T&T standout netball goal attack, Samantha Wallace has sounded out a warning to her opponents in the 2020 Australian Suncorp Super Netball League which started the first week of August following the delay caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Wallace, 26, now in her fourth straight season with the club after two years competing in the England Vitality Netball League is off to a slow start scoring-wise by her lofty standards with 68 goals, inclusive of ten Super Shots (two goals)
However, while admitting she has not been at her best yet, the T&T international and reigning Suncorp Super Netball League finals’ “Most Valuable Player” awardee after leading her club past Sunshine Coast Lightning in last November’s final, said she plans on getting much better, sooner rather than later to help her team continue their perfect start to their title defence..
In the opening round of matches, Wallace converted 33 of 40 attempts, including six of 13 Super Shots as the Swifts edged Giants Netball 63-61.
This was followed by another nail-biting encounter, a 73-72 triumph over West Coast Fever with Wallace, formerly of the University of T&T (UTT) and England’s benecos Mavericks contributing 20 goals from 25 attempts, punctuated by two from five from Super Shot (two points) range.
And on Wednesday last, Wallace again had a valuable input as she led all scorers in the Swifts 66-51 blow-out of Adelaide Thunderbirds with 27 goals from 30 attempts, with two of from long range.
Up next is a blockbuster Grand Final rematch versus the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Queensland tomorrow which marks the first of three games in seven days for the Swifts which will battle Queensland Firebirds on Tuesday and the Collingwood Magpies on August 22.
Speaking ahead of a well-deserved off-day on Friday, Wallace said, “It’s was not my best game for the season, but we won to maintain our perfect start and that’s the most important thing for me.”
She added,” Un-characteristically I’ve had a slow start to the season, but while I am not pleased with my game as yet I did saw some improvements in my last two outings and the positive thing is I can only get better with more work in training, which I intend to do starting this weekend.
As a team, Wallace, a native of Toco added, “We are very delighted to be 3-0 along with the Melbourne Vixens at the top of the table, but we know we still haven’t played our best netball as yet, and we still have a lot of stuff to work on. The Lightning has always been tough opponents and I’m expecting nothing different from them this season as well. It’s going to be a close battle and will come down to the team that executes their game plan or makes the least errors on the day."