Round Four of Super Netball has drawn to a close as some teams start to cement themselves as the competition's benchmark.
Round four was inclusion round with each game focusing on a different initiative that was chosen by the home side. Teams wore pride bibs to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community as the competition looked to send the message that netball is for all.
The Melbourne Mavericks are on the winner's list for the first time in the club's history with a nail biting win against the Sunshine Coast Lightning, while the West Coast Fever and Melbourne Vixens are sitting nicely at the top of the ladder as they both remain undefeated.
ESPN takes a look at the four biggest talking points from round four.
Sinclair steps up in Mavericks first win
When you look at the Mavericks big game players many eyes will instantly go to Eleanor Cardwell, so when she went down with an ankle injury during the fourth quarter and was put on ice for the rest of the game, it was up to Gabby Sinclair and Shimona Jok to steer the Mavericks home.
There was a minute and a half on the clock and the Sunshine Coast Lightning were up by four, meaning the Mavericks would be forced into going for the Super Shots to win the game. Enter Sinclair, who was able to convert two Super Shots in a row to get the Mavericks to tie the game.
Comparing that performance to the opening game against the Vixens, the attack end was too reliant on Cardwell but to get the win without their star import on the court in the dying seconds would be a massive boost of confidence for the Mavericks.
Tracey Neville was overjoyed with Sinclair's performance post match.
"Gabby Sinclair, gee whiz," Neville said. "Bearing in mind that Gabby has had Covid all week as well, for her to come in and put in 15 minutes. That's what I wanted from her today and she did that so perfectly."
Lightning let another close one slip
It's become somewhat of the Lightning's kryptonite as of late as they fail to play through the full 60-minutes and it's struck yet again with the side unable to close out yet another tight finish. It was the execution in the dying moments of the game that cost the Lightning this week, after having had an eight-goal lead during the third quarter.
There was no Courtney Bruce for most of the final quarter, going down with a calf injury, which was a huge loss, however, Ervin was able to step up nicely for the Lightning having three deflections in the final quarter alone.
Tara Hinchliffe said that she was disappointed with the performance in the game's final minutes.
"I guess it was disappointing," Hinchliffe said.
"It felt like it just slipped out of our hands, I looked up at the clock with probably two minutes to go and we were up by four and I thought we were looking great.
"I think with that unlucky call against Harls [Mahalia Cassidy], I feel like we let the momentum slip a bit and as much as we all tried to come together and make sure that didn't happen, it did feel frantic.
"That's something in defence we need to look at owning our player and stepping up, not giving away some penalties and how we can make it very clear to the umpires that we're trying to do everything we can to stay in play and win some ball."
The loss has brought back an early season question, are the Sunshine Coast Lightning a team of champions or a champion team? As of right now, the jury is still out.
Future Diamonds shine bright
The future is bright for Australian Netball with two attacking young guns standing up for their respective sides.
Georgie Horjus set the Adelaide Entertainment centre alight on Saturday night playing across wing attack and goal attack. Her connection with Lucy Austin is special with the pair almost reading off each other instinctively in the goal circle, which has come from playing together throughout the pathway system.
Then in the midcourt, the combination of Tayla Williams and Horjus was incredible with the pair able to make the hard stuff look so easy. Horjus finished the match with 26 feeds, 12 goal assists, six goals and two Super Shots.
The combination of Horjus and Laura Scherian has been a huge positive for the Adelaide Thunderbirds as well. No matter which positions the pair are in they add an extra boost of speed into the Thunderbirds attack with Scherian loving every minute of playing alongside Horjus.
"She's [Horjus] definitely one of the smartest players I've ever played with and her creativity is just amazing," Scherian said post-match.
"So I'm still learning off her and that combination will keep growing."
For the Vixens Hannah Mundy slotted back into the side's starting seven. It was the first 60 minute performance for Mundy in 2024, with the 22-year-old missing the opening two rounds with a quad injury.
The combination between Mundy and Kate Moloney was strong. Mundy added a bit of flare while Moloney brought grit and toughness to the midcourt. Adding the Diamonds goalers in the circle, the attack line is looking like a recipe for success in 2024. Mundy finished the match with 34 feeds and 23 goal assists and was named player of the match.
McKinnis praised Mundy post-match.
"I thought she was brilliant," McKinnis said. "I thought there were such great drives, space awareness and just some great feeds. For her first full game it was great because she hasn't played a full game for quite some time.
"I'm pleased with her and I thought she was outstanding "
Fever stars in career-best form
The West Coast Fever are arguably the team to beat at this point in the season with another strong win on the road against the NSW Swifts. There have been two players for the Fever who are in career-best form in Kelsey Browne and Sunday Aryang.
To think that Browne was on the verge of not getting a Super Netball contract is crazy, she is flourishing in her new role at the Fever playing in centre as opposed to wing attack, where we've seen her for most of her time in the Super Netball. Browne finished the game with 22 goal assists, 30 feeds and three deflections in what was an almost clinical performance from the Fever attack.
One of the biggest question marks coming into 2024 was how the Fever would go without Courtney Bruce. While Bruce is still a big loss for the Fever, Sunday Aryang has stepped up immensely this season.
In Sunday night's game, her direct opponent for most of the match was Helen Housby who was limited to just three goals for the entire game. Aryang's ability to shut down her direct opponents has been a highlight of her game this season with Sunday night's performance no different. Aryang finished the game with six gains and 11 deflections and was named player of the match.
Speaking post-match, Fever coach Dan Ryan was full of praise for Aryang.
"I think she's had the freedom to really step up and be the leader of our defence," Ryan said.
"I think the way that the defensive team are playing together and being really open, vulnerable and collaborative about how they want to play defence is awesome. Sunday has proven to be a great ball winner for us today but so was Kadie Ann Dehaney, so was Fran and so was Jess.
"Their ability to just play team-orientated defence is awesome and Sunday has the absolute licence to grind when she needs to grind and hunt when she needs to hunt. She's playing really free netball and super confident in her ability and the way she's stepping up in her leadership capacity. New lease on life, new Sunday Aryang and really just now starting to tap into this amazing potential that she has.
"She was killer today, up against arguably the best goal attack in the world."