Firebirds' big netball win over Swifts

The Queensland Firebirds have softened the disappointment of missing the Super Netball finals with a convincing 67-48 win over the NSW Swifts in Sydney.

The Firebirds beat the Swifts in the last trans-Tasman competition last year and had featured in finals series each year since 2012.

Despite being one place outside the top four for the final round of the new competition's inaugural season, the Firebirds continued their fine late-season form on Saturday night to secure a comfortable victory at Qudos Bank Arena.

Queensland lost the first quarter by five goals but hit back hard with a convincing 20-9 second stanza, opening up a 33-27 halftime lead. They stretched the gap by a further five goals in the third term, before closing out the game with a 19-11 final effort.

Formidable attacking duo Gretel Tippett and Romelda Aiken were key to the Firebirds' dominance, while captain Gabi Simpson was named most valuable player.

The Swifts' 18-13 first-quarter lead was their highest opening term total all season. Yet, it took just five minutes of the second quarter for the Firebirds to wipe the deficit.

The visitors powered ahead in the second with an unanswered seven-goal run midway through the term. The Swifts scored four of the last five goals of the half to leave the gap at six goals.

Queensland's line-up was unchanged after the main break, but Swifts coach Rob Wright offered youngsters Mikaela Vaughan and Emma Tickner debut appearances, as the Firebirds extended their advantage by five goals.

Wright said the Firebirds had given his team a lesson.

"They played really well. It's good because it just means that we can go away and keep learning. That's all we've done all year. If we continue doing that, it's going to be exciting for the future.

"Certainly in attack, in terms of letting the ball go and just being confident, (the first quarter) was the best all year.

"And, we did a really good job defensively of putting some pressure on and coming up with enough ball. It just showed, at our very best, how good we can be. The next step is to get that consistently," Wright said.