Similar to last week, I’ve only just got back from the US, and so I’ve had limited opportunities to check out all the matches. It was obviously disappointing to see the Vixens lose, but we’re not even half way through the season so there’s still time to get those all important points.

If you missed my round 6 predictions, here they are.

Wrap-up

Home	Away	Chance of home team winning	Home Score	Away Score	Winner
Sunshine Coast Lightning	Melbourne Vixens	38%	64	56	Sunshine Coast Lightning
West Coast Fever	GIANTS Netball	40%	63	61	West Coast Fever
NSW Swifts	Adelaide Thunderbirds	93%	51	49	NSW Swifts
Magpies Netball	Queensland Firebirds	15%	67	62	Magpies Netball

The model took a bit of a beating last round! The only prediction (if we’re basing our win cutoff at 50% or greater) that went close was the Swifts—and they were playing the bunnies of the comp, the Thunderbirds. However, the Thunderbirds performed really well in that game, going down by only two goals. Look at the change in the team abilities: the Swifts have lost ability, as they were highly fancied to win by a large margin.

You can see the clear improvement of the Thunderbirds in the team ability figure below: they’re progression over the last few weeks is encouraging, and we might start seeing some closer matches.

After getting some wins on the board, the Lightning have boosted their ability, still sticking well in positive territory.

Team Abilities

Check out the round 7 predictions here.