There comes a moment in every premiership campaign where you just know that this year is going to be your year.  Ask any premiership player in any sport, and most of them could pinpoint a telling moment in the season when they just, well, knew.

It's something that's reasonably easy to pick in hindsight, when you have the premiership trophy in one hand, and a glass of champagne in the other. The real trick is picking it during the season, and to do that you need to have won a premiership previously to understand how a winning season unfolds.

There are four members of the Melbourne Vixens who won a premiership with the club in 2014. I suspect if you asked any of Kate Moloney, Tegan Phillip (who were on court for the 2014 grand final), Liz Watson and Jo Weston if last Saturday's demolition of the second-placed Sunshine Coast Lightning was one of those moments you might get a nod in reply.

I say "might" and "nod" deliberately because this Vixens team is nothing if not understated. They are a team that has been grown organically, rather than pieced together. They play for each other, not with each other, and the way they go about their business reflects that. 

You get the distinct impression that they are quite happy to do their thing quietly in the shadow of their uber-glamorous cross-town rivals, Magpies Netball Club.  Yet there is little doubt that their two wins over the Magpies this year have been quietly celebrated, although in less of an "up-yours" fashion and more of a "well gol-ly, how good was that?" affair. 

They will not shout their premiership credentials from the rooftops. So I will. You see the Vixens might look all sweet and innocent, with a young fresh list, boundless enthusiasm and a captain in Moloney who has made leadership look like it's fun, but they are one of the best-drilled, most disciplined teams in the league. 

It is their ability to play mistake-free netball that sets them apart. To do it for a full match against the team like Lightning that is jammed with internationals, including superstar defender Geva Mentor, makes them premiership favourites. If they can build from Saturday's match they are going to be hard to beat.

The statistics bear this out.  What is immediately obvious when you look at the Vixens' numbers is that they simply do not give up possession easily.  They are eighth in the league for turnovers, which means that they are the team least likely to hand the ball over cheaply. 

Dig a little deeper and the Vixens are even more impressive. They are the leading team in the league for scoring off their own centre passes, which is no surprise, given their propensity to play steady, percentage netball. What is interesting is that they are also first in the league for scoring off opposition turnovers, and second in scoring off their possession gains when they win ball back. In other words they punish any slip up.

These last two statistics are also fascinating because they show that it doesn't matter that much that defensively they don't win a lot of ball back. The fact that they are seventh in the league for intercepts and eighth for deflections means that while their defensive line doesn't come up with a huge amount of possession, they are brutally efficient at scoring off what ball they do win.

So the Vixens' numbers look good, they are a team that doesn't rely on one superstar to get them over the line and they are a joy to watch. The challenge for coach Simone McKinnis is to keep them focused and firing over the next four weeks leading into the finals. She will be wise to ask for more from her young team, to challenge them to get better in each game, rather than let them coast home.

I have no doubt she will have a plan that will keep their heads down, tails up and eyes away from pesky articles like this that threaten to blow their cover as the team most likely to win the first Suncorp Super Netball title.