Super Netball 2024: Melbourne Mavericks coach Tracey Neville setting high expectations for debut season

Melbourne Mavericks coach Tracey Neville is setting high expectations for Super Netball’s newest franchise, despite the early challenges she faced bringing the start-up group together.

Melbourne Mavericks coach Tracey Neville is setting high expectations for Super Netball’s newest franchise for their maiden campaign, despite the early challenges she faced bringing the start-up group together against the backdrop of the sport’s industrial dispute.

While many new sports franchises are often content with a slow-burn build for their fledgling squads, former England Roses mentor Neville has set her sights on making an immediate impact and will be “gunning” for finals in the Mavericks’ debut season in 2024.

“I do like to win,” Neville said on Wednesday.

“I always say finals is every coach’s ultimate dream because then you never know what can happen, you saw it with Adelaide Thunderbirds last year.

“If you’re in it, you’re in it to win it.

“From our point of view, finals is always your goal and that’s what we will be gunning for.

“This is a pretty special group. We have been doing a lot of work together off the court, we’re a new team and we recognise that’s the way that we are setting ourselves up, the way that we are building relationships is really key.”

Melbourne Mavericks coach Tracey Neville Tracey Neville is setting the bar high for the team’s debut season. Picture: Mark Evans

Neville has only had her full 10-player squad together for three days, having only regained goalers Eleanor Cardwell and Sasha Glasgow from English Roses duties late last week.

The challenges of building a new team from scratch were compounded by the inability for Neville to get her players on court late last year due to netball’s protracted CPA dispute, which was not resolved until the start of December.

While it was an issue the competition’s established teams faced as well, it created even more hurdles for the Mavericks with their completely new playing roster.

Although Neville looked at the benefits of the delay in allowing the club more time to get all of its off-court staff in place, she said the full impact of the players’ time off court would not be clear until the season got underway.

“The CPA delayed that aspect (of getting on court) which is probably not good for a coach when they really want to get stuck in,” Neville said.

“But I think as a club it actually benefited us because it enabled us to get on-board staff and also get the wider team set up and know where our focuses are going into the new season.

Former England Roses mentor Neville says the Mavericks will be “gunning” for finals in their debut season. Picture: Mark Evans

“Although I had seen them play, I had built a huge insight into what I really wanted to work on and it was something that I wasn’t able to do. Not having that contact with the players was quite difficult for a new coach coming in.

“However, we all know now netball and teams and culture is not built on the court, it’s also built off the court. It is a 50-50 game now.

“I feel like we made our impact quite hard, we made it quite fast, probably faster than we wanted to, but we were dealt a hand that we had to go with.”

But Neville said the full impact of the players’ extended time off court would not be clear until the season got underway.

“What will be the long-term effect for these players? They obviously weren’t on court for a huge amount of time, some finished their seasons at the end of June,” Neville said.

“(The chances of) on-court injuries, I think we will only know as the season goes through whether it has impacted any team or any coach.”

The Mavericks will have their first hitout as a squad in a pre-season clash against the Victorian men’s netball team on Saturday.

Despite the tight timeline to get her team prepared for the season proper, Neville has no doubts over the fitness of her group.

Neville has only had her full 10-player squad together for three days, having only regained goalers Eleanor Cardwell (pictured) and Sasha Glasgow from English Roses duties late last week. Picture: Getty Images

“One thing I never doubt with Australian players is their fitness,” Neville said.

“They have been brought up in a professional environment, they have worked so hard.

“Our strength and conditioning coach said to me once, ‘Tracey when they hit the court with you, they would probably have done about 28 running sessions’ which is a hell of a lot in the bank to come in.

“I actually think from the fitness test that we did two weeks ago it is one of probably the fittest teams that I have had.

“The pressure for any coach is the first game and we have got the first game on Saturday as a pre-season and I think that we see where we are at and what we can start to build on.”

The Mavericks will open their Super Netball campaign against the Melbourne Vixens on April 14 at John Cain Arena.

And Neville is already clear on the style of netball she wants the team to play.

“The only style we can play this year is that gritty, that one-on-one, that chugging away, wearing teams down,” Neville said.

“For me it is just about attacking the scoreboard. If you look at Suncorp Super Netball, there are not many games that are won by over five or 10 (goals) and generally if they are, they just tend to blow out in the last five or 10 minutes when the super shot comes in.

“So from our point of view, you are never going to get an easy win and anyone can take anyone in this league. So from ours it is just about taking each game at a time and really working on that opposition.”

Originally published as Super Netball 2024: Melbourne Mavericks coach Tracey Neville setting high expectations for debut season