The 2021

Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a professional netball league in Netball in Australia, Australia. It superseded the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which also inc ...

season was the fifth season of the premier

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

league in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The season commenced on 1 May and concluded with the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

on 28 August. The defending premiers were the

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. B ...

, but they were unsuccessful in making the finals series. The

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian professional netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. ...

won their second premiership in three years, after defeating

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian professional netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture bet ...

63–59 in the Grand Final.

Overview

Teams

Format

The season is played over fourteen rounds, allowing every team to play each other twice, once at home and once away. The top four teams on the

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps commonly used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladd ...

at the conclusion of the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

qualify for the

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In the first week of the finals series, the 1st ranked team hosts the 2nd ranked team in the major semi-final (with the winner of that match to qualify for the

) and the 3rd ranked team hosts the 4th ranked team in the minor semi-final (with the loser of that match eliminated). The loser of the major semi-final then hosts the winner of the minor semi-final in the preliminary final. The winner of the major semi-final then hosts the winner of the preliminary final in the Grand Final.

Rules

The league retained the two-goal super shot rule, which allowed a goal shooter or attacker to score two goals for a shot successfully made in the designated area inside the circle during the last five minutes of each quarter. The league also retained the rolling substitutions that were introduced the previous season. The decision to retain the super shot was met with disapproval from many fans and players, with Australian Netball Players’ Association CEO Kathryn Harby-Williams saying a player survey indicated 60 per cent were opposed to the super shot. Extra time in the event of drawn matches was retained. In the event of a tied score at the end of the fourth quarter, a five-minute period of extra time is played, and if the teams remain tied, the match is declared a draw. The bonus point system, last utilised in the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, was not implemented, with the league's competition committee saying it would "be shelved for the foreseeable future".

West Coast Fever salary cap breach

The

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...

commenced the season on negative-12 premiership points after a

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball, Australian National Netba ...

investigation discovered the club had paid players more than $120,000 above the

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The Fever were also fined $300,000 ($150,000 of which was suspended), making the penalties the harshest in Australian netball history.

Player signings

Important dates in relation to player signings for the 2021 season were: * 13 July – 18 October 2020: Clubs had the exclusive right to re-sign any of their existing contracted players, permanent or temporary replacement players or training partners from the

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008, it has served as a second-level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Net ...

(ANL) on a single year contract for the 2021 season * 19 October – 16 November 2020: Teams can officially sign any free agents as one of their contracted players on a one-year contract for the 2021 season * 16–30 November 2020: Teams can commence signing training partners for the 2021 season. All player contracts were required to expire at the end of the 2021 season in accordance with the provisions of an agreement struck between Netball Australia and the Australian Netball Players’ Association during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The following table is a list of players who moved clubs/leagues into Super Netball, or were elevated to a permanent position in the senior team during the off-season. It does not include players who were re-signed by their original Super Netball clubs.

Regular season

* Source
Click here
(all times in AEST)

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Ladder

Finals series

Major semi-final

Minor semi-final

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Preliminary final

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Grand Final

* Grand Final MVP Winner:

Maddy Turner Maddy Turner (born 17 December 1995) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the New South Wales Swifts. Turner was born in Adelaide and her first name is actually Madeleine. She grew up playing netball a ...

Awards

The following players were awarded for their performances in the 2021 season: * The

Player of the Year Award Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

was won by

Jhaniele Fowler Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard (formerly known as Jhaniele Fowler-Reid or Jhaniele Fowler; born 21 July 1989) is a professional Jamaican netball player who plays for the West Coast Fever in the Suncorp Super Netball League. Fowler-Nembhard is a 5-time ...

of the

. * The Grand Final MVP Award was won by

of the

. * The Rising Star Award was won by Sophie Dwyer of

. * The Joyce Brown Coach of the Year award was won by Briony Akle of the

. * The Leading Goalscorer Award was won by

of the

, who scored 891 goals. * The following players were named in the Super Netball Team of the Year: ;Attackers * Goal Shooter:

(

) * Goal Attack: Jo Harten
(

) ;Midcourters * Wing Attack: Maddie Hay
(

) * Centre:

Kim Ravaillion Kimberley Ravaillion (born 26 July 1993), is a retired Australia netball international. Ravaillion was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 Netball World Cup and the silver medal a ...

(

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian professional netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pl ...

) * Wing Defence: Gabi Simpson
(

) ;Defenders * Goal Defence:

Sunday Aryang Sunday Aryang is an Ethiopian Australian netball player. Aryang represents the West Coast Fever in Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a ...

(

) * Goal Keeper:

Courtney Bruce Courtney Bruce (born 8 December 1993) is an Australian netball player. She was part of the Australian squad that won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was selected in the Australian Diamonds squad for the 2018/19 international season. ...

(

) ;Reserves * Attack Reserve: Samantha Wallace
(

) * Midcourt Reserve: Jamie-Lee Price
(

) * Defence Reserve: Shamera Sterling
(

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 ANZ Championship s ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suncorp

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2021 in Australian netball