Take a look at the three match-ups coming in Round 3 of the 2024 ANZ Premiership.
Defending champions the MG Mystics held their nerve to triumph, 61-52, over a hugely improved Ascot Park Hotel Steel in the cauldron of ILT Stadium Southland.
4pm, Saturday 13 April
Magic v Mystics at GLOBOX Arena, Claudelands in Hamilton
Live on Sky Sport and free to air on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel has been dealt a blow with international shooter George Fisher ruled out of the ANZ Premiership season.
Based in Invercargill, the Steel were formed in 2007 and represent the Netball South Zone which embraces Southland and Otago.
The Steel resulted from the merger between two former National Bank Cup teams, the Southern Sting and Otago Rebels. The Steel subsequently becoming a founding team when netball launched into the semi-professional era with the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship in 2008.
Robyn Broughton was appointed the team’s first coach with Jenny-May Coffin and Megan Hutton named as co-captains.
The Steel had their best season in the final year of the ANZ Championship in 2016 when they won the minor premiership but subsequently lost the New Zealand Conference Final.
The Steel celebrated the introduction of the new elite ANZ Premiership domestic league in 2017 in style when claiming the inaugural title, completing a 16-match season unbeaten. They retained the title in 2018.
The Steel’s playing strip contains a mix of the burgundy/cerise and blue colours of Southland and Otago. The team’s home venues are ILT Stadium Southland, in Invercargill and the Edgar Centre, in Dunedin.
