The 2021

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

season was the fifth season of the premier

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

league in Australia. The season commenced on 1 May and concluded on 28 August. The defending premiers were the

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 wh ...

, but they failed to make the finals. The

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian 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. The team was ...

won their second championship in three years, after defeating

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian 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 between Netball N ...

by 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 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 ladders, such ...

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 ...

qualify for the

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. 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

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") 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. S ...

) 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, 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 an 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 Perth Orioles, t ...

commenced the season on negative-12 premiership points after a Netball Australia 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. Sever ...

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 (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 November – 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. 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) * ET = Extra time

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

----

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 grew up playing netball at an elite level, representing Australia 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 (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is h ...

was won by

Jhaniele Fowler Jhaniele Fowler (formerly known as Jhaniele Fowler-Reid; born 21 July 1989) is a professional Jamaican netball player and as of 2018 a member of the West Coast Fever in the Suncorp Super Netball League. Fowler also plays domestic netball in Jam ...

. * The Grand Final MVP Award was won by

of the

. * The Rising Star Award was won by

Sophie Dwyer Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

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

Briony Akle Briony Akle is a former Australia netball player and current netball coach. Between 1999 and 2004, Akle played for Sydney Swifts in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Akle was a member of the Sydney Swifts teams that won premierships in 2 ...

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: ;Defenders * Goal Keeper: Courtney Bruce
(

) * Goal Defence: Sunday Aryang
(

) ;Midcourters * Wing Defence: Gabi Simpson
(

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian 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 played in the ...

) * Centre: Kim Ravaillion
(

) * Wing Attack: Maddie Hay
(

) ;Attackers * Goal Attack:

Jo Harten Joanne Elizabeth Harten (born 21 March 1989) is a former England netball international. She was a member of the England team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She also sits on the board of the Australian Netball Players ...

(

) * Goal Shooter:

(

) ;Reserves * Attack Reserve: Samantha Wallace
(

) * Micourt Reserve: Jamie-Lee Price
(

) * Defence Reserve: Shamera Sterling
(

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. 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 pla ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suncorp

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

2021 in Australian netball