Super Netball 2026: West Coast Fever to give Alice Teague-Neeld until 11th hour to prove fitness

West Coast Fever will give star Alice Teague-Neeld until the 11th hour to prove her fitness as the wing attack continues to battle a back injury. Teague-Neeld has been named in the squad to take on Melbourne Mavericks at John Cain Arena on Sunday, but training partner Verity Simmons will also fly out on Saturday morning as cover. The Diamonds midcourter has been severely restricted with a back complaint in the past two matches, playing only nine minutes in the first term of Fever’s four-goal win against Queensland Firebirds at RAC Arena on Sunday. Fever coach Dan Ryan said Teague-Neeld was a “50-50” chance to take on the fourth-placed Mavericks, who claimed an upset win against Sunshine Coast Lightning last weekend. “We’ll give it a few more days and give it closer to game day before we make a final decision,” he told The West Australian. “She has tracked relatively well throughout the week but we’ll probably just take a bit more of a conservative approach with it. It’s still to be confirmed but we’ll give it a bit more time if we can. “It’s just managing a bit of back soreness and stiffness that she’s had on-off the past couple of years but has managed it really well. And she’s just had a bit of a flair up in the past couple of weeks. We’ve just got to do our best to look after her.” Fever have been forced to shuffle Jordan Cransberg to wing attack when Teague-Neeld has been sidelined, with her twin sister Zoe coming off the bench into centre. Zoe Cransberg had one of the best games of her career in the win against the Firebirds with a game-high 21 goal assists, giving Ryan confidence in the depth of his midcourt talent. “We have great confidence in the Cransbergs as a combination to get out there and do the job for us,” he said. “They’ve proven that in the past couple of weeks in some important fixtures for us. “Then also the added bonus of Jess (Anstiss) being able to move into centre as well. There is some flexibility to cover that if we need to and a great level of confidence in doing that.”