixens take on Mavs in final tune-up before round one

AS MELBOURNE Vixens look to put the final touches on their preparation for their SSN championship defence, netball legend Sharelle McMahon can see the team embracing dual roles as the hunted and hunter.

The Vixens will have their final tune-up ahead of a round one encounter against Queensland Firebirds on March 15, when they clash with crosstown rival Melbourne Mavericks at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo tonight at 7pm.

It marks the first time a Vixens versus Mavericks pre-season clash will be staged as a standalone Derby.

An intra-club match involving Bendigo’s Victorian Netball League club the Strikers will serve as the curtain raiser at 5.45pm.

The Vixens will be aiming to go back-to-back in 2026 after capping a fairytale championship win last August with a gripping one-goal win over the heavily favoured West Coast Fever.

As astonishing as that win was, the Vixens clinched the title on the back of three straight finals wins, after finishing the regular season in fourth.

They will enter the 2026 season from a privileged position, having retained their full complement of championship players, boosted by the return of star defender Emily Mannix from maternity leave following the birth of daughter Mabel.

Maggie Caris, who stepped into the squad last season as a replacement player for Mannix, reverts to being a training partner, but remains an important cog in the squad.

McMahon – Netball Victoria’s high performance and pathways general manager – is confident that stability would be the key to the Vixens’ success this season.

“It’s been a great off-season and obviously last year was unbelievable for everybody to be a part of,” she said.

“But your mind does very quickly turn to the following season and we have some pretty lofty goals in what we want to achieve this season.

“We do have a very stable group and it is great to have Emily Mannix back in the fold from parental leave.

“We’re very lucky to have that stability and it includes some very talented players across every position.”

Despite that consistency and solidity, it’s been a challenging pre-season on some levels for the Vixens, who will have a different voice calling the shots this season, with Di Honey taking over the coaching reins from Simone McKinnis following 13 seasons at the helm.

Six players featured in the Australian Diamonds’ squads for series against South Africa last October and Jamaica during February, with Kate Moloney, Kieran Austin, Sophie Garbin and Jo Weston all playing against the Sunshine Girls.

McMahon said it was great getting their Diamonds cohort back into the playing group.

“We’ve had some practice matches and hit outs, but this one in Bendigo is a really important one,” she said.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever played the Mavs in a standalone pre-season derby like this.

“I think it’s a really exciting thing for Victorian netball fans to see that happen before the season proper.”

While going into a season as defending champions inevitably comes with the added pressure of a target on the back, McMahon insisted the Vixens would instead focus on their own aspirations and development.

Crucially, they will be taking nothing for granted in a league only getting tighter by the year.

“Last year we went into the final round, round 14, with no guarantees that we would even make the final four at all. We had to have results go our way for that to happen,” McMahon said.

“It was a wild ride from that moment and at every step it was tight and pressured.

“When you win a championship, people look at you and they want to get after you, and I definitely think that would be true, that teams are looking at us in that way.

“But it is such a tight, close competition, that there is no way any team would be set on where they think they will finish within the SSN ladder.

“Every team would be thinking we have a great opportunity, but it is tough to get through and win.

“For us, we don’t sit back and do anything but hunt the other teams, as that is what we need to do if we want to go ahead and win the premiership again.”

Ahead of the Vixens-Mavs clash, Bendigo Strikers will take centre stage in front of their home crowd, using the occasion as a crucial lead-in to their VNL campaign.

Newly appointed Strikers captain Elle McDonald said the opportunity to play an intra-club game at home in front of a strong, local crowd was invaluable.

“Playing at home is always special. To do it in front of our local supporters gives the group a real lift and helps us build momentum heading into the season,” she said.

“It’s really important for us to have this hit-out in Bendigo before round one.

“Pre-season training is one thing, but match intensity is completely different.

“This gives us a chance to put our combinations under pressure and fine-tune those connections across the court.”

The Strikers will launch their 2026 season, the club’s third in the state’s premier netball competition, on another huge stage.

Their March 14 clash against Boroondara Express will be the curtain raiser to the Mavs’ SSN season opener against Giants at Red Energy Arena.

Both the Vixens-Mavs and Striker intra-club games will be live streamed via the Vixens’ YouTube channel.