Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

and 2016, they played in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was own ...

. Since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that represents Southland and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. In 2017 they won their first premiership when they were the inaugural ANZ Premiership winners. In 2018 they won their second premiership when they retained the title. In

Steel were the inaugural winners of the Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament.

History

Formation

Southern Steel was formed in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. The new team was effectively a merger of the two former National Bank Cup teams, Southern Sting and Otago Rebels. Steel subsequently became founder members of the

. Ahead of the

2008 ANZ Championship season The 2008 ANZ Championship season was the inaugural season of the ANZ Championship. The 2008 season began on 5 April and concluded on 28 July. Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic were minor premiers after finishing top of the table following the regular ...

, Robyn Broughton was appointed the team's first head coach and Jenny-May Coffin and Megan Hutton were named as co-captains.

ANZ Championship

Between

and 2016, Southern Steel played in the

. In both

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Steel finished 4th during the regular season and qualified for the playoffs. However on both occasions they failed to progress beyond the semifinals. Steel's best performance during the ANZ Championship era came in 2016. With a team coached by Noeline Taurua, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Shannon Francois, and Jane Watson, Steel finished the season as minor premiers. However, they subsequently lost the New Zealand Conference Final to and were defeated in the semifinals by Queensland Firebirds. ;Regular season statistics

ANZ Premiership

Since

, Steel have played in the ANZ Premiership. With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Shannon Francois, and Jane Watson, Steel finished the 2017 season as inaugural ANZ Premiership winners. After finishing the regular season unbeaten and as minor premiers, Steel defeated Central Pulse 69–53 in the grand final. This saw Steel complete a 16 match unbeaten season. However, Steel's perfect season was almost derailed on 12 June when a van with six of their players on board was involved in a road traffic accident in Fendalton,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. Four of the players were injured. Wendy Frew received over seventy stitches and under went surgery while Te Paea Selby-Rickit suffered a dual fractured rib. Shannon Francois and Jhaniele Fowler-Reid had minor injuries. Just two days later, on 14 June, with the four injured players replaced by four players recruited from their Beko Netball League team, Steel notched up win number 14 of the season against

Mainland Tactix Mainland Tactix are a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Champions ...

. Despite been 41–38 down after three quarters, Steel launched a comeback in the fourth quarter to win 51–46. Steel remained unbeaten as they went onto win the

2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club The 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club was the inaugural Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament. With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Shannon Francois, and Jane Wa ...

tournament, defeating

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

79–58 in the final. The run continued into the 2018 season. However after defeating Mystics in their opening match, they were beaten 62–51 by Pulse, ending a 22–match win streak. The streak included 17 ANZ Premiership matches and five Super Club matches. Despite this and despite losing two key players, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid and Jane Watson, Steel went onto to retain their title. In the 2018 grand final they again defeated Pulse. ;Regular season statistics

Grand finals

; ANZ Premiership ; Netball New Zealand Super Club

Home venues

Steel's main home venue is

Stadium Southland ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill, New Zealand is a multi-purpose venue, capable of conducting a wide range of events from large scale concerts to sporting events and exhibitions. Incorporating the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome, the stadium co ...

. They also play some home games at

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

's Edgar Centre. During the 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

seasons, while Stadium Southland was unavailable following a roof collapse in September 2010, Steel played their Invercargill home games at the

ILT Velodrome The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome, previously known as the ILT Velodrome and also known as the Invercargill Velodrome, is an indoor velodrome located in Surrey Park, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand. It is next door to the ILT Stadium Southland ...

Notable players

2023 squad

Internationals

; ; * Rachel Rasmussen *

Hayley Saunders Hayley Saunders (born 2 July 1989 in Gore, New Zealand, Gore, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player and member of the Southern Steel team in the ANZ Championship. Saunders first represented Southland in the National Championships from 200 ...

; *

Natasha Chokljat Natasha Chokljat (born 27 April 1979 in Tasmania) is a former Australian netball player. She has played international netball as a member of the Australian national team, and has played in the ANZ Championship for the Melbourne Vixens and th ...

* Megan Dehn * Demelza McCloud ; * George Fisher ; * Jhaniele Fowler * Malysha Kelly ; * Julianna Naoupu * Rachel Rasmussen *

Sheryl Scanlan Sheryl Scanlan (née Clarke; born 8 September 1977) is a New Zealand and Samoan international netball player. She played for the Northern Force in the National Bank Cup from 1998 until the conclusion in 2007, when the new ANZ Championship ...

Saviour Tui Saviour Tui (born 17 October 2001) is a Samoa netball international. Tui was a member of three title winning teams in New Zealand's National Netball League. In 2018 and 2019, Tui won titles with Central Zone/Central Manawa. In 2021 she won a ...

; * Leana de Bruin * Lenize Potgieter ; *

Kalifa McCollin Kalifa McCollin (born 18 July 1995) is a netball player from Trinidad and Tobago, who plays for the Collingwood Magpies in the Suncorp Super Netball league. Career McCollin's netball career commenced from a young age. Born in Trinidad and Tob ...

Captains

Award winners

ANZ Championship awards

; ANZ Championship MVP ;Notes * Leana de Bruin shared the 2011 award with

Natalie Medhurst Natalie Medhurst (born 20 January 1984) is a retired Australian international netball player. As well as playing for several clubs in Australia's domestic competitions, she also made multiple appearances for the Australian Diamonds in various in ...

( Queensland Firebirds). * In 2015 and 2016 Jhaniele Fowler was the MVP player in the New Zealand Conference. ;

ANZ Championship Best New Talent The following is a list of netball players who played in the ANZ Championship between 2008 and 2016. ANZ Championship award winners There were four official ANZ Championship Awards. ANZ Championship Most Valuable Player ;Notes * Romelda Aike ...

New Zealand Netball Awards

;New Zealand ANZ Championship Player of the Year ;ANZ Premiership Player of the Year

Coaches

Head coaches

Assistant coaches

Reserve team

Since 2016, Netball South have entered a team in the National Netball League. They are effectively the reserve team of Southern Steel. They originally played simply as Netball South before becoming known as Southern Blast. In 2016, Netball South won the inaugural NNL title after defeating Central Zone 51–46 in the grand final. At the 2016 New Zealand Netball Awards, Netball South winning the inaugural title was named Moment of the Year.

Honours

* ANZ Premiership **''Winners'':

, 2018 **''Minor premiers'':

**''Minor premiers'': 2016 * Netball New Zealand Super Club **''Winners'':

References

External links

Official website

Southern Steel on Facebook

Southern Steel on Twitter
{{Netball in New Zealand ANZ Premiership teams ANZ Championship teams Netball teams in New Zealand Sport in Dunedin Sport in Invercargill Sports clubs established in 2007 2007 establishments in New Zealand Organisations based in Invercargill