The 2012 Melbourne Vixens season saw

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. B ...

compete in the 2012 ANZ Championship. With a team captained by Bianca Chatfield 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. Early life Madison Browne played for South Barwon Football and Netball Club when she was young ...

Julie Corletto Julie Prendergast (born 31 October 1986) is an Australian international netball player. She played for the Australian Diamonds, Melbourne Vixens and NSW Swifts but has now retired. She usually played in the positions of goal defence and wing d ...

and Geva Mentor, 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), Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament of ...

. However they lost the grand final 41–38 to Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 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 was called up as a temporary replacement player for Round 1 and Round 2. * Kelsey Browne, Ashlee Howard, Kara Richards and Micaela Wilson were also members of the 2012 Victorian Fury 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. *

and

both made their 50th ANZ Championship appearances in Round 5 against Queensland Firebirds. * Chelsey Tregear made her 50th ANZ Championship appearance in Round 14 against Southern Steel. Tregear subsequently announced her retirement at the Vixens awards ceremony.

Tauranga Pre-Season Tournament

On 2, 3 and 4 March, Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic hosted a pre-season tournament at the TECT Arena in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. For the first time since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, 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 Queensland Firebirds. ;Final

Regular season

finished the regular season as minor premiers. After winning their first six matches, they lost to New South Wales Swifts 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 and her '' Harrison Hoist''. 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