Super Netball 2026: West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan reveals what they’ve learnt from grand final defeat

West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan says they’ve spent the off-season learning from “the downside of dominance” as they prepare to bounce back from a heartbreaking grand final defeat. Fever will start their season against Sunshine Coast Lighting at RAC Arena on Sunday without half of the team that lost last year’s decider by a goal to arch-rivals the Melbourne Vixens. The perennial finalists will be without six-time league player of the year Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard who is pregnant, while Olivia Wilkinson (ankle), Zoe Cransberg (foot), Ruth Aryang (Achilles) and Sunday Aryang (knee) are all on the sidelines. Jamaican Shanice Beckford was not offered a new contract, with Fever grand final MVP Sasha Glasgow returning after two seasons at the Melbourne Mavericks. Fever have named five players who turned out in the devastating grand final defeat on the back of a league-record 13-game winning streak. Ryan said they had focused on how to be more composed in tight games to ensure they were prepared for all situations. “We probably experienced the downside of dominance through the home-and-away season. We reflect on how our season played out and when we went on that 13-game winning streak only one of those games was essentially a close game that was decided in the last couple of minutes of the match. Every other game we were up and in control and played the game on our own terms,” he told The West Australian. “When we got to the grand final, we were up against an opposition who was so hardened in going goal-for-goal in tight contests for the majority of the season and that’s certainly where they had the edge on us. “Our pre-season has been shaping us to be far more comfortable in those tough situations in games when it’s goal-for-goal and you can’t find the edge, and you just have to stay in there and stay composed.” The Lightning will head west without goaler Gabby Sinclair because of a minor calf issue but will unveil former Fever training partner Donnell Wallam as their new shooter. Ryan coached Wallam at the Leeds Rhinos so knows how destructive the one-time Diamonds could be. “We need to treat Donnell like any other post-up shooter and do the work out the front and do the work inside the circle as well,” he said. “We know her game well, we know where her strengths are and how dangerous she can be. “We know the gameplan that we need to put in place to ensure we nullify some of her potency.”