A lick of paint or something more substantial? As the first Netball Super League season since its relaunch reaches a climax with Sunday’s Grand Final, what has changed?
Player pay rises averaging about 60% have only led a small contingent to commit to full-time professionalism.
So where is the growth, where might it come next, and what else has been happening?
Netball’s big day out at the O2 in London offers a timely moment to examine how the professional side of the sport in the UK – specifically England and Wales – is evolving.
Trimming the league from 10 to eight teams for this season involved controversially cutting sides from Guildford, Bath and Worcester, plus Scotland’s lone representative, Glasgow-based Strathclyde Sirens.
Teams sprung up in Nottingham and Birmingham – Forest and Panthers finishing fifth and sixth respectively – as the league looked to become a big-city operation, with its stronghold in England, given England Netball is the league’s organiser.
Loughborough Lightning are outliers in a sense – a university-based team with a long track record of success.
Bath, also with university ties, enjoyed huge success before losing their place in the elite, but Loughborough surely have greater security. England Netball has its headquarters in the Leicestershire town, and the team continue to set high standards.
A fifth consecutive appearance in the Grand Final – where first-time winnersLondon Pulse narrowly denied them a title ‘three-peat’- showed the Lightning team led by coach Vic Burgess remain an exemplar for league newcomers and established sides alike.
The season’s opening night served up a cruel reminder that netball players risk serious injury every time they take to the court.
Teams are offering better training facilities and more opportunities to spend time in the gym, but women in sport remain far more susceptible to non-contact serious injuries than men.
That was highlighted when London Mavericks’ Vicki Oyesola crumpled to the court after landing a little awkwardly against Cardiff Dragons.
It was the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury, the bane of many a netballer’s career – a season-ender on day one.
NSL says women are six times more likely to sustain such a non-contact injury than men, while a National Ligament Registry study has shown there are only more ACLs suffered by women in skiing than in netball.
More setbacks have followed, with Birmingham Panthers goal shooter Sigi Burger suffering a complete tear of her medial collateral ligament.
Manchester Thunder captain Amy Carter, who is a junior doctor and missed the 2022 season with an ACL injury, explained to My Newspaper Sport why netballers suffer so badly.
“It’s a few different things. Your hips are a little bit wider, your knees are a bit closer together, you’re more likely to do your ACL,” Carter said.
“You’ve got the menstrual cycle to take into account, which can increase your risk when you’re on your period. The nature of the game, the change of directions, the high impact, the stopping still straight away, that can also contribute to it.”
Research continues into how players might mitigate risk, but knees are not the only problem. Panthers’ Gabby Marshall retired in Mayafter a second concussion injury in a month.
More than 50% of games have been played in major arenas this season and there has been a sharp climb in attendances.
Average regular-season crowds have been estimated at about 1,500 in 2024, and league officials announced there was a 42% rise this year.
For a first season of the so-called NSL 2.0 era, the rise signals strong progress.
As an intriguing comparison, the first season of Women’s Super League football following a similar reboot in 2014 resulted in average crowds of 728 (from 562 in 2013).
The move to switch the Grand Final from Birmingham to London’s O2 reflected an ambition to see netball played in the biggest possible indoor venues.
The ‘think big’ approach has been clear all season and England Netball said ticket sales meant the season-ending showpiece would be the best-attended netball event in England since 2002.
The introduction of a two-point super shot this season raised eyebrows.
In play for the final five minutes of each quarter, NSL hoped it would lead to closer matches. There was also the prospect it could spark thrilling comebacks or blowout wins.
Some players and coaches liked the idea, some did not. NSL has contentedly reported a 23% increase in games with less than a five-goal winning margin.
Off the court, the Women’s Sport Trust said NSL enjoyed a 524% increase in TikTok views amid a push to connect with potential new fan bases.
But there are issues to examine, with video assistant referee (VAR) technology worthy of ongoing discussion.
Leeds Rhinos were upset when theycontroversially lost to Birmingham Panthersin May.
Rhinos were beaten 71-69 after extra time but felt they deserved the win in regulation time after what they believed was a two-point super shot was only credited as a one-point shot.
Replays appeared to back up Rhinos’ claims, but there was no immediate recourse without VAR, with league rules preventing the outcome of a match being altered after the event. All rather unsatisfactory, and food for thought for those pushing the sport forward.
