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It is nearly that point of yr once more, as we inch nearer to a ninth season of Tremendous Netball and the world’s greatest league held its pre-season match in Sydney for the primary time over the weekend to provide us a glimpse into how every of the eight groups are shaping up for 2024.
There is a brand-new facet to control, because the Melbourne Mavericks formally fill the defunct Collingwood Magpies’ spot, whereas final yr’s runners-up the NSW Swifts confirmed – because the group with the least quantity of adjustments – how advantageous a constant line-up with cemented mixtures could be as they clinched their first Workforce Ladies Cup trophy.
Simply as we’ll do each Monday afternoon of the Tremendous Netball season, we’re right here to carry you the largest speaking factors of the spherical/weekend. So, let’s have a look at what we learnt throughout an action-packed three-day netball competition at Ken Rosewall Enviornment.
Double blow for the Mavs
As the brand new youngsters on the block, the Mavericks have already received over the netball group with the signings of former England 2018 Commonwealth Video games-winning head coach Tracey Neville, in addition to a bunch of much-loved stars like Amy Parmenter and Eleanor Cardwell.
However the facet has already been hit arduous with accidents earlier than it has even been capable of take the court docket for its inaugural Tremendous Netball sport. Throughout a pre-season pleasant, shooter Sasha Glasgow went down with a compound leg fracture that’s prone to rule her out for the season and on the Workforce Ladies Cup we noticed defender Lauren Moore helped off the court docket after she suffered a knee harm.
Moore will go for scans on Monday and plenty of are hoping she is going to keep away from the dreaded season-ending ACL harm that’s sadly so widespread in our sport, but when that’s to be the case, that’ll be two senior gamers worn out for the Mavs.
The group was already up towards it as a start-up franchise due to the short turnaround Tremendous Netball required to fill Collingwood’s spot when it was introduced it might not proceed within the league final Might, in addition to the drawn-out pay negotiations that meant no one may formally be signed till December.
Factoring in Christmas and the involvement of a few of its gamers at January’s Nations Cup abroad, the facet has solely had a few months at greatest to arrange. Sadly, that context coupled with these main accidents can have folks questioning if their facet is maybe a bit of under-conditioned, to no fault of its personal.
Regardless of a fairly good first hit-out on the Workforce Ladies Cup, the place it registered a draw and suffered two tight losses earlier than battling towards the Giants within the last-place play-off, the group was unable to keep away from the underside of the ladder within the pre-season match.
There have been patches of brilliance and Neville has finished an unbelievable job pulling this group collectively in such a short while. However within the wake of these accidents, there’s fear about the way it will carry out come the season begin on April 13.
As we all know from the Pies instance, early success is vital to constructing a fan base and longevity in a metropolis already occupied by a basis membership just like the Melbourne Vixens.
Will Lightning dwell as much as the hype?
Perhaps it was the drawn-out pay negotiations that left gamers sitting on their palms with out pay for 11 weeks, with an excessive amount of time to consider their future. Perhaps there was simply one thing within the air? However this low season has been essentially the most fascinating in Tremendous Netball’s historical past with some shock motion and big-name signings.
The Sunshine Coast Lightning was the largest winner, managing to nab Australian captain Liz Watson from the Vixens, earlier than luring Diamonds goalkeeper Courtney Bruce throughout the nation from the West Coast Fever.
Each are late into their careers, debuted for his or her dwelling golf equipment, spent the previous 10 years representing these groups as one-club gamers and made their approach right into a captaincy place. Their faces not solely felt synonymous with these franchises and the colors they put on but in addition their respective state pathways. It was a shock to see them transfer on and watching them in yellow this weekend felt a bit unusual.
Nonetheless, their signings have introduced a way of hope and pleasure to a group that wowed everybody when it received back-to-back premierships within the first two years of Tremendous Netball (2017/18) however has now missed the finals two years straight.
At Lightning, Watson and Bruce will hyperlink up with their Netball World Cup-winning teammates Steph Fretwell (née Wooden) and Cara Koenen at a home stage, so there was loads of curiosity round how this facet stacked with Diamonds expertise is gelling in membership land.
It was entertaining watching Watson match up instantly towards her former co-captain Kate Moloney within the midcourt when Lightning performed towards the Vixens, the place loads of bumps between their our bodies made for a bruising encounter. Identical goes for Bruce’s encounter towards her outdated teammate, Jamaican purpose shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard within the circle on the ultimate day, as Lightning and Fever performed off for fifth place.
Bruce seemed sharp (13 positive factors) throughout the weekend and was the distinction on this explicit match, as her maintain over Shanice Beckford’s two-point shot postpone the purpose assault’s probability to steal the lead within the remaining 30 seconds, earlier than Bruce pounced on the missed try to ship possession again up the Lightning’s finish to seal a two-goal win.
Watson’s connections within the midcourt nonetheless want some work (12 basic play turnovers), as there have been moments over the three days the place there was a breakdown in communication, or she was caught in the identical gap as one other participant. Both approach, the group many have tipped as “favourites” this season is monitoring properly and must be higher positioned come the season begin.
Can the Workforce Ladies Cup grow to be a vacation spot occasion?
Netball Australia was pleased with the 7,707 complete attendance for the Workforce Ladies Cup, because it managed to get its greatest outcome on the occasion for the reason that pandemic and doubled the earlier crowd eventually yr’s match on the Gold Coast. However there is definitely room for development, as the same pre-season match in basketball for the 2023 NBL Blitz final September noticed greater than 20,000 followers attend.
The Workforce Ladies Cup is discovering it robust to lure folks interstate and though the NSW golf equipment typically do a very good job at filling the stands, Sydneysiders could have been postpone attending with the annual Easter Present on and restricted parking out there at Homebush.
The occasion served its objective although for this yr, permitting groups to trial a complete vary of mixtures and expose their coaching companions with such restricted preparation for groups in a brief pre-season. However in consequence, it was tough for a lot of followers to get a correct gauge on who is perhaps within the working this yr, with vastly completely different line-ups run from quarter to quarter and fatigue administration which means among the greatest stars sat out video games.
The highest two finishers, the Swifts and Vixens, had no sturdy want to win the match and the $10,000 prize cash, as an alternative specializing in their objectives to check out their squads.
This method was widespread within the outdated NRL Nines collection earlier than rugby league dangled a $1 million cheque over the winner’s heads if a group was capable of end on high of each the pre-season and official competitors, in a bid to try to encourage golf equipment to subject their greatest groups and due to this fact appeal to followers.
That sum of money could by no means fairly be out there in netball, a sport nonetheless in debt and within the technique of attempting to show its monetary standing round after the pandemic, however maybe there’s something on this that netball may be taught from. Up the stakes and the golf equipment could also be extra dogged of their want to win it, attractive extra followers to return alongside.
The previous two Tremendous Netball grand finals have been bought off to state governments to generate higher prize cash and create a vacation spot occasion. If we sit tight, maybe the Workforce Ladies Cup may sooner or later comply with go well with.
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