Wasps Netball: The Sting in the Superleague's Tail

  • May 2nd, 2018
  • Tom Bean

The Rise of Wasps Netball


This weekend marks the halfway point in the Vitality Netball Superleague season where Wasps Netball are sitting pretty at the top. In only their second season in the Superleague, they certainly would be excused for taking their time to find their feet and work out where they fit into the structure. However after a maiden Superleague title last season, there is absolutely no sign of them sticking the rule book back together that they so emphatically tore apart last season. They're again taking the league by unrelenting storm, running out with 10 wins from 10 so far.

Already a major force in Rugby Union, in 2016 the Coventry based brand made a play into Netball, founding Wasps Netball. As one of three new franchises entering into the Superleague for the 2017 season, they used their wealth of knowledge, experience and funds to feed a Premiership Rugby sized mentality into a new and raw netball setup fueled by seemingly boundless ambition. At the cornerstone of the Wasps movement is former England great, Tamsin Greenway. Bought in as Director of Netball, her impact was instantaneous as big names followed her to Coventry.

The infectious ambition of both Greenway and Wasps has worked hard to produce a franchise with a future. Never was the project seen by either party as a one season show of superiority before moving on; the future was a huge part in the recruitment process. Greenway said from the start that 'this is not about a one hit wonder, it's a building process' (BBC Sport) and despite established names coming in, there was an abundance of youth and relative unknowns in the squad last season. Now half-way through their second season, George Fisher, a player ear-marked by Greenway as one for the future, sits at the top of the Top Scorers table in the Superleague and has regularly performed beyond her years at The Ricoh this season, testament to the structure they have at the club.

Currently on maximum points, with two of England's Commonwealth Games golden heroes, Jade Clarke and Natalie Haythornthwaite, back in the fray and their youngsters finding their potential, things are looking quite rosey at Wasps Netball at the moment, leaving the rest to fight below them .

Wasps Netball's success this season has been built upon the their pure ability to out-score their opponents. Take a leaf from their book and get your team scoring at will with these brilliant Sportplan Shooting Drills.

The Season So Far


After 10 rounds, we've reached the halfway stage, so we are taking a look at the Superleague Netball season so far as well as what we have to look forward to on the run-in to the Grand Final on July 7th.

As we've seen, Wasps have set the pace from the start with a 100% perfect record, but behind them though is where the real fight is. The battle for the top four spots is fierce with four teams separated by just six points. Team Bath (15) and Manchester Thunder (18) both have a game in hand over their fellow top four rivals Loughborough Lightning (18) and benecosMavericks (21) and will be hoping to close the gap in the coming weeks.

Manchester Thunder and Loughborough Lightning played out arguably the game of the season in round 4. It was certainly one for the weather lovers with the snow and ice causing mayhem outside and Thunder and Lightning clashing inside. The game saw Manchester deal out Loughborough's first loss of the season in a nail-biting 55-56 result that went right to the wire. The Thunder also showed their credentials in a tight four point defeat to Wasps last weekend, as have Lightning who beat rivals benecosMavericks but have struggled against others around them, most notably a loss to Team Bath putting brief halt to their charge for second place. Both teams will be really looking to mount a charge in the second half of the season with Karen Greig and Anna Carter pulling the strings respectively.

Team Bath will be hoping to take some inspiration from Eboni Beckford-Chambers' golden exploits on the Gold Coast as they look to improve their consistency against the top teams in order to snatch a semi-final spot. Despite the win against Loughborough Lightning, they're yet picked up points against their other rivals so will be looking for better things come the later rounds.

With the league almost split in two, the second set of five are covered by just three points. With barely anything separating them at the bottom of the table, Severn Stars will be hoping Eleanor Cardwell can continue her fine performances to drag them away from the bottom and try to bridge the gap. Team Northumbria and UWS Sirens find themselves both on three points and are seemingly lacking the fire power of those around them, meaning it could be a tough ask for them to drag themselves up and away from the bottom spot.

What's To Come


With Wasps showing no signs of taking their foot off the gas, the fight for the top four will be where the drama is. On the final day of the regular season, Team Bath travel to Manchester which could be one with an awful lot riding on it if things continue in the same vein. However, with all of those teams in the hunt still to face each other, you can expect a lot of chopping, changing and a healthy chunk of excitement before then!

Although we don't know who's going to finish where, what we can be sure of is that as each team jostle their way into position to take a late charge, they will all be looking to take a slice of inspiration from that golden triumph Down Under and we at Sportplan can't wait to see how it unfolds!

The semi-finals take place on June 30th with the final on July 7th where we will see the Netball Superleague champions crowned. But before then, buckle up and enjoy the ride, it's going to be a breathtaking race to the line!