But instead of feeling vindicated, Fever fans left the arena frustrated and with many questions for the club. What happened to the grand finalists of 2019? Where was the crushing pressure, the athleticism, the pinpoint accuracy they had come to expect throughout last year’s campaign? But another question some Fever faithful should have been asking was who hadn't seen this coming? It was strange going into round two and watching those in the know tip the Fever to come out on top of the Lightning – because if you were in the Fever faithful, what happened next was almost by the book. Fans were loyal when the club spent decades at the bottom of the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Championship, and Suncorp Super Netball ladder.

Loading They were given a glimmer of hope when the club reached finals in 2015, which was quickly snuffed out with a mass exodus of players a year later. They still turned out to games in 2017 when the club finished with only two wins on the board. When the Fever swung the results in their favour and made it all the way to the grand final, fans stuck by them when they fell down at the last hurdle. Even when club stalwart and cult figure Nat Medhurst was unceremoniously axed a day after the club’s best and fairest, fans still picked up their scarves and shirts and signed on for 2019.

So unsurprisingly, this weekend was an unfortunate expected downturn on the rollercoaster of being a Fever fan. When the scoreline started to lean the way of the Lightning the comments came think and fast: if Courtney Bruce wasn’t injured they’d be able to pull this back. Jhaniele Fowler had a niggle to her ankle and couldn’t be at her best. If they could just match the pace of Laura Langman, they’d be fine. But as Stacey Marinkovich herself says, one player doesn’t make a team. It’s hard to argue Bruce or a fully-fit Fowler would have made a 25-goal difference. It was former Fever captain and commentator Catherine Cox who summed up why she believed was the cause for the drubbing.

“[Fowler] was under all sorts of pressure to perform ... basically without a goal attack for the majority of that game,” she said. It was scathing, but not inaccurate. For too long Alice Teague-Neeld was the scapegoat of the Collingwood Magpies outfit and when she moved to Fever, it was likely with the hope of shaking the label. Alice Teague-Neeld has previously signed with the Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies. She will be moving to Perth with her partner. Credit:Penny Stephens Unfortunately for her, the shoes she had to fill were Nat Medhurst’s.

Teague-Neeld looked lost at times, and the Lightning made her pay for a few wayward passes. Likewise, Kaylia Stanton also struggled. The pair both had brilliant moments, but held a similar sort of nervousness that prevented them from shooting when needed. Naturally anyone would struggle against South African defender Karla Pretorius, but the result was four goals between both goal attacks, and 24 assists. Suffice to say Nat Medhurst would never. Some may argue she had a similar output when she was working with Fowler in the circle, but to say this is to ignore the massive amount of work she did picking up for a sometimes inelegant midcourt.

Medhurst calmed a frenetic frontline with pinpoint decision-making, clever drives and the confidence to put up shots when needed. When she was in the circle, it was too dangerous to double-team Fowler – you left Medhurst hunting at your own peril. What was the Collingwood Magpies' 2017 and 2018 problem has now become Fever’s 2019 problem. Nat Medhurst, now of the Magpies. Credit:AAP This being said, it is only round two of the season and eventual premiers Lightning started last season in much the same way.