After all, in many ways there was no precedent or road map to follow. They were a brand new franchise in the first year of a new league, and many players were experiencing success at the highest level for the first time.
Add a draining Commonwealth Games campaign for four of the team’s starting seven, there were a myriad questions for the defending champions to answer as the 2018 season began.
But there was plenty of collective head-scratching when the Lightning started the season 0-3 and looked down and out before their title defence had even warmed up.
Hindsight tells us that those three games were against the only teams to finish higher than the Lightning this year – the Giants, Firebirds and Fever – and they quickly righted the ship with three consecutive wins to put themselves back in the mix.
The league’s new bonus point system has had its critics, but you likely won’t find the Lightning inner sanctum among them, with the Sunshine Coast side collecting more bonus points (35) for quarter wins than any other team.
While coach Noeline Taurua regularly rued major lapses that cost her team throughout the season, their best netball had them taking it right up to the other finals contenders.
PRELIM FINAL: GAME DETAILS
Date: Sunday 19 August – 1pm AEST
Venue: Qudos Bank Arena
Broadcast: Nine (GEM in WA) & Netball Live app
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