Netball Super League: What happened in round 10?
- Published
Leeds Rhinos earned their first win of the season over Celtic Dragons
How are things shaping up at the halfway point of the Netball Super League? Loughborough Lightning are looking to "push on" towards the semi-finals and which shooter is growing in confidence each week?
Here is what you need to know from round 10.
How do things stand at halfway point?
Round 10 marks the halfway point of the Super League season, meaning most teams have had one opportunity to pit themselves against each other.
The top four have already started to pull away from the rest of the league with Surrey Storm, London Pulse and Manchester Thunder all level on points and separated only by goal difference and Loughborough Lightning trailing by just three points.
Within that group it is difficult to call who will finish where and that will have an impact on who plays who come semi-finals weekend in May.
Unlike in previous seasons, where battles for top-four places have gone to the wire, Lightning already sit nine points clear of fifth-place Severn Stars after beating them 61-41 on Sunday.
But while top-four places may already be looking like a tough ask for the chasing pack, many of the teams are filled with fresh faces and will be using this campaign as a building block for future seasons.
Celtic Dragons sit bottom of the league after Leeds Rhinos beat them 55-46 to take their first win of the season having lost out 61-54 to Team Bath just two days earlier.
Eighth-place Bath are another team in transition along with Saracens Mavericks, who sit seventh in the table after losing 65-43 to Pulse, while Strathclyde Sirens also fell victim to top-four opposition with Thunder overcoming them 64-51.
Lightning 'put foot down' to bounce back from defeat
Following their defeat by Pulse last time out, Lightning got back to winning ways with a commanding victory over Stars.
Stars have pushed several of the top sides this season, coming close to victory over Thunder and taking more wins already this campaign than they did in the entirety of the last.
But Lightning asserted their dominance with an impressive opening quarter, limiting Stars to just six goals, before pushing on to take the 20-goal win.
"It was a more consistent performance off the back of the loss against Pulse - I was really pleased. We were brave, ruthless and really limited their possession," said head coach Vic Burgess.
"We've seen across the league that each game is really competitive, so to not dwell too much on those losses but take them as learning opportunities is huge," she told BBC Sport.
"We've experienced the losses and we don't want to be in that position again."
Lightning sit fourth in the league but have lost to Pulse and Thunder - two of the other top-four teams - and Burgess said it is important to take those hits now and not later in the season.
"When we face those teams again we'll be ready for it, we know what we need to do," she said. "We'll be gunning to put our foot down and say we're here and that that won't be happening again."
Burgess' side will take on Thunder in round 14 before facing Storm and Pulse in rounds 18 and 19, respectively, at what could be a crucial point in the season.
Lightning will sit out the next round and Burgess said it will be a welcome "breather" for her side to take stock and "push on towards semi-finals" when they return.
World Cup watch: Tchine growing in confidence
After making her debut against Uganda in October, shooter Olivia Tchine has made eight appearances for the Roses but is a regular fixture under the post for domestic side Pulse.
The 22-year-old is the Super League's sixth-highest goalscorer with 301 goals and is becoming more assertive in the circle each week.
Tchine is the Super League's sixth-highest goalscorer but has a better accuracy than three of the five above her
She added 42 goals to her tally in the London derby victory over Mavericks, missing just one attempt, and Pulse head coach Sam Bird said they have been working on improving her shot frequency.
To be in serious World Cup contention head coach Jess Thirlby will want to see Tchine dominate the circle in the way that other prolific Super League shooters do with Lightning's Mary Cholhok, Storm's Proscovia Peace and Thunder's Lenize Potgieter all registering higher goals-per-game averages.
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- Published10 July 2019
