Super Netball pre-season hitout announced

Fans will get their first look at the new-look Super Netball teams in March when Brisbane hosts the inaugural #Teamgirls Cup.

Caitlin Bassett switched to the Giants in the biggest Super Netball move of the off-season.

After an unprecedented number of off-season player moves, fans will get their first look all eight new-look Super Netball teams in March when Brisbane hosts the inaugural #Teamgirls Cup, a pre-season tournament unveiled by Netball Australia today.

The three-day competition will be hosted across four sessions at the brand-new Queensland State Netball Centre from March 8-10.

“With the Suncorp Super Netball league heading into its third season, we felt it was time to introduce a formalised pre-season element to the competition and we’re really excited to be launching the Suncorp #TeamGirls Cup this year with all eight teams,” said Netball Australia executive Chris Symington.

“There was a lot of player movement during the off-season, so this tournament will give fans a chance to see their new-look Suncorp Super Netball teams hit the court 50 days out from the official season kicking off.”

The eight teams will be split into two pools. The clubs in each group will play each other once, and then face off in a series of finals according to their ranking.

The Lightning, Firebirds, Vixens and Thunderbirds have been placed in pool A, with the Fever, Giants, Swifts and Magpies in pool B.

This means an early contest for veteran goaler Nat Medhurst against the Fever team that dumped her last year.

Thunderbirds, Lightning and Vixens fans will also be very interested to see how their own big signings look in new colours.

But new Giants shooter Caitlin Bassett — whose switch from the Central Coast Lightning was the biggest move of the off-season — could potentially sit out the preseason cup after fracturing her non-shooting arm two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, international selectors are sure to have a keen eye on how Diamonds players cope with the demands of four matches crammed into three days.

Multiple clubs indicated to T he Australian that they were still running the numbers on the expense of flying training partners to Brisbane, but planned to bring a handful of extra players for depth.

Preseason matches in the past have largely been used to test combinations and provide court time for players on the end the bench.

But a formalised tournament played in front of paying fans is a different beast.

Every match will be broadcast on the Netball Live app and Telstra TV, with the Nine Network picking up the final.

Tickets will be priced at $40 per session for an adult and $20 for a junior, and will be available via presale this Friday.