Coach Rob Wright concedes his NSW Swifts were lucky to escape with an historic 47-47 draw against the Queensland Firebirds after he made a big call to replace captain Kimberlee Green.
Wright took national vice-captain Green out of the game at halftime in Sunday's trans-Tasman netball clash in Sydney, when the Firebirds were ahead 26-24.
The Firebirds outscored the Swifts 13-8 in the third quarter, to lead 39-32 at the final change.
With centre Green restored to the court and instrumental, the Swifts fought back to hit the front with just under a minute to go.
In a dramatic finale, Romelda Aiken levelled the scores with under 30 seconds to go.
Swifts and Diamonds' shooter Caitlin Thwaites had a chance to win the game, but missed with the final attempt of the match inside the last five seconds.
With no extra time being played this season - unlike previous years when scores finished level - it was the first official draw in the eighth season of the competition.
It meant the Swifts stayed unbeaten, having notched two away wins in New Zealand to start the season.
"I don't know if (taking Green off) was the right decision, but I thought Kim came back and was stunning in the last quarter," Wright said.
"I felt in the end we were probably lucky to get the point, we were quite inconsistent today," Wright said.
"Our good was very good, but I would have said Firebirds probably played better for longer than we did."
Green wasn't surprised to be benched, nor was she complaining.
"I was having a shocking game," Green said.
Firebirds captain and goalkeeper Laura Geitz felt it was definitely a point dropped.
"In the last quarter we let them score seven really easy goals," Geitz told AAP.
"We stopped all over the court and the momentum complete shifted.
"It was disappointing not to take the two points. We had done the hard work early on and we just needed to finish that game off."
Swifts stalwart Susan Pettitt made 29 of 37 attempts in her 100th competition game, and Thwaites 18 from 22.
For the Firebirds, Aiken made 36 of 46 attempts and former Swift Gretel Tippett, 11 from 14.
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