Big omissions
Did we miss the marquee players?
Seven current or former Silver Ferns who played in last year’s ANZ Premiership have jumped to Australia.
Their defections were the big talking point ahead of the season, and everyone wondered just how different the New Zealand competition would look without them.
Hard to tell how badly they were missed with so much change across the board for teams, but the Steel in particular missed Kate Heffernan’s stability. Watch this space.
New look, no worries
Considering the Central Pulse and the Mainland Tactix were decimated in the off season, they laid down early statements of intent.
Both teams lost seven players, and many fans were dubious about how they would perform without their stalwarts.
The Pulse pumped the Magic 53-45 and the Tactix beat the Steel 55-42 in the big wins of round one.
Stars aligned
The Northern Stars beat their cross-town rivals, the Northern Mystics, for the first time in three years in what was the game of the round.
New shooting combination Amelia Walmsley and Martina Salmon were deadly in the 63-59 win, missing just four goals between them and nailing three two-pointers.
Defender Kate Burley was outstanding, snatching five intercepts in her battle with former team-mate Maia Wilson, who still shot 45 from 45 in her new colours.
Have the Stars been overlooked in the preseason chat?
Retirement gate
With midcourters Tayla Earle and Katie Te Ao sidelined, the Mystics opted to bring in their training partners — and Grace Kukutai.
Kukutai, who previously played for the Mystic and Magic, stepped away from elite netball in 2019 and moved to rugby, playing for Chiefs Manawa and earlier this year inking a two-year deal with the Canberra Raiders in the NRLW.
Feels like the same question is brought up every year, but why are franchises persisting with bringing back former players?
The NSW Swifts also utilised former Silver Fern Katrina Rore at the weekend, who has not played since 2023.
I’m not saying that they are not good players, but where is the pathway?
Mystics training partner Anne Kirikiri played 20 minutes across three quarters, but never really had time to find her feet.
Why aren’t players from the wider squads and the National Netball League teams given more of a shot? At some point you have to put faith in them to step in and do the job. There is no future if you do not give them a proper chance.
Good, bad, ugly
There was some really good netball throughout the opening round.
Saviour Tui shot four two-pointers for the struggling Magic, Catherine Hall picked up where she left off from a breakout 2025 and there were positive platforms to build from.
But two scores blew out — even without much involvement from the two-point shot — and there were a bunch of early-season jitters across the board.
There was also a heavy turnover count, with 136 general play turnovers across the three games, and only the Tactix (17) stayed under the 20-turnover mark.
