ROUND 3 of the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) competition will get underway on Friday night, with three games on Saturday and a standalone all blue and gold battle on Monday evening. Leeds Rhinos play two matches across the weekend, after missing out on their Round 2 fixture.

ROUND 3:

Friday, February 11

The opening game of the round sees the unbeaten Mavericks up against the 1-1 Pulse in a clash aht should be quite entertaining. The Mavericks are coming off back-to-back wins against Wasps and Celtic Dragons, whilst the Pulse scraped home in a memorable win over Bath following a loss to reigning premiers, Loughborough Lightning on the opening day of competition.

Ine-Mari Venter made a terrific start to her life as a Maverick, scoring 97 goals and picking up eight rebounds. She will go up against an equally in-form Funmi Fadoju who lead the league in deflections (15) after the opening two rounds. Up the other end, Olivia Tchine is not far behind Venter, putting up the second most goals in the competition with 84. It means Jameela McCarthy will have to be at her best again to try and contain her opponent in the head-to-head.

Saturday, February 12

Top of the table Manchester Thunder hosts Surrey Storm in what on the surface appears to be a one-sided contest. Though the Storm have every right to be optimistic about the season ahead, the Thunder have bulldozed their way through two sides already, and look like being the team to beat this season. The Storm only played the one match in the opening weekend, going down to Severn Stars. The Thunder then played the Stars and won by 25 goals, which is ominous for this matchup.

Remarkably, the Thunder did not even need to utilise star recruit Natalie Metcalf, but the shooting combination of Eleanor Cardwell and Joyce Mvula was outstanding, with the team putting up an average of 74.5 goals per game. It will be a huge task for Storm defenders Leah Middleton and Alima Priest against that kind of firepower. The Storm have a big name themselves in Peace Proscovia, who will go head-to-head against the experienced Kerry Almond.

In what appears to be another one-sided contest, reigning premiers Loughborough Lightning take on reigning wooden spooners Celtic Dragons. The Lightning are coming off an 11-goal win over London Pulse, before their Round 2 clash with Leeds Rhinos was postponed. The Dragons were smashed by the Thunder (26 goals) before really putting in a spirited effort, going down by just seven goals to the Mavericks.

Shaquanda Greene-Noel has proven to be a terrific recruit fo the Dragons, and she will have her work cut out for her against the towering Mary Cholhok. With a Roses trio of Fran Williams, Beth Cobden and Natalie Panagarry, it will be tough for the Dragons to try and contain the Lightning midcourt, with Shona O’Dwyer and Clare Jones a couple of the key matchups, and South African international Lefébre Rademan up against Williams.

Two sides looking to step up after Round 1, Wasps Netball heads into its home clash as the big unknown, having gone down in both games against the Saracens Mavericks and Strathclyde Sirens. Both are quality lineups, whilst their opponents Severn Stars got the win against Surrey Storm, but there were comprehensively put to the sword by competition benchmark, Manchester Thunder.

It will be a true polar opposite of experience up against youth when Wasps shooter Rachel Dunn goes up against rising Roses talent and Stars defender, Summer Artman. The Stars will look to Liana Leota to create plenty of scoring chances with her feeds into the circle, and Paige Reed had a fantastic first game, earning Player of the Match honours. The Wasps are a little less experienced having lost Fran Williams to the Lightning, but a combination of Ella Powell-Davies and Josie Huckle will be one to watch throughout the season.

Monday, February 14

The two blue and gold sides clash in a standalone Monday evening fixture at EIS Sheffield. The Rhinos will be coming off their first match of the season against the Sirens on Friday night, and will be keen to go back-to-back if they can against Bath, with both opponents in Round 3 potential finalists. Bath enjoyed a good win over the Sirens (14 goals) before just slipping against London Pulse, going down by four goals (52-48).

Serena Guthrie did not play on the opening weekend, but one can only imagine the intrigue to see her clash with Jade Clarke in centre. Team Bath is not short of Roses though, with Layla Guscoth and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis up respective ends, and Imogen Allison a key player in at wing defence. Aside from Burger’s potential debut in the Leeds colours, ex-Dragon Amy Clinton could be one to watch alongside her, whilst Vicki Oyesola is a talented defender to keep an eye on this season.