From June 10-15, the Pacific Netball Series will be held for the fourth time. The series is run by PacificAus Sports, hosted by Netball Australia, and funded by the Australian Government. The Government has just announced an extension of its partnership with Netball Australia to support netball pathways in the Pacific.
This year, the Pacific Netball Series is being held at Nissan Arena in Brisbane and entry is free for those who want to watch the action live. Tonga will be looking for a fourth straight win in the series, but last year, they were pushed all the way, first by Samoa in the semi-finals, then by Fiji in the final.
For the first time, an Australian First Nations team called the Black Swans is competing alongside five national teams from Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Matches will be shown on several TV networks in the Oceania region and also streamed for free in Australia and internationally through Netball Pass.
Photos by Danny Dalton / Tah Dah Sports
TEAMS
TONGA (Ranking: 8)
FIJI (Ranking: 15)
SAMOA (Ranking: 17)
NAMIBIA (Ranking: 20)
SINGAPORE (Ranking: 24)
FIRST NATIONS AUS
SCHEDULE
(Times – AEST)
SAMOA & TONGA: Add 3 hours
FIJI: Add 2 hours
SINGAPORE: Subtract 2 hours
NAMIBIA: Subtract 8 hours
ROUND 1
FIJI 67 def SINGAPORE 52
(17-12, 36-27, 56-37, 67-52)
SAMOA 55 def NAMIBIA 47
(17-11, 28-23, 44-36, 55-47)
TONGA 62 def FIRST NATIONS AUS 50
(18-11, 31-26, 45-38, 62-50)
ROUND 2
FIJI 64 def SAMOA 55
(16-12, 33-24, 48-40, 64-55)
FIRST NATIONS AUS 62 def SINGAPORE 50
(17-11, 31-27, 48-41, 62-50)
NAMIBIA 54 def TONGA 51
(13-13, 25-24, 40-37, 54-51)
ROUND 3
FIRST NATIONS AUS 61 def FIJI 48
(16-9, 30-26, 46-34, 61-48)
NAMIBIA 58 def SINGAPORE 45
(15-11, 30-23, 47-33, 58-45)
TONGA 70 def SAMOA 55
(16-15, 34-26, 51-44, 70-55)
ROUND 4
FIRST NATIONS AUS 45 def NAMIBIA 41
(10-14, 23-23, 31-33, 45-41)
SAMOA 65 def SINGAPORE 46
(13-14, 30-27, 48-37, 65-46)
TONGA 64 def FIJI 63
(13-17, 31-34, 45-47, 64-63)
ROUND 5
FIRST NATIONS AUS 59 def SAMOA 32
(10-10, 23-21, 42-28, 59-32)
TONGA 63 def SINGAPORE 57
(17-13, 31-29, 47-45, 63-57)
FIJI 66 def NAMIBIA 57
(18-13, 27-35, 48-46, 66-57)
FINALS
SINGAPORE 52 def FIRST NATIONS AUS 50
(12-14, 26-24, 41-36, 52-50)
NAMIBIA 54 def SAMOA 36
(16-9, 28-18, 44-27, 54-36)
GRAND FINAL: TONGA 72 def FIJI 58
(14-16, 33-31, 53-45, 72-58)
(Uneeq Palavi 63/66)
Grand Final MVP — Valu Toutaiolepo (Tonga)
Player of the Series — Uneeq Palavi (Tonga)
