Super Netball 2025: West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan are cautious of Adelaide despite Shamera Sterling-Humphrey

West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan is not falling into a false sense of security despite the Adelaide Thunderbirds missing superstar defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey for their clash at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday night. Sterling-Humphrey has been ruled out of the rest of the season because of pregnancy, denting the Thunderbirds’ ambitions of a historic three-peat. The Jamaican goalkeeper has a strong history of challenging countrywoman and Fever goalshooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard over the years in one of the most-watched match-ups Sterling-Humphrey dominated their most recent contest, restricting Fowler-Nembhard to only 43 goals while registering seven gains and six deflections to lead Adelaide to an 18-goal victory in round nine last year. Fowler-Nembhard is on the verge of history heading into the round six clash, with the five-time Super Netball player of the year only 65 goals away from becoming the first to reach the 9000 mark, with Thunderbirds star Romelda Aiken-George (8892 goals) hot on her tail. Ryan said the Thunderbirds had plenty of weapons across the court that threatened to end Fever’s win streak at three in. “Irrespective of who’s in their line-up, we want to make sure that we’re backing ourselves to do a really good job against them. They’re the two-time reigning premiers, they’re on their home court, so we’re looking at it as an opportunity to get an assessment of where we are early in the season,” he said. “Whilst they don’t have Shamera, they’ve got Latanya Wilson, Matilda Garrett and Hannah Petty in that backline that are capable of winning ball, and Latty is the No.1 defender in the league at the moment with gains and intercepts, so we need to be mindful of her. “If you put too much attention on one player, someone else will hurt you so we really respect the Thunderbirds, they’ve been the benchmark team of the last couple of years and we want to flex our muscles against them and see how we go.” Meanwhile, Fever have brought up training partner and former Diamond Kelsey Browne to be the permanent replacement player for injured defender Ruth Aryang, who was ruled out for the season after she ruptured her Achilles. Browne does not quality to be able to be the 11th player under Super Netball rules because of age and games played so midcourter Zoe Cransberg will remain in that role. Fever have taken Cransberg as part of their game day 10 to battle the Thunderbirds, and she is likely to continue to be part of the squad in the coming weeks, with Browne’s addition to give West Coast depth throughout the season.