2011 Queensland Firebirds season

Queensland Firebirds
2011 ANZ Championship season
Head coach	Roselee Jencke
Captain	Lauren Nourse
Vice-captain	Laura Geitz
Main venue	Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Season results
Wins–losses	15–0
Regular season	Minor premiers
Finals placing	Champions
Team colours

The 2011 Queensland Firebirds season was the fourth year that the Queensland Firebirds contested the ANZ Championship, and the fifteenth year of their competitive history. The Firebirds were coached by Roselee Jencke in her second year in the position, while veteran midcourter Lauren Nourse resumed her role as Queensland captain. Most home games were played at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

During the round-robin matches, captain Lauren Nourse suffered a season-ending injury. Nevertheless, the Firebirds finished the round-robin stage undefeated to emerge as minor premiers. Playing in their first ANZ Championship finals series, the Firebirds defeated the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in the major semi-final on the Gold Coast. They progressed directly to the Grand Final, which was played in Brisbane against fellow finals debutants the Northern Mystics. In front of a capacity home crowd, the Firebirds defeated the Mystics by 57–44 to win their first ANZ Championship title.

Players

2011 team

2011 Queensland Firebirds roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Candice Adams GA, GS, WA 23-11-1988 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Romelda Aiken GS, GA 19-11-1988 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Laura Geitz (vc) GK, GD 04-11-1987 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Elissa Macleod C, WD, WA 19-03-1984 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Clare McMeniman GD, WD 11-07-1985 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Natalie Medhurst GA, GS 20-01-1984 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Lauren Nourse (c)  WA, C 10-08-1982 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Chelsea Pitman GA, WA 08-06-1988 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Jacqui Russell C, WA 01-06-1988 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Amy Steel GD, GK 07-04-1989 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Keirra Trompf WD 16-09-1985 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Ameliaranne Wells GS, GA 11-01-1991 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Head coach Roselee Jencke Assistant coach Tracey Robinson Manager: Nannette Rigoni Physiotherapist: Mark Stokes Strength and conditioning: Dirk Spits Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Transfers

2011 Firebirds player movements
Gains	Positions	Former team
Candice Adams	GA, GS, WA	New signing
Elissa MacLeod	C, WD, WA	New signing
Chelsea Pitman	GA, WA	Canterbury Tactix
Ameliaranne Wells	GS, GA	New signing
Losses	Positions	New team
Alissa Castrisos	GA, GS	Not signed
Sophie Croft	GS, GA	Not signed
Laura Scherian	WA, C	Not signed
Sarah Wall	WA, C	Melbourne Vixens

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Notes

• Colours:  Firebirds win   Firebirds loss   Not played/scheduled 
• Home teams are listed left, away teams right. Times listed are local.

---

Round 1	NO MATCH

---

21 February	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	51 – 48	New South Wales Swifts		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  28/37 (76%) Medhurst  23/26 (88%)		Cox  27/34 (79%) Pratley  21/25 (84%)

---

26 February	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	64 – 41	Adelaide Thunderbirds		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  50/54 (93%) Medhurst  13/18 (72%) Pitman  1/3 (33%)		Bell  6/10 (60%) Borrego  30/34 (88%) Giteau  5/6 (83%)

---

28 February	Report Stats	West Coast Fever	38 – 62	Queensland Firebirds		Challenge Stadium, Perth
		Bassett  30/35 (86%) Howard  3/3 (100%) Shoard  5/11 (45%)		Aiken  20/25 (80%) Medhurst  39/45 (87%) Wells  3/4 (75%)

---

6 March	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	51 – 36	Southern Steel		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  30/36 (83%) Medhurst  21/24 (88%)		Griffin  15/22 (68%) Wipiiti  21/26 (81%)

---

13 March	Report Stats	Adelaide Thunderbirds	42 – 64	Queensland Firebirds		ETSA Park, Adelaide
		Bell  31/34 (91%) Borrego  2/2 (100%) Giteau  6/11 (55%) Lange  3/5 (60%)		Aiken  39/47 (83%) Medhurst  25/27 (93%)

---

20 March	Report Stats	New South Wales Swifts	53 – 57	Queensland Firebirds		State Sports Centre, Sydney
		Cox  31/36 (86%) Pratley  22/25 (88%)		Aiken  37/43 (86%) Medhurst  20/25 (80%)

---

26 March	Report Stats	Northern Mystics	52 – 61	Queensland Firebirds		Trusts Stadium, Auckland
		Latu  19/19 (100%) Tutaia  33/38 (87%)		Aiken  38/43 (88%) Medhurst  23/26 (88%)

---

31 March	Report Stats	Melbourne Vixens	42 – 52	Queensland Firebirds		State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne
		Beveridge  15/26 (58%) Knott  16/19 (84%) McMahon  11/14 (79%)		Aiken  31/38 (82%) Medhurst  21/27 (78%)

---

4 April	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	53 – 49	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  36/39 (92%) Medhurst  17/21 (81%)		Naoupu  24/29 (83%) van Dyk  25/26 (96%)

---

10 April	Report Stats	Central Pulse	44 – 61	Queensland Firebirds		Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua
		Thwaites  35/44 (80%) Cassidy  3/6 (50%) Bellringer  6/11 (55%)		Aiken  37/44 (84%) Medhurst  24/29 (83%)

---

14 April	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	57 – 36	Melbourne Vixens		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  35/42 (83%) Medhurst  22/30 (73%) Wells  0/2 (0%)		Beveridge  24/32 (75%) Caldwell  11/17 (65%) Tregear  1/2 (50%)

---

25 April	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	56 – 54	West Coast Fever		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  26/31 (84%) Medhurst  30/36 (83%)		Bassett  37/39 (95%) Howard  4/4 (100%) Shoard  13/17 (76%)

---

30 April	Report Stats	Canterbury Tactix	52 – 69	Queensland Firebirds		CBS Canterbury Arena, Christchurch
		Halpenny  26/35 (74%) Wilkins  26/35 (74%)		Aiken  50/55 (91%) Medhurst  19/21 (90%)

---

Standings

2011 ANZ Championship ladder
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	Diff	G%	Pts
1	Queensland Firebirds	13	13	0	758	587	+171	129.13	26
2	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	13	10	3	647	578	+69	111.94	20
3	New South Wales Swifts	13	9	4	677	606	+71	111.72	18
4	Northern Mystics	13	9	4	684	619	+65	110.50	18
5	Melbourne Vixens	13	8	5	664	610	+54	108.85	16
6	Adelaide Thunderbirds	13	5	8	662	737	-75	89.82	10
7	Southern Steel	13	4	9	533	594	-61	89.73	8
8	Central Pulse	13	3	10	599	683	-84	87.70	6
9	West Coast Fever	13	3	10	646	754	-108	85.68	6
10	Canterbury Tactix	13	1	12	621	723	-102	85.89	2
Updated on 2 May 2011 (Round 12, Game 5)

Table legend
Pos = Position Pld = Games played W = Wins (2 points) L = Losses (0 points) GF = Goals For (total goals scored) GA = Goals Against (total goals conceded) Diff = Goal Difference (= GF−GA) G% = Goal Percentage (= 100 × GF/GA) Pts = Points (progressive tally)        Team position

Finals

Semi-finals					Preliminary final					Grand final
9 May – Gold Coast
1.	Queensland Firebirds	50
2.	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	39
					15 May – Hamilton					22 May – Brisbane
					Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		42			Queensland Firebirds	57
					Northern Mystics		43			Northern Mystics	44
8 May – Sydney
3.	New South Wales Swifts	44
4.	Northern Mystics	49		Key:		Winning team advances			Losing team advances

Fixtures and results

Notes

• Colours:  Firebirds win   Firebirds loss 
• Home teams are listed left, away teams right. Times listed are local.

---

Monday 9 May 19:40 (UTC+10)	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	50 – 39	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
		Aiken  29/33 (88%) Medhurst  21/27 (78%)		Gupwell  16/18 (89%) Naoupu  6/8 (75%) van Dyk  17/19 (89%)

---

Sunday 22 May 14:30 (UTC+10)	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	57 – 44	Northern Mystics		Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Umpires: Sharon Kelly (AUS), Mandy Nottingham (NZL) Reserve umpire: Rachael Ayre (AUS)
		Aiken  35/40 (88%) Medhurst  22/24 (92%)		Latu  21/21 (100%) Tutaia  23/31 (74%)

---

Final placing

• Champions (15 wins, 0 losses)

Statistics

• As of Sunday 22 May.^[1]

Player	GS	GA	G%	A	R	CPR	I	D	P	T
Candice Adams	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	1	0
Romelda Aiken	523	607	86.2	24	65	0	1	16	46	59
Laura Geitz	0	0	0	0	41	0	57	92	264	22
April Letton	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0
Elissa MacLeod	0	0	0	80	0	2	7	7	104	24
Clare McMeniman	0	0	0	0	2	32	4	24	86	7
Natalie Medhurst	338	404	83.7	141	8	256	8	23	39	41
Lauren Nourse	0	0	0	121	0	47	1	2	60	25
Chelsea Pitman	1	3	33.3	101	1	250	5	9	61	25
Jacqui Russell	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	7	2
Amy Steel	0	0	0	0	11	55	23	35	149	13
Keirra Trompf	0	0	0	0	1	69	10	31	128	9
Ameliaranne Wells	3	6	50.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Statistics key
GS	Goals scored	A	Assists	I	Intercepts
GA	Goal attempts	R	Rebounds	D	Deflections
G%	Goal percentage	CPR	Centre pass receives	P	Penalties
= Competition leader				T	Turnovers conceded

Team awards

Queensland Firebirds player awards were presented on 26 May at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.^[2]

• Player of the Year: Romelda Aiken
• Players' Player: Laura Geitz
• Members' Player of the Year: Natalie Medhurst
• Spirit Award: Lauren Nourse

See also

• 2011 ANZ Championship season

References

• ANZ Championship team page: Queensland Firebirds

1. "Queensland Firebirds - 2011 season statistics". Retrieved 30 May 2011.
2. "Aiken tops Firebirds awards". The Courier-Mail. 27 May 2011. p. 102.