Eighteen rounds of netball, five months of competition, and we have finally crowned the 2024 Providoor Premier League champions.
It all culminated with a double header of grand final action on Sunday afternoon at Ken Rosewall Arena, where a loud crowd cheered on the two best teams in each league.
Here’s how it played out.
U23s Grand Final
First up were the U23s minor premiers the Sutherland Stingrays against the second-placed UTS Randwick Sparks.
The Stingrays were the best attacking and defensive team in the U23s and had set the tone all year, winning both of their encounters with the Sparks throughout the regular season.
Unfortunately, they dipped in form towards the back end.
Stingrays lost their last two regular season matches before succumbing to the Sparks in the major semi-final by nine goals.
This meant they would have to take the harder route as they prepared to meet the Manly Warringah Sapphires in the preliminary final three days later.
It lit a fire underneath them and they got back to their winning ways with a 14-goal statement.
As they knocked the Sapphires out of the race, they hoped they’d got themselves back on track.
However, the Sparks were brimming with confidence as they headed into the biggest game on the Premier League calendar with a five-game winning streak.
They’d been there last year, finished runners-up and were not about to let it happen again.
Using the 11-day break to rest and recuperate, they looked relaxed on grand final day.
At the first whistle, the Stingrays were first on the board.
But the Sparks were up and about in defence and pounced on any loose possession available to get on a four-goal roll, taking the lead.
Still, the Stingrays are known for their fight and by the end of the first quarter they had shaken off their early nerves to edge back in front, 13-12.
In the second quarter, the Sparks asserted their dominance once again.
Each time the Stingrays made a defensive substitution, they’d claw back some ball.
And yet, it wouldn’t take the Sparks long to problem solve during live play.
This pattern continued throughout the match, with the Stingrays making a change and the Sparks finding new ways to get back on top of their opponents.
Sparks captain Ashley Finegan was immense in the middle.
Starting the game at wing defence and later rolling into centre, she stuck her hand out instinctively many times to deflect the ball.
At half-time the Sparks had swung back the score in their favour, 29-26.
From here, they never took their foot off the pedal. Leading at the final break, 42-35.
With 15 minutes left in the game, the Stingrays tried to forge another comeback.
They threw everything they had left in the tank into the contest, but the Sparks were simply hungrier for success after last year’s disappointment.
The team in teal and pink scored the final goal of the game to finish on a high, 57-49.
That result makes them the first team in Premier League history – in either division – to win a third title. They have now lifted the trophy in 2017, 2020 and 2024.
The President’s Medal went to Sparks shooter Mia Baggett.
Opens Grand Final
Next up, were North Shore United and South West Mounties MAGIC in the Opens grand final.
United have had plenty of success in recent seasons and it was no surprise that this team coached by Australian men’s captain Dylan Nexhip was once again in the mix.
Their senior side boasts a lot of local talent that has made it through their U23s pathway.
With a consistent roster, United took the regular season by storm – losing just one game to finish two points clear at the top of the ladder, with the minor premiership in hand.
After previously etching their name on the trophy in 2020 and 2022, United hoped they could replicate the Sparks’ efforts earlier in the day to also win their third title.
However, the new kids on the block stood in their way.
MAGIC are a brand-new team and they’ve brought plenty of flair to the competition.
Despite starting from scratch, they were able to recruit some big names like 2019 world champion Gina Crampton and her fellow New Zealanders Elle Temu and Jamie Hume.
Samoan international Papi Alaalatoa was also signed to spearhead their attack.
The 19-year-old shooter won an U23s premiership last season with GWS Fury. This year she was well and truly ready to step up to the Opens league.
Many would have seen this team on paper ahead of round one and assumed they would make it this far. But they were actually the weaker side to qualify for finals.
Finishing in fourth place, Magic had been unable to beat any of the top three teams throughout the regular season.
The one thing they clung to though, was that they’d managed to keep United to a draw in the penultimate round.
MAGIC coach Virginia Welsh warned, “they haven’t met us full-strength yet,” and she was right.
Due to the nature of their roster, MAGIC had often had players pulled away for higher honours, like Super Netball, Super Netball Reserves or the Pacific Aus Sports Netball Series.
The good news is that they were all back and ready for their finals berth.
First, they knocked the ERNA Hawks out of the race with a 65-46 victory in the major semi-final.
Three days later, the reigning champions Sapphires also fell in the preliminary final, 55-54.
Any doubts some may have had about Magic’s capabilities were then completely obliterated in the first quarter of the grand final, as they rode the crowd’s support to an 11-goal lead, 22-11.
Straight out of the blocks you could see they wanted it more than their experienced opposition and the MAGIC fans from Liverpool deafened the stadium with their cheers.
Crampton and Alaalatoa have been growing their newfound combination across the course of the season, and in this match, it was finally in full flight.
As the wing attack tested how far and fast she could send the feed to Alaalatoa, the ball rocketed into the circle nice and high from way up on the transverse line.
Goal keeper Charli Fidler – who has had a phenomenal year, where she also earned a Super Netball debut – was a serial pest in defence, winning lots of possession back for MAGIC.
Although the second quarter was tighter, they still managed to stretch their lead out an extra two goals before the half-time break, 37-24.
But United are far too good to give up that easily and as they felt the premiership they had worked so hard for slipping away, they started to turn momentum.
After a strong third quarter, they were back within 12 goals and had found their feet. They fought tooth and nail in the last 15 minutes to win the final period and restrict MAGIC to single digits.
Alas, the damage had been done in the opening period and they ran out of time.
The final whistle went and Ken Rosewall Arena erupted in a sea of green as the MAGIC clinched their maiden premiership, 59-52.
In doing so, they are the second Opens side to win a title in their inaugural season.
Only the Stingrays have done this before in the foundation year of Premier League back in 2016.
The President’s Medal was awarded to Crampton for her hard work in the middle of the court.
Crampton’s crafty ball skills meant she was too difficult to contain, keeping the ball out of reach of United and handling every second pass for the Magic as the linchpin in their attack.
You can catch the replay of both Premier League grand finals at NetballNSW.TV
