The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. The league was organized by

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 ...

. Its main sponsor was the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

. Melbourne Phoenix were the competition's most successful team, winning five premierships.

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an netball in Australia, Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they ...

were the second most successful team, winning four premierships. Between them, Phoenix and Swifts played in every grand final, except in 1999 when

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 ...

won the second of their two premierships. Ahead of the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

season, the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league effectively merged with

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's National Bank Cup to form the ANZ Championship.

Teams

The founding members of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league included Adelaide Ravens,

, Melbourne Kestrels, Melbourne Phoenix, Perth Orioles, Sydney Sandpipers,

and Queensland Firebirds. The majority of the teams were named after native Australian birds including

ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * B ...

kestrels The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. Ratchet (instrument), ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behavio ...

, orioles and sandpipers. Adelaide Thunderbirds were initially going to be named Adelaide Falcons but the name was changed at the request of the rugby union team. In 2003 Ravens were replaced by AIS Canberra Darters and in 2004 Sandpipers were replaced by Hunter Jaegers. In

, when the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league was replaced by the ANZ Championship, Thunderbirds and Firebirds became founders of the new league. Several other Commonwealth Bank Trophy teams were transformed to form ANZ Championship teams. Swifts and Jaegers merged to become New South Wales Swifts, Kestrels and Phoenix merged to become

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 ...

and Orioles were rebranded as West Coast Fever. Meanwhile, the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and Canberra Darters ended their partnership and in 2008 entered two separate team in the Australian Netball League.

2007 teams

Earlier teams

Grand finals

Minor premierships

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Players' Player of the Year

Grand final MVP

Best New Talent

Coach of the Year

Margaret Pewtress Team of the Year

Television

ABC were the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league's official broadcast partner.

References

{{Netball leagues Defunct netball leagues in Australia Defunct professional sports leagues in Australia 1997 establishments in Australia 2007 disestablishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1997 Sports leagues disestablished in 2007

Trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...