Live stream: Bendigo Strikers, Western Warriors, Gippsland Stars join Victorian Netball League for 2024

The Victoria Netball League is entering a bold new era with three new clubs for the 2024 season - and they plan to hit the ground running. Catch the action LIVE from March 6 on KommunityTV.

Bendigo Strikers had no reservations approaching established Victorian Netball League players when planning their entry into the competition.

It was all part of an ambition to lure home-grown talent back to the Bendigo region - and then spending up to three weeks hitting the phones to make it happen.

“Our main goal was… ‘let’s get everyone home’,” inaugural Strikers championship coach Tracey Brereton said.

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“If they’re already playing VNL, let’s try and get them back to us.

“Some of these girls have left established VNL clubs to come home, so I feel quite indebted to them as a coach that they’ve come back and chosen us.”

The Strikers are one of three new faces in the VNL in 2024, alongside Western Warriors and Gippsland Stars, the latter of which will only feature at under-23 level to begin

RISING TALENTS SET TO TAKE VNL BY STORM

The Warriors are one of the newbies.

The Strikers have been busily recruiting.

KommunityTV will again be on board for the season, LIVE STREAMING an exclusive match of the round on the Herald Sun and Geelong Advertiser websites every week, starting on Wednesday, March 6.

Crossing to the Strikers’ championship team have been the likes of Sandhurst duo Meg Williams and Ruby Turner, who both played at North East Blaze, as well as Tongala netballer Amelia Brock and Rochester’s Teal Hocking.

Brereton conceded while the initial responses to a move were positive, it took time for the dominoes to start to fall.

“Once one person signed, everyone started to come on board,” she said.

“Very positive response, we just had to get the ball rolling with a few and then it all kicked off.”

The Stars followed a similar route to the Strikers in forming their first under-23 squad.

“We’re really happy with the roster we’ve been able to put together, it’s basically all Gippsland girls,” Stars chief executive Daniel Heathcote said.

“It really is a team for Gippsland, so that was a priority.

“There is a lot of VNL experience in there so hopefully we’ve got a pretty competitive team together.”

Heathcote conceded a tight turnaround between getting a licence and the signing period was the biggest factor for not fielding a championship team in year one, but hopes to enter the top-flight competition as soon as possible.

“We’re probably the lowest population base of the regional teams, so we wanted to build something sustainable rather than reach for the clouds,” he said.

“All the girls who would ideally be in our championship team were probably already aligned with clubs and heavily involved there.

The new Bendigo team in training for the upcoming season.

“A key focus was to get the club off the ground and the under 23s up and the developing teams feeding into that.

“We think once we’ve got that established, hopefully it’s year two (for a championship team).”

Forming a new club from the ground up isn’t just about on-court performance.

Creating a club culture and setting expectations has all been part of the process at Bendigo.

“They’re certainly things we’ve spent some time on before Christmas nailing down and we’re still working on that leading into our first game,” Brereton said.

“The girls have all had ownership over how that looks.”

A new season always inherits a level of uncertainty – as clubs aim to translate pre-season expectations into results – but none more than this year as new contenders enter the fold.

For the Strikers, they won’t put a limit on success in their first year.

Ella Ogier has signed on for the Warriors.

“We all want to win, that’s what we’re playing for but the bottom line is there are only four teams that make finals,” Brereton said.

“I would have thought, the way we’re tracking at the moment, the way we’re tracking on-and-off the court, I would hope we could really push to be amongst those top six teams.”

Though on-court success remains a goal, the Strikers, like the Stars, also have their eye further afield on the long-term sustainability of the club.

“It’s important we keep reassessing a little bit through the year to make sure the club keeps moving forward… and it’s a club here to stay and not to go,” Brereton said.