Melbourne Vixens coach Simone McKinnis is hoping her side's dominant performance over the West Coast Fever is a sign of greater things to come.
After some patchy form over the first six rounds, the Vixens returned from the bye weekend in fine style by producing their best four-quarter effort of the Super Netball season to defeat the Fever 74-60.
The mid-season break clearly worked wonders for the Vixens who looked more like the team that finished the last year's inaugural competition as minor premiers.
"We've had a really good two weeks in this bye," McKinnis said after the impressive 14-goal win at Hisense Arena.
"They've had three main days off but other than that, they've been working really hard to work towards the netball they know they are capable of producing and they saw the rewards of that tonight."
The Fever's high-powered attacking game cracked under the pressure of the Vixens' tight defence in the pivotal second quarter, won 26-13 by the home side.
McKinnis was pleased to see her team maintain their work rate across four quarters against the current league leaders.
"There is no easy answer or easy way of beating that sort of team," she said.
"It is just doing the hard work, the one-on-one (defence), the hands over (the ball) and you are doing it again and again until you start to create those fumbles or those balls that are lost."
The comeback of former Australian star Renae Ingles also took another step forward as her combination with defensive duo Emily Mannix and Jo Weston continues to grow.
"I think she's gone up another level today and the more that she's out there, the better she'll become," McKinnis said.
"These two weeks have been really good for her and it's not just the defensive side, her drive through the middle and in attack is great."