It was the dream match-up that never happened.
Coming off 21 wins in a row, this could have been the Southern Steel’s year to reign supreme.
It won both the New Zealand’s domestic ANZ Premiership and the post-season Super Club tournament, featuring a selection of teams from around the world.
However, a notable absentee was the winner of the Australia’s Super Netball league, the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
While a battle for the ultimate crown will not happen this year, a cross-over between the two competitions is still in the works.
"We’re obviously interested in that," Netball New Zealand head of high performance Keir Hansen said.
"We set up Super Club and got that off the ground this year, we’ll look to grow that tournament as well.
"So getting that international competition is good and we want to achieve that for our next level below the Silver Ferns.
"Obviously, the Australian teams would be welcome at that competition and we’ll to try to get them there in the future."
He confirmed NNZ had talked to Australia about the Super Club competition when asked about getting its top teams to compete and would continue to do so.
On top of the tournament, many fans would have hoped to see a one-off match-up between the Southern Steel and the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
"I think just timing this time around and both countries being very focused on getting their domestic leagues off the ground," Hansen said.
"But obviously there’s opportunities there in the future."
