The Sunshine Coast Lightning have temporarily relocated to Melbourne, to help ensure the Super Netball season continues.
Five clubs have moved to Victoria – on the advice of Netball Australia and Suncorp Super Netball – after a spate of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country.
They flew out on Tuesday. Lightning CEO Danielle Smith said it was a vital move.
“It is our turn to go above and beyond for the sport we love so much, to ensure the safe delivery of Suncorp Super Netball,” she said.
“These decisions are not made lightly. As a club, we trust in the extensive work behind the scenes and contingency planning from Netball Australia that has informed these choices.”
The ladder-leading Lightning were originally scheduled to play Melbourne Vixens at USC Stadium on Sunday.
Further information surrounding the SSN relocation and subsequent fixtures will be released by the league in due course.
Sunshine Coast Lightning coach Kylee Byrne says her side has enjoyed being ‘under the radar’ on its way to the top of the Super Netball ladder.
The Sippy Downs-based team won its sixth game in eight outings last weekend, when it edged Collingwood in an extra-time thriller at USC Stadium.
Despite their impressive campaign, the Lightning have hardly been in the spotlight and bookmakers still have them fourth in the line of betting for the 2021 title.
Byrne said they had been regarded as underdogs since their inception in 2017, but that suited them.
“We have had five years of people writing us off so we’re used to that,” she said.
“I was reading some midseason reviews, and no-one is even looking at us.
“But we don’t mind that at all, going under the radar.
“And if we can keep winning close games like that one (last weekend), there will be some games soon when we can hopefully just put the foot down.”
Captain Karla Pretorius is the toast of the team, after propelling it to victory against the Magpies.
The 31-year-old produced two decisive plays during extra time.
Renowned for her intercepting ability, the live-wire goal defence snared the ball twice when it mattered.
Scores were locked at 62-apiece at the end of four quarters, before the Lightning prevailed 67-65.
“She’s just got this ability in the (crucial) moment and she has that presence,” Byrne said.
“I thought she started the game a bit slow, and she gave Gabby (Sinclair) way too much room but once we tightened that up … she was able to shut down some of those leads and take Gabs out of the game a bit.”
Pretorius, a South African representative, was judged the Lightning’s best player in 2020.
Cara Koenen enjoyed another stellar showing against the Magpies, scoring 46 goals from 52 attempts, with 6 assists and 2 rebounds, while fellow front court threat Steph Wood also featured heavily with 9 goals from 12 attempts, 19 assists and 2 rebounds.
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Mid-courter Laura Scherian was also in the thick of the action on her 33rd birthday.
“I think her form is back to 2019, when she was last in the (Australian) Diamonds,” Byrne said.
“She’s playing that well. Towards the end of the game, I said to her ‘I want the ball in your hands’ and that’s a sign of a true champion under pressure.
“I said to her ‘you’ve got to get in there and get the ball’ because I know she can deliver … and she did that.”
The Lightning loom as genuine contenders in the national competition, which includes eight teams and 14 rounds in the regular season, before four-team finals.
They won the league in their first two years (2017, 2018), were grand finalists in 2019 and were finalists in 2020.
The game against Magpies was in some doubt in the lead-up to it, due to the threat of COVID-19.
The Magpies had been in Sydney, which is now grappling with outbreaks, during the previous fortnight, but exemptions were granted for the match to be contested.
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Byrne said ever-changing COVID-19 situations had made it difficult for teams to prepare for games.
All Australian states and territories recently imposed varied levels of restrictions.
“It’s been a pretty emotional rollercoaster with all of this going on,” she said.
“(One minute) you’re not playing and the next you are.”
