Burgess looking for consistency from Lightning

Consistency can be hard to come by but it is exactly what Vic Burgess wants her Loughborough Lightning side to produce when they face Manchester Thunder in the Netball Super League Preliminary Final on Sunday.

Lightning narrowly lost 50-49 to London Pulse in the major semi-final, with the reigning champions pushing the regular season table toppers all the way at the Copper Box.

It will give Burgess plenty of cause for encouragement heading into Sunday’s winner-takes-all contest, following a season that has been chequered by some surprise defeats.

“You learn a lot by losing but it also gives the players that drive to show what they are capable of,” she said.

“Those games [we lost] have been against teams that we should have been beating. It gives the players drive to want to be better and perform more consistently.

“Hopefully we are in a good position this week where we can take accountability and learn how we didn’t execute as consistently as we wanted to or needed to.”

Lightning lost twice to neighbours Nottingham Forest during the regular season and closed out their league campaign with defeat to Birmingham Panthers.

It look their tally of defeats up to four, following an early humbling at home to London Pulse, before Burgess’ side exacted some revenge with a win at the Copper Box in May.

The one-point deficit in the major semi-final showed there was little between the sides, and the fine margins that are at play in knockout netball.

For Burgess, it comes down to one word.

“Losing to Forest the first time around was a definite shift for us into a more winning ways focus,” she reflected.

“Facing them the second time, we probably found it more frustrating in that it came with a similar result but it was about consistency across all four quarters for us.

“Finding that consistency across the season has been more of a challenge compared to previous years, with the new rules, the Super Shot.

“There has definitely been a journey of navigating to get consistent performances and making sure we stick to the gameplan in all of our fixtures.”

Lightning are targeting history this season and victory in the Grand Final at the O2 Arena on 6 July would make them the first team to win the Netball Super League three years in a row.

With an unprecedented hat-trick of titles within reach, Burgess hopes her side’s know-how can come to the fore.

“We have got key players who can really draw on their experience from their journeys before coming here,” she said.

“They can share that with the rest of the squad and keep people focussed. We can look after each other and keep everybody focussed on the task in hand.”

Leading the way will be Nat Panagarry, who has captained Lightning to their past two Grand Final triumphs.

She is part of a core group alongside Beth Cobden, Hannah Joseph, and Ella Clark who have been present at Lightning for all three of the club’s Super League titles.

“This season we have really tried to ignore the outside noise and trust our process,” said Panagarry.

“At the start of the season we knew it was going to be a bit of a gradual build; we had quite a few new players and only the midcourt stayed the same and had that familiarity.

“You are beginning to see the shooting circle click now with Sammy [Wallace-Joseph], Ella, and Berri [Neil].”

While Burgess spotlighted the defeats to Forest, Panagarry believes the early 77-51 defeat to Pulse in March was a seminal result in ensuring Lightning got back on the right track.

“We discussed at the start of the season that you have got to win when it matters,” she added.

“Sometimes those losses really give you a kick and a bit of an education. It makes you have honest chats about how you want to play and what the team looks like.

“The Pulse loss in that second game was huge, it shook a lot of us up. There are four or five of us that haven’t lost by that sort of scoreline in a long, long time.

“That was definitely a reality check and what we needed. It is about peaking at the right time and winning the final when it matters.”

Victory against Thunder would book a rematch with Pulse in the first Grand Final to be held at the O2 Arena.

For Panagarry, reaching such an iconic venue would bring home just how far the sport has come since she started playing in the Netball Super League.

“There were points where I played Super League and there were 100 people in the crowd,” she recalled.

“To be going to some now that have 3-4,000 is a huge show. That doesn’t go unnoticed, I appreciate every time I step out in these big moments.

“The O2 this season has been on everyone’s minds, to say you have done it and been there for the first time. It is definitely a motivator for me. We would love to be there, we will give everything we can.”

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