But talent and potential alone are no longer enough, such is the strength of the competition we saw week in, week out in 2017.
Teams will need something (or someone) special if they’re to compete for a finals berth in 2018.
Here are the players that could be your team’s “X factor” this season.
ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS – BONGIWE MSOMI
Good luck to whoever’s tasked with trying to tame this South African pocket rocket each week.
What Msomi lacks in height, she more than makes up for by being among the quickest players ever to take to a netball court.
Throw her out in front of the Thunderbirds goalers and team her with Commonwealth Games gold medalist Chelsea Pitman and we could be watching one of the most formidable combinations in the competition.
GIANTS NETBALL – KRISTIANA MANU’A
In the inaugural SSN grand final, the Giants were ruthlessly exposed by the Sunshine Coast Lightning’s wealth of attacking options, and had no real answer for Caitlin Bassett.
Enter Kristiana Manu’a.
The fact that Manu’a was elevated to Diamonds training partner earlier this year, despite not having played a Suncorp Super Netball game last year due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, speaks to just how highly the young defender is regarded.
Manu’a doesn’t have the height of some of her peers, but she more than makes up for it with explosivity and her ability to just make things happen.
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES – ERIN BELL
The ‘Pies challenges at the goal attack position last season were well documented. But now they boast long-time Thunderbirds goaler Bell – who many pundits justifiably believe should still be an Australian Diamond.
In Bell, Collingwood could have the missing link that helps their Diamond-studded attack end fulfil its potential as the most damaging in the competition.
MELBOURNE VIXENS – EMILY MANNIX
While Mwai Kumwenda rightfully rules the Vixens’ highlights reel most weeks, it’s Mannix that could be the difference if the Vixens are to make good on their potential in 2018.
Having grabbed her opportunity at GK with both hands last season, Mannix is now firmly in the frame as a Diamond, and given the task that awaits her each week against towering talls Caitlin Bassett, Romelda Aiken, Sam Wallace and Jhaniele Fowler, she’ll need to lift her game to yet another level this year.
The good news is that if Mannix shows the same level of improvement she displayed after Geva Mentor vacated the GK bib at the end of 2016, she’ll deliver more than enough X factor to ensure her team goes deep into finals again.
NSW SWIFTS – SARAH KLAU
The Swifts are something of a mystery this season. Chockful of youngsters at every position, they could be the competition’s surprise packet, or they could find the going tough in the week-to-week rough and tumble with their seasoned opposition.
Defender Sarah Klau will be pivotal to the Swifts’ fortunes. Elevated to the Diamonds squad as a training partner last year, the 190cm 23-year-old will need to deliver big time on her potential if she’s to lead her team’s defence end, with Kate Eddy playing her first SSN season and Maddy Turner entering her third season but still just 22 years old.
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS – LAURA GEITZ
Missing finals isn’t in the Firebirds’ DNA. And yet in 2017 the perennial premiership contenders found themselves on the outer, due in no small part to the absence of baby-bound captain Laura Geitz.
But Geitz is back.
Receiving a gift-wrapped Diamond to complement the team’s younger defenders, who pocketed valuable experience in her absence last year, is a luxury that will almost certainly see the Queenslanders play a key post-season role again.
Geitz showed at the Commonwealth Games that she lost little of her speed and impact during her time out of the game, and she’ll be pulling her younger teammates along with her this season.
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING – KELSEY BROWNE
It’s almost blasphemous to be questioning the midcourt of the defending SSN champions, but that’s how big the hole is that Laura Langman left when she decided to take a break from netball.
Much of that load will now be shouldered by Kelsey Browne, who emerged as one of Australia’s premier wing attacks last year and possesses scorching speed, as well as arguably the best vision in the game.
We know what we’ll get at either end from Geva Mentor and Caitlin Bassett, so the Lightning’s chances will likely hinge on whether Browne and Laura Scherian can lead their less experienced troops in the midcourt.
WEST COAST FEVER – JHANIELE FOWLER
No surprises here.
Fowler needs little introduction as she makes her Suncorp Super Netball debut, entering the competition as its tallest player.
The Fever struggled without a genuine tall target last season, following Caitlin Bassett’s defection to Sunshine Coast, so Fowler will straighten them up and give Nat Medhurst the space she needs to really work her magic at goal attack.
The 40 to 50 goals Fowler will rack up week in, week out might be handy, too.
Fowler will put bums on seats in Perth, and after winning just two games last season, a bit of star quality is exactly what the Fever need.
