The ANZ Premiership released its revised schedule yesterday and home games are back on the agenda.
Steel fans will need to be patient, though. They will have to wait until the penultimate round when the Steel will host the Mystics and Pulse in back-to-back games in Invercargill on August 7 and 8.
The following week the Dunedin-based fans will get to see their side play the Tactix at the Edgar Centre.
The tournament was suspended in March after just one round due to Covid-19.
When it was rescheduled, New Zealand still had restrictions on mass gatherings and all the games were slated to be played at one venue in Auckland.
But with those restrictions now removed, Netball New Zealand has gone to considerable trouble to hastily re-arrange the schedule yet again.
Netball South chief executive Lana Winders was among the many who were grateful.
"It is just going to be so wonderful to bring Steel home games to our loyal fans in Otago and Southland," she said.
"They are such an important part of who we are and it is such an amazing experience to play in front of a home crowd.’
"To have our last three [round-robin] games at home is an amazing way to finish the season."
It will also be good to get some cash flowing through the organisation again.
Ticket sales are still being finalised but Winders is hoping for strong demand.
Netball South has so far got through the Covid-19 crisis without making anyone redundant, although staff were asked to work reduced hours.
"That was pretty much a standard response across netball in respect to those early Covid lockdown days," she said.
Netball New Zealand head of events Kate Agnew said it had been a huge undertaking to alter the schedule to ensure teams could give their fans an opportunity to see live netball.
“To get the 2020 ANZ Premiership back on court has been a joint effort between Netball New Zealand and the ANZ Premiership teams to achieve this,” she said.
“We have reworked venue availability, accommodation and travel options in order to take the competition around the country.
“We understand that playing in front of home fans is a huge part of the game and we know how important it is for the ANZ Premiership teams to have that opportunity.”
The first six weeks of the revamped tournament will see all the games still played at the Auckland Netball Centre.
But from July 30, the draw changes with games moved to home venues in Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton and Porirua for the Round 8 fixtures.
Invercargill, Wellington and Dunedin will also have the opportunity to host round-robin games with the regular season concluding on August 17.
The Steel will restart its campaign with a match against the Tactix in Auckland on Saturday.
