The 2012 Melbourne Vixens season saw

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

compete in the 2012 ANZ Championship. With a team captained by

Bianca Chatfield Bianca Chatfield (born 2 April 1982) is a former Australia netball international. Between 2001 and 2014 she made 59 senior appearances for Australia. Chatfield was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 2007 World Netb ...

and featuring

Madison Browne Madison “Madi” Browne (born 5 January 1988) is an Australian netball player who has been one of the most successful Australian Netball players to play in the British Netball Superleague for Leeds Rhinos Netball. Early life Madison Browne pl ...

Julie Corletto Julie Corletto ( née Prendergast; born 10 October 1986) is an Australian international netball player. She played for the Australian Diamonds and NSW Swifts but has now retired. She usually played in the positions of goal defence and wing defe ...

and

Geva Mentor Geva Kate Mentor CBE (born 17 September 1984) is an England netball international. She has competed in 6 Commonwealth Games: and in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games she was honoured to read, during the Opening Ceremony, The Athletes Oath ...

, Vixens finished the season as minor premiers. In the major semi-final they defeated

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

56–50. This was the first ever netball match held at

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing the ...

. However they lost the grand final 41–38 to

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

and finished the season as runners-up. After five years as head coach of Vixens, Julie Hoornweg announced her retirement at the end of the 2012 season.

Players

Player movements

Squad

;Notes *

Kelsey Browne Kelsey Browne (born 17 January 1992) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Collingwood Magpies Netball, Collingwood Magpies. Career Browne began her professional netball career as a replacement play ...

was called up as a temporary replacement player for Round 1 and Round 2. *

Ashlee Howard Ashlee Howard (born 2 March 1988) is an Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Melbourne Vixens. Howard came to prominence on the national netball scene in 2007 playing for the Melbourne Kestrels in the Commonwealth ...

Kara Richards Kara Richards (born 25 January 1988) is an Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Melbourne Vixens. After failing to make the Adelaide Thunderbirds 2012 list she is currently working as a Netball Coach alongside We ...

and

Micaela Wilson Micaela Wilson (born 3 November 1992 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian netball player. In her career, Wilson has played for the New South Wales Swifts and Melbourne Vixens. Most recently she played for the Collingwood Magpies in 2017 ...

were also members of the 2012

Victorian Fury Victorian Fury are an netball in Australia, Australian netball team that represents Netball Victoria in the Australian Netball League. In 2008 they were both founder members and the inaugural champions of the league. They retained the title in 20 ...

squad.

Milestones

* Karyn Howarth made her

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

debut in Round 1 against

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the C ...

. *

and

both made their 50th ANZ Championship appearances in Round 5 against Queensland Firebirds. *

Chelsey Tregear Chelsey Tregear (also known as Chelsey Nash) is a former Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, formerly playing for the Melbourne Vixens. Career Tregear is a versatile netballer capable of covering WA, C and GA. After co-captaining ...

made her 50th ANZ Championship appearance in Round 14 against

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...

. Tregear subsequently announced her retirement at the Vixens awards ceremony.

Tauranga Pre-Season Tournament

On 2, 3 and 4 March,

hosted a pre-season tournament at the TECT Arena in

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

. For the first time since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, all ten

teams competed at the same tournament. The ten teams were divided into two pools of five. Teams within each pool played each other once and the winners qualified for the final.

won their pool but subsequently lost the final 50–30 to

. ;Final

Regular season

finished the regular season as minor premiers. After winning their first six matches, they lost to

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team wa ...

in Round 7. They then lost three successive matches, another to Swifts and one to

. On 20 May in Round 8, against Mystics, Vixens were undone by Mystics defender

Anna Harrison Anna Tuthill Harrison ( ''née'' Symmes; July 25, 1775 – February 25, 1864) was the first Lady of the United States in 1841 as the wife of President William Henry Harrison. She served in the role for only one month, as her husband was afflicted ...

and her ''

Harrison Hoist The Harrison Hoist, also known as the Chairlift, is a form of goaltending in netball where one defender lifts another defender, rugby union lineout-style, in order to catch the ball and prevent a goal scoring opportunity. It was named after Anna H ...

''. Harrison made several vital blocks while being hoisted rugby union lineout-style by her defensive partners, helping Mystics secure a 49–45 win. However, Vixens successively claimed the minor premiership with three wins in the final three rounds.

Fixtures and results

;Round 1 ;Round 2 ;Round 3 ;Round 4 ;Round 5 ;Round 6 ;Round 7 ;Round 8 ;Round 9 ;Round 10 ;Round 11 ''

Players

Player movements

Squad

Milestones

Tauranga Pre-Season Tournament

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Final table

Finals

Major semi-final

Grand final

Award winners

Vixens awards

All Stars

Australian Netball Awards

References