Another year of Super Netball is upon us, and as the league prepares to hold its seventh season, there are plenty of interesting narratives at play.
Here's a reminder of where your team placed last year and what you need to know about them for 2023.
West Coast Fever (1st)
The reigning champions started the year on a good note, winning the preseason Team Girls Cup to secure the title they fell three goals short of 12 months ago.
Although we have to take each team's performances at the tournament with a grain of salt – as injuries, load management, and experimentation were rife – there were some telling signs for Fever.
Dan Ryan's team beat the Thunderbirds in the deciding match (49-41) with some of their biggest stars on the bench, including five-time Super Netball MVP Jhaniele Fowler, to showcase the incredible depth they've got in their squad and the impressive training partners on their roster.
One of these training partners that has certainly caught the attention of fans is former Aussie Diamonds goal attack Nat Butler (née Medhurst). The 39-year-old has come out of retirement to take up the last-ditch opportunity, marking the second time Fever have challenged the training partner stereotype in as many years.
Last season, Ryan threw veteran midcourter Chelsea Pitman a lifeline after the Thunderbirds captain was dropped and out of the elite game for more than a year. At 33, Pitman ended up appearing for both the Fever and Giants throughout 2022 under the COVID Contingency Framework and has since been picked up full-time with the London Pulse in the UK Super League and made her way back into the England Roses squad.
Fans are hoping the same might happen for Medhurst if she is called upon in what she's jokingly dubbed her "mid-life crisis" should injury or COVID unfortunately strike the Fever, but Super Netball has ruled out her playing for any other team with an update to their protocols for this season; that doesn't allow clubs to use other team's nominated players for a temporary replacement, instead referring them to the supplementary player list.
Melbourne Vixens (2nd)
It's really difficult to judge where last year's runners-up are at heading into the first weekend of the competition, as they look to juggle multiple injuries.
Even their coach, Simone McKinnis, wasn't safe after she took part in a surfing lesson during the team's pre-season camp on the Gold Coast and ripped the bone off her heel coming off the board, needing crutches to fulfil her duties at the Team Girls Cup.
The Vixens won just two games at the tournament, beating the Giants and Lightning to finish in third place. Diamonds defender Jo Weston was unable to take the court then as she rehabbed the calf injury that ruled her out of the Quad Series in January, and the team has announced that she also won't be ready for round one at least.
But it doesn't end there; the Vixens were dealt another big blow this week when long-bomb shooter Rahni Samason sustained a leg injury at training and is now expected to be missing for an extended period of the season.
This weekend she'll be replaced by training partner Ruby Barkmeyer, who has appeared plenty of times for the club before, but Samason was certainly tipped to play a big role for the Vixens this year after impressing at the Team Girls Cup and getting plenty of game-time.
With the Vixens being the Vixens, having Diamonds midcourters Liz Watson and Kate Moloney as captains, and knowing the standard McKinnis holds her team to, you can expect them to still be in the race. But the long-term injuries the side will need to manage are certainly set to test their depth this season.
Giants (3rd)
Another team with one of its key players out for round one is the Giants.
Jo Harten has been the beating heart at the club since it was founded in 2017 for the beginning of the Super Netball league, and the captain has certainly been their most passionate player on court, pulling them through tough matches to take them deep into the finals in the past two seasons.
During this time, the England Roses stalwart has also had the added responsibility of guiding 21-year-old shooters Sophie Dwyer and Matisse Letherbarrow in the circle, shouldering the load as the most experienced player on court.
Head coach Julie Fitzgerald is not someone that is known for her game-day rotation, and despite other coaches opting to utilise the rolling subs rule on a regular basis, Fitzgerald tends to stick to the traditional route of allowing her starting seven to work things out on the court unless injury or desperate measures require her to make changes.
But throughout the Team Girls Cup, her hand was forced as Harten watched from the sidelines recovering from a knee arthroscopy she underwent in February to clean out some of the damage sustained before the Commonwealth Games.
As a result, Letherbarrow got to combine with starting goal attack Sophie Dwyer for all four games (one victory, three losses), a rare sight even though they both made their debut in season 2020.
Harten's knee was heavily strapped during the Commonwealth Games, and the 33-year-old was unable to play her natural game with such restricted movement, so the biggest questions hanging over the start of the Giants campaign are therefore: when will Harten return, at what capacity, and can the youngsters hold off the other teams until then?
Collingwood Magpies (4th)
It feels a bit like Groundhog Day for the Magpies, as pundits and fans alike wonder how all their puzzle pieces will fit together this year.
Last season, they signed the Diamonds' Sophie Garbin as a marquee player and aimed to mould her into a goal attack to pair alongside Jamaican goal shooter Shimona Nelson, but the combination never quite got going, and Garbin ended up spending a lot of time on the bench.
Instead, coach Nicole Richardson reverted to using their usual goal attack Gabi Sinclair a lot over the course of the season, but Sinclair wasn't offered a contract for 2023 and is now residing in Wales playing in the UK Superleague.
The club may come to regret this, as their decision to sign up-and-coming shooter Nyah Allen in her place has also not gone to plan, with the 21-year-old ruled out for the first half of the season after undergoing surgery for a chest condition.
Now the Magpies have enticed departing Swifts goal attack Kelly Singleton to join the side, who struggled to make the step up to Super Netball level last season.
Throughout the Diamonds' endeavours over the past six months, Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich has continued to use Garbin in her preferred position at GS.
That move has paid off in the Constellation Cup and Quad Series, where Garbin shot the lights out to secure vital victories against New Zealand, England and South Africa.
Richardson also works as an assistant coach for the Diamonds under Marinkovich, so she has had a front-row seat to Garbin's excellence throughout the Super Netball off-season. In comparison, Nelson has had limited time on court with the Sunshine Girls as she waits behind the towering Jhaniele Fowler.
So, can Garbin and Nelson finally get their combination to hum in the way Collingwood originally intended? Or will one player end up spending a lot of time warming the bench again?
NSW Swifts (5th)
The NSW Swifts' hopes of contention last year were thwarted when Trinidad and Tobago shooter Sam Wallace tore her ACL in the very first game of the season.
While they were able to uncover some wonderfully raw Wagga Wagga talent in then-19-year-old Sophie Fawns in the aftermath, both the Swifts' shooting combinations with either Fawns and Helen Housby, or Housby and Singleton, were moving circle options, unable to replicate Wallace's stronghold under the post.
Wallace won't be ready to return to the court until later this season, but the Swifts have been able to acquire a new holding shooter in her place with training partner Romelda Aiken-George.
The Firebirds came under fire last year when Aiken-George – who played 14 seasons straight with the team in purple – says she was told late in her pregnancy that she was "too risky" to sign for 2023; despite being due in August with plenty of time to get back before the season start. The Firebirds deny they said this.
Certainly, the situation worked in Briony Akle's Swifts' favour, who were able to come to the rescue, giving Aiken-George a chance to extend her career and hit the 200-game milestone she's been aiming to tick off.
It's also a smart move from the Swifts dollar-wise, as they've been able to keep Wallace on her marquee contract while supplementing her position for at least the first few rounds with a player just as valuable on training partner money.
Aiken-George is tipped to make her debut this weekend, and although the shooting end looked a little shaky at the Team Girls Cup (two wins, one draw, one loss) as they tried to figure each other out, we're eager to see how that signing will go with more time to blossom at training.
Queensland Firebirds (6th)
There is a lot of new at the Firebirds this year, with three fresh faces in their squad – Emily Moore, Ash Unie and Remi Kamo – and a brand-new head coach in former Diamond Bec Bulley.
Bulley has made the move to Queensland and the step up to the main role after spending two years as an assistant with the NSW Swifts, helping them lift the Super Netball trophy in 2021.
But she really has her work cut out for her this season, as the Firebirds look to try and make a mark on the competition without Diamonds goal attack Gretel Bueta – arguably the best player in the world right now.
Bueta will watch from the sidelines during pregnancy, but it will be hard to replicate her prowess in the goal circle, given her flair and experience. With a lot of fresh faces, the team is definitely in a building phase, and it won't help that they've now had a last-minute change in assistant coach to support Bulley.
Earlier this week, the Firebirds announced Scotland assistant coach Sara Francis-Bayman would no longer be part of their staff for 2023. Sources say there was a breakdown in the relationship between the two coaches in the direction they wanted to take the team, and although there have been reports that Francis-Bayman resigned on her own terms, the club have denied this.
On Friday, the Firebirds appointed former premiership-winning captain Lauren Brown (née Nourse) as Bulley's assistant instead. But the team will be under the microscope now, with so much drama happening just days before their first game.
What is in their favour is that Donnell Wallam is set to build on her impressive debuts for both the Firebirds and Diamonds after she stole the show against England last October; shooting the winning goal with seconds left on the clock.
Adelaide Thunderbirds (7th)
The team everyone seems to be most excited to watch this year – as the strongest contender to stop the Fever from winning back-to-back titles – is the Thunderbirds.
The team has had serious potential for the last few years, boasting the likes of Jamaican Commonwealth Games silver medallists Shamera Sterling and Latty Wilson in their defensive end, but they've struggled to convert key turnovers into goals on the scoreboard.
This season, however, they've made two huge signings that could really prove all the difference.
England Roses shooter Eleanor Cardwell – nicknamed "the claw" – and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning coach Tracey Neville have both made the trip down under from the UK.
Cardwell is one of the best shooters in the world right now, and Neville says it was vital she took the next step in her career to challenge herself abroad after winning multiple Superleague titles with the Manchester Thunder.
Cardwell's strength on the hold either as a goal shooter or goal attack, as well as her flair and keenness to go straight to post will seriously boost the Thunderbirds chances this year.
Neville was actually in the running for a Super Netball head coaching gig a couple of years ago during the pandemic but had to pull out due to the COVID restrictions on travel for her family at the time and says she has always dreamt of coaching in the best league in the world.
Now she'll get to live out that dream at the Thunderbirds, working under head coach Tania Obst – her coaching assistant at England's 2018 Commonwealth Games winning campaign.
The pair clearly work well together, and although their previous roles have flipped, Neville's winning mindset will no doubt help Obst, who has been unable to guide the Thunderbirds to a higher finish than seventh or eighth since she started her second coaching stint with the club in 2018.
Sunshine Coast Lightning (8th)
Last year's wooden spooners have a lot of new faces at the club this season, with 2022 West Coast Fever-winning assistant coach Belinda Reynolds taking the leap to move to the Sunshine Coast and take on her first head coaching role.
The Lightning has also added 21-year-old shooter Charlie Bell and teenage defender Ashleigh Ervin to their squad list, putting their faith in local talent in the pathway to perform at a higher level.
But the biggest news for the Lightning this year is that former club captain and South African Protea Karla Pretorius makes her welcome return after taking a season off to have her first baby.
Pretorius is highly regarded as the hardest-working goal defence in the world game, and her scrappy and dogged style of play is sure to win them back plenty of ball this year.
In more good news, Diamonds shooters Steph Wood and Cara Koenen look to be in much better form this season, stepping up for the Australian team across the past eight months to secure success at the Commonwealth Games, Constellation Cup, England Test series and Quad Series.
Unfortunately, however, the Lightning has also been hit in the injury department, and its marquee signing from last season, Tara Hinchliffe, has been ruled out after suffering her second ACL injury on the same knee in the pre-season.
It's really difficult to predict how Lightning will go this year, but certainly, there were early signs of cohesion at the Team Girls Cup, as the team finished fourth (two wins, two losses).
Much like their Queensland rivals, 2023 is very much a "watch this space" kind of year for the Lightning, where they'll certainly aim to push higher up the ladder.
