It came down to the final second, but West Coast Fever have stolen third spot and the right to host the minor semifinal courtesy of a nine-goal win against arch-rivals Melbourne Vixens on Saturday.

Fever went into the game needing about an eight-goal win at John Cain Arena on Sunday to leap the Melbourne Mavericks who started the day a win and 0.61 per cent ahead of last year’s grand finalists.

And while their form had not been great leading into the contest, Fever produced their finest performance of 2026 to beat the reigning premiers 64-55 to show their premiership mettle.

Fever looked comfortably on their way to earning a home final when they led by 16 goals in the final term, before a series of super shots from Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin threatened to ruin their weekend.

Young midcourter Zoe Cransberg came up with a clutch intercept in the final minute before Romelda Aiken-George (45 goals from 53 attempts) scored the final two goals to give them the percentage they needed.

It means Fever will now host the Mavericks in the cut-throat minor semifinal at RAC Arena on Sunday from 2pm.

“I am really proud of the entire group, not only for the game, but the week leading into it, and the commitment we made to just go for it today, and be really confident in what we’re good at,” coach Dan Ryan said.

“Irrespective of the end outcome, our performance today was much more like what we hold ourselves to standard of, and to put ourselves in a brilliant position, and to be going right down to the wire with the margins that we needed, and to keep level headed, and execute and a big moment there from Zoe to save the game for us, like just the stuff that you gravitate towards, it’s so critical. Just pumped for the team, it was a huge win.”

Goal attack Sasha Glasgow rediscovered her best under the post scoring 19 goals including a crucial five super goals as well as 15 goal assists and 29 feeds.

But Fever had contributors across the court. In defence Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Fran Williams were impenetrable, combining for seven gains and six deflections, but most crucially they cut of the supply to Vixen star duo Garbin and Austin for most of the game.

The visitors’ pressure across the court was also immense, forcing the Vixens in a whopping 22 general play turnovers as they coughed up the ball at crucial points across the court.

It was a tight first quarter, with Fever leading by a solitary goal at the first break before they exploded in an incredible second term to lead by nine goals at half-time.

Fever barely missed in the attacking end, with a pair of Glagow super goals on the verge of the main break seemingly crushing the spirit of Melbourne.

After not starting in the past three games on the bench, captain Jess Anstiss was injected into wing attack from the first pass and controlled the back half of the court.

The question in the second half was could Fever maintain enough of a lead to ensure they had the percentage to overtake the Mavericks.

Fever’s maturity shone through as they held their composure whenever the Vixens looked to challenge them, deciding to focus on the one-goal game in the final term rather than risk it from long-range to try to keep the lengthy lead.