Vitality Netball Super League semi-finals: London Pulse vs Surrey Storm (6.30pm), Loughborough Lightning vs Manchester Thunder (8pm); watch both semi-finals live on Sky Sports Action, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports’ YouTube channel from 6pm on Friday, June 9
Mikki Austin talks Surrey Storm’s journey to the Netball Super League semi-final – their first since 2016 – and what’s next for her side’s development in the league. Catch all the action from 6pm Friday live on Sky Sports.
After 20 rounds, the Vitality Netball Super League has reached the semi-final stage – and for one club in particular it offers a chance to reclaim some of their former glory.
The final four sees table-toppers London Pulse welcome Surrey Storm to their home arena at the Copper Box, and reigning champions Manchester Thunder travel down to Leicestershire to take on Loughborough Lightning.
Storm have reached this stage for the first time since 2016. That year ended with them winning the Grand Final for the second time in a row, having reached four other finals prior to that, and director of netball Mikki Austin admits vaulting themselves back into title contention has taken them by surprise.
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Austin told Sky Sports: “I’m not sure any of it’s really going to settle in until some point in the summer when I’m sitting with my family going, ‘can you believe we did that?’ It has been a long time coming.”
“We can adjust rights and wrongs within our own group and focus on what we have to be better at, so we can hopefully come out the right side of a result for a semi.”
For Pulse, this marks only their second semi-final appearance after finishing in the top four in the table for the first time in 2022. On that occasion, they fell short to Loughborough and now face three exceptionally experienced sides with previous league titles under their belts.
However, they have only been beaten twice in the regular season – in Round 4 against Manchester Thunder, going down 58-51, and in Round 20 against Saracens Mavericks where they lost 52-46.
London Pulse have made the semi-finals for only the second time (Pic: Ben Lumley)
Pulse have been boosted by England duo Jade Clarke and Chelsea Pitman joining them for the 2023 season as well.
From Pitman’s point of view, a lot of their success this year has been down to having a good combination of youth and experience in Pulse’s squad, but she added: “As a collective, we want to be successful, and I think that overrides everything.”
Clarke acknowledged the strength of their top-four rivals too “Any team can beat other teams on the day, so I think that’s meant we’ve never got ahead of ourselves.”
Elsewhere, Loughborough – champions two years ago – remain in strong contention for this year’s final. They have only lost three games this season, but two of those came against London Pulse in Rounds 9 and 19.
Loughborough’s Mary Cholhok is the leading scorer in the Netball Super League this year (Pic: Ben Lumley)
If Pulse beat Storm in the semis and it leads to a Pulse-Lightning final, it could be a tricky game for the latter. However, Loughborough has been an influential side in the history of the Netball Super League, and they continue to look strong.
Their dominant goal shooter, Mary Cholhok, has the power to disturb defenders with her 89.18 goal percentage making her the leading goal scorer this year with 808 goals to date.
Excelling on the defensive side, meanwhile, is England international Fran Williams, who sits third in the rankings for the most intercepts with an impressive 55 this season. Having two players of this standard leaves Lightning in a very strong position ahead of the final.
It is no surprise that Thunder, who clinched a fourth Netball Super League title last year, are back in the semi-finals. They have been in the competition since it was launched and are one of the most influential, as well as successful, teams.
Lenize Potgieter has been one of Manchester Thunder’s stars this year (Pic: Ben Lumley)
With a strong academy producing talented players, as well as the addition of international stars such as Lenize Potgieter from South Africa and England’s Natalie Metcalf, Thunder have continued to put in strong performances during each round in this year’s league.
They have won their last five matches in the run-up to the semi-finals. However, they were not successful last time they played Lightning, losing 65-57 in Round 14. However, Thunder will take solace from the fact they were successful against Lightning in Round 5, winning 62-55.
Watch all of the Netball Super League semi-final action live this Friday on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix from 6pm. Both matches will be available to stream on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel as well.
