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The new season of Super Netball is less than a week away and it is shaping up as the closest one yet, with a number of teams clearly in the mix.
I will try and break it down for you, looking at the key storylines, the teams and most importantly where they will rank at the end of the season.
Back to normal home-and-away
COVID played havoc with an abridged season last year, with all teams based in Queensland. We are swinging back into a home-and-away season this year, with the NSW Swifts and GWS Giants set to christen their new home at Ken Rosewall Arena. It adds another layer of difficulty for the West Coast Fever, who will have the heaviest travel schedule in the competition.
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After winning the 2019 championship, the NSW Swifts were only half a game away from the top two and earning a double chance. The Swifts lost in the minor semi-final to the West Coast Fever to finish fourth.
The word that comes to mind when you think of the NSW Swifts’ roster is stability.
The shooting circle will again see Trinidad and Tobago shooter Sam Wallace combine her size and athleticism with the speed and creativity of English Rose Helen Housby, with Sophie Garbin to again provide the third prong to their attack circle.
Peaking when it matters
Much is made of what is regularly referred to as the championship quarter in netball: that crucial third quarter when a game can be won or lost after half-time.
This was a series where there was never likely to be much threat of defeat for England - indeed they lost just one quarter across all three games. But Thirlby will doubtless be heartened by how they regularly heeded her words at half-time and came out stronger with total dominance after the break.
Yep. The 3rd qtr. It happened. Again ♀️ @SkyNetball Tamsin Greenway (@tamsingreenway) January 24, 2021
The first match saw England score a whopping 20 goals in the third quarter after struggling to work their way into the shooting circle at times during the first half (their cause was aided by the All Stars making wholesale defensive changes), while the second and third matches produced 15-9 and 16-10 third-quarter scorelines.
Vitality Netball Legends Series: Helen Housby returns to Jess Thirlby s England Roses squad England s Vitality Roses will take on Jamaica in four Tests behind closed doors. All matches will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on YouTube, with the first Test due to take place on January 22
By Emma Thurston
Last Updated: 15/01/21 8:27am England s experienced shooter is returning to the squad for the first time since the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup
Helen Housby returns to England s Vitality Roses squad for the 2021 Vitality Legends Series, which will be live on
Sky Sports and streamed on YouTube in January.
The shooter, who has been away from the international scene since the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup, has returned to England after the conclusion of the Suncorp Super Netball season.
Helen Housby returns to England squad to face Jamaica
Housby, Layla Guscoth and Natalie Haythornthwaite are in line to make their first appearances for England since last year’s World Cup
Helen Housby is one of England s star names returning to the squad
Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Helen Housby, Layla Guscoth and Natalie Haythornthwaite are in line to make their first appearances for England since last year’s World Cup after they were named in the squad to face Jamaica next month.
Head coach Jess Thirlby has chosen an experienced 15-strong group for the four-match series beginning on January 22, which will be England s first international competition on home soil in a year.