The Netball Super Cup: Preview

The new era for the Netball Super League gets underway on Saturday with the brand-new Super Cup taking place at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

The event will act as a precursor to the regular league season – starting on 14 March – and will see all eight teams take to court for the first time in 2025.

Take a look below as we preview netball’s curtain raiser.

The Teams

There will be eight teams taking part in the one-day standalone tournament – six sides returning from last season alongside two new franchises.

Birmingham Panthers will make their NSL debuts as they take on the newly renamed London Mavericks in the opening game of the tournament.

The West Midlands outfit, lead by Jo Trip, will be looking to start life with a win and will have the firepower of South African Sigi Burger to call upon. 

The goal shooter has plenty of experience, both domestically and on the world stage, and will be hoping to make an impact from the off.

Nottingham Forest Netball are the other new kids on the block and have quietly put together a team ready to compete for top honours this season. 

Under the stewardship of World Cup winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Chelsea Pitman, the East Midlanders will pose a threat to any side they face after recruiting names such as Iona Christian, Tash Pavelin, Jayda Pechova and MVP in last year’s Grand Final Rhea Dixon. Their opening game is against Manchester Thunder.

Two-time defending champions Loughborough Lightning, who will open their account against London Pulse, will be bidding to achieve an unprecedented ‘three-peat’ of NSL titles this year, and could begin the year with silverware. 

They welcome South African international Shadine Van Der Merwe from Manchester Thunder, 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jodie Gibson and Vitality Roses’ Berri Neil in their attempt at history.

London Mavericks, the UK’s only exclusively female-owned professional sports team, sees Camilla Buchanan lead the side in her latest tilt at achieving NSL success as she looks to replicate the club’s Grand Final wins in 2008 and 2011. The Super Cup will provide the perfect chance for her team to showcase their skills which features defensive superstars Razia Quashie, Vicki Oyesola and Ellie Rattu.

LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons and NIC Leeds Rhinos are the two returning teams with new coaches this year – Reinga Bloxham and Lauren Palmer respectively – and will face off against each other in the third match of the Super Cup. Both coaches will be looking for a winning start to their tenures as they look to make their mark at their new clubs.

Perennial NSL challengers Manchester Thunder will see new captain Amy Carter lead her charges for the first time in Saturday's competition. Carter is joined by Josie Huckle and Taylor McKevitt in the leadership group in a side that mixes Thunder's trademark blend of homegrown talent and international stars. They will face Nottingham Forest in their first game of the Netball Super Cup.

London Pulse will kick-off their season against Loughborough Lightning in the fourth game of the day and have quality at both ends of the court to rely upon. Funmi Fadoju will be the rock in defence looking to stop opposition attackers while Olivia Tchine will cause havoc at the other end of the court.

The Format

The eight teams involved will be split into two pools of four.

The matches will be seven-a-side and will be 14 minutes long, consisting of two seven-minute halves.

Each team will play the other teams in their pool once with the top two sides progressing from each group to the semi-final stages. Two teams will then make it to the final where they will battle it out for the Netball Super Cup crown.

There will be no tactical time outs at the Netball Super Cup and the Soft & Gentle Super Shot will be in play during the final three minutes of each half. In the semi-final and final games, if the score is level at the end of the 14 minutes, play will continue until one team has a two goal-point lead.