ANZ Premiership

ANZ Premiership
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2018 ANZ Premiership season
Sport Netball
Inaugural season 2017
Motto Made From More
No. of teams 6
Country New Zealand
Most recent
champion(s)		 Southern Steel (2017 and 2018)
TV partner(s) Sky Sport
Sponsor(s) ANZ
Official website anzpremiership.co.nz

The ANZ Premiership is the premier domestic netball league in New Zealand. The league was formed in 2016 as a successor to the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which was held from 2008 to 2016. The ANZ Premiership is contested annually by six teams based throughout New Zealand,[1] with a total of 47 games played over 14 weeks.[2]

The inaugural season of the ANZ Premiership was played in 2017, with the Southern Steel emerging as champions. The 2018 season commenced in May 2018.

History

The new domestic league was launched by Netball New Zealand as a successor to the ANZ Championship,[3] a Trans-Tasman netball competition that was contested by five Australian teams and five New Zealand teams starting from 2008. The ANZ Championship saw netball reach the status of a semi-professional sport in both countries, with players making significantly higher salaries than in previous competitions. Over the course of nine years Australian teams dominated the ANZ Championship, winning eight of the nine seasons played.

The final season of the ANZ Championship was held in 2016. Each country subsequently announced separate leagues to commence in 2017. The Australian league was announced in May 2016 as "Suncorp Super Netball",[4] while the New Zealand league was announced in July 2016 as the "ANZ Premiership".[5] Six teams were announced for the new ANZ Premiership, including the five New Zealand teams from the ANZ Championship plus a new team based in wider Auckland.[1]

The inaugural season commenced on 26 March 2017. The Southern Steel progressed through the initial round-robin stage of the 2017 season undefeated to emerge as minor premiers.[6] The Steel also advanced through the finals stages undefeated, winning the grand final against the Central Pulse to become inaugural champions.[7] The 2018 season commenced in May 2018, starting later in the year than the previous season due to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.[8]

Teams

Teams in the ANZ Premiership
Team Colours[9] Established Base Main venue* Head coach
Northern Mystics                2008 Auckland The Trusts Arena Helene Wilson
Northern Stars           2017 Auckland Vodafone Events Centre Kiri Wills
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic                     1999 Hamilton Claudelands Arena Margaret Forsyth
Central Pulse           2008 Wellington TSB Bank Arena Yvette McCausland-Durie
Mainland Tactix                2008 Christchurch Horncastle Arena Marianne Delaney-Hoshek
Southern Steel                2008 Invercargill ILT Stadium Southland Reinga Bloxham
* Some teams have secondary stadiums in other cities.

Format

The ANZ Premiership operates as a 14-week tournament with 47 matches during the first half of the calendar year. In 2017, the official pre-season was held at Te Wānanga o Raukawa Campus in Otaki, with all six teams competing in the tournament between 10–12 March.[10]

The season begins with a 13-week round-robin stage, followed by a two-game finals series. During the round-robin stage, each team plays every other team three times, accumulating competition points throughout the regular season. In the finals series, the 2nd and 3rd-ranked teams on the points table play off in the elimination final. The winner of this plays against the top-ranked team in the grand final.

Games throughout the season will be held on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Three Super Sunday events will be held during the round-robin stage, with all 3 games being played featuring all six teams back to back at one venue.[11]

Media coverage

All 47 games will be shown live on Sky Sport in New Zealand. Three Super Sunday events will be broadcast during the season, with all six teams playing back to back at one venue. Sky Sport will also show live games on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the season, and air the popular Sky Sport TV show Netball Zone. [12]

Champions

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "New Zealand's newest netball franchise revealed – Sport – NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "2017 COMPETITION SCHEDULE" (PDF). Gallery.mailchimp.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Netball: End of ANZ Championship confirmed, new competition revealed – Sport – NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Game is Changing – Suncorp Super Netball". supernetball.com.au.
  5. ↑ "ANZ backs new NZ Netball Elite League" (Press release). ANZ Bank New Zealand. Scoop. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Donaldson, Scott (27 June 2017). "Unbeaten Southern Steel regular season 'counts for nothing' ahead of national final". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Steel crush Pulse to take ANZ Premiership title". The New Zealand Herald. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Netball NZ confirm later start to 2018 ANZ Premiership". The New Zealand Herald. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "ANZ Premiership Netball 2017 Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Official ANZ Premiership pre-season tournament heads to Otaki / News • ANZ Premiership Netball". Anzpremiership.co.nz. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "'Super Sundays' main feature of new NZ national elite netball league". Stuff.co.nz. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Super Sunday blockbuster to open ANZ Premiership | Scoop News". Scoop.co.nz. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
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