The eighth instalment of the ANZ Championship is about to make a busy sporting calendar even busier. Netball writer Robert van Royen looks ahead to what we might expect from the revamped competition.
New conference model
Like many other competitions, the ANZ Championship has been revamped and is now an American-style conference-based championship.
The five New Zealand teams and five Australian teams will be in their own conferences, with the top three in each making the playoffs at the end of the 14-week regular season.
The change has been criticised by some people, who claim it came about to help out struggling New Zealand teams. Under the revamp, a New Zealand team is guaranteed to take part in each of the major semifinals.
Kiwi teams struggled to make the playoffs under the old setup, where only the top four teams qualified.
The new format will certainly keep people interested for longer, with teams expected to be fighting it out for the three playoff spots within each conference until late in the regular season.
Challenge trophy
As part of the revised competition, netball's version of the Ranfurly Shield has been introduced this season.
The West Coast Fever go into the new season holding the Challenge Trophy, after a draw was held last week to determine the inaugural holder.
Just like the Log o' Wood, the holder will defend the trophy in its home regular-season games. It will not be contested during the playoffs.
It may take a while for it to capture the imagination of fans, but it will raise the stakes in what could otherwise be meaningless games.
If the Fever successfully defends the trophy against the Northern Mystics in round two, the Southern Steel will get a chance to claim it the following week.
Australian domination
Seven seasons, one title.
There is no questioning the absolute dominance the Australian sides have had on the competition since its inception in 2008.
The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic (2012) is the only New Zealand side to have its name etched on the trophy, and is the only side in the competition's history to have made the playoffs every year.
At the other end of the scale, the Pulse and Tactix have never made the playoffs, while the Steel and Mystics have both qualified twice.
The fact a New Zealand team is guaranteed a spot in each of the competition's major semifinals far from guarantees Australia's dominance will end, but it at least gives our teams a shot - something they have lacked in the past.
New Zealand favourite
History is on the Magic's side, the Northern Mystics look great on paper and the Steel is building a youthful team, but it is hard to look past the Central Pulse as New Zealand's strongest team.
Coached by Robyn Broughton and captained by Katrina Grant, the Pulse should at the very least make the playoffs.
It is more likely it will finish as the top seed in the New Zealand conference, ensuring a spot in the semifinals.
A year after finishing sixth overall - third-best among New Zealand teams - the Pulse has improved offensively with Silver Ferns Jodi Brown and Ameliaranne Wells signing on.
At the other end of the court, England international Ama Agbeze, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Grant will test the best attacking sides in the competition.
Liana Leota, Brown, Joline Henry and Irene van Dyk combine for almost 400 test caps, giving the side plenty of experience.
