One loss was a rare, and bitter, enough occurrence for the Melbourne Vixens. Two in succession, with top spot to play for on the eve of the Super Netball finals? Not a chance. On cue, and back on course, the Vixens thrashed the Adelaide Thunderbirds to assure themselves the double-chance ahead of what should be a final round formality against the lowly West Coast Fever.

"That's (the) ideal position to be in the top two, because it's not a do-or-die final. But we'll think about that once we get through next week," said Vixens coach Simone McKinnis after her team had regained pole position and maintained its unbeaten home record 71-50 over the wooden spoon favourites at Margaret Court Arena.

"The next game is the most important game, and that's got to be the focus for us. We want to finish the rounds, and it's a tough trip going across to Perth, and we saw Fever yesterday push the Pies all the way to the end. So we've got to be switched on, and I think we can certainly tidy up some areas of our game. There's a couple of things there."

But just a couple, for this was an emphatic rebound from the round 12 stumble against the Giants that ended the Vixens eight-win sequence and briefly dethroned them from the head of the ladder. Having equalled the Sunshine Coast Lightning on points (21) they surpassed their Queensland rivals on percentage (114.7 to 112.1).

The remaining vacancy in the major semi-final will thus be decided when the third-placed Giants (20 points) host the Lightning on Saturday, the GWS-backed team having fluffed their lines in Friday night's surprise loss to the Queensland Firebirds, who in turn had their remote finals hopes thwarted when the Magpies confirmed fourth place by beating the Fever 49-42.

The Vixens soon settled after a testing opening, having led by just a goal at quarter-time and five at the main break before dominating the second half 37-21. They eventually matched their final margin against the Thunderbirds from round eight, but not quite their season-high score of 75.

"It was hard work," McKinnis said. "The first half was pretty tight, really, but that's what we've got to be able to do is sort of grind out those wins, and we spoke about it at half-time: 'Yep, we've just got to keep persisting and keep doing what we do, because the openings will come', so I was pleased that they did that."

She praised match MVP Emily Mannix in particular, with the young goal keeper responsible for seven intercepts and seven deflections against three opponents. McKinnis also resisted the temptation to tamper with her first-choice seven. "I could have easily made a change but 'No, I want you to actually show the discipline to finish this game out - tidy, sharp and as well as we possibly can'." Mwai Kumwenda scored a season-best 48 goals from 53 attempts, and the busy Liz Watson added another 27 goal assists to her league-high tally despite some spirited opposition from Renae Ingles.

"We're driving hard down in the attack end," McKinnis said. "Just the one thing that I thought we were a bit off with is when we're getting ball, we just gave a couple of balls away or gave it back. I'd just like to see us really make them count on the scoreboard. That has slipped a little bit - it did last week and it did this week, so I think we really have to tidy that up and get that back to where it was."

The main personnel concern surrounds back-up shooter Emma Ryde, who suffered an ankle injury during the same week she was selected for the World Youth Cup. Kumwenda and Philip may be the preferred pair, but Ryde's size and strength provides handy insurance as the season reaches its climax over the coming weeks.

Thirteen down. One round to go.