With England hoping to retain their Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham this summer, the new Vitality Netball Superleague season has been one of the most anticipated in many years. The good news is that the opening weekend did not disappoint.
Birmingham was the appropriate setting for the showpiece opening weekend (February 5th and 6th), with nine matches played over the two days to provide fans with some great action and loads of talking points.
While the top English players will be hoping to turn in the kind of performances that will ensure their players in the squad for the summer, the teams themselves will be eyeing up their own possibilities of silverware this year.
The team that stood out most was Manchester Thunder. They made some big statements in the summer by signing Natalie Metcalf and Shadine van Der Merwe, but youngsters Yomi Eza-Wilson, Yasmin Roebuck and Emma Rayner all made sparkling debuts in the emphatic 79-53 win over Celtic Dragons.
The emergence of the trio indicates that Thunder have a clear commitment to mixing their marquee signings with home-grown talent. Girls thinking of attending Manchester netball classes should take note; those who can show real ability will be given every chance to develop it by their local Superleague team.
With Thunder following up their opening win by beating Severn Stars 70-45 in the second game, it looks like they could be the team to watch this season.
Other games were much closer, with the smallest winning margin being London Pulse’s 52-48 win over Team Bath.
Commenting on the opening weekend for Sky Sports, former England international Tamsin Greenway hailed London v Bath as “the game of the weekend”.
She highlighted the qualities on display of some of London Pulse’s younger players, picking out Ellie Ratu as a rising star who will be “England’s next centre”.