THERE are only six weeks left of the VNL home-and-away season, so to celebrate the milestone it is time to take a look at the lay of the land, and what may be in store for the teams as Round 16 gets underway tonight.
VNL Ladder after Round 15
| Rank | Team | P | W | L | D | B | F | A | PTS | GA% |
| 1 | City West Falcons | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 891 | 699 | 48 | 127.47 |
| 2 | Boroondara Express | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 804 | 700 | 42 | 114.86 |
| 3 | North East Blaze | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 759 | 708 | 36 | 107.20 |
| 4 | Hawks | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 823 | 755 | 32 | 109.01 |
| 5 | Melbourne Uni | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 749 | 728 | 32 | 102.88 |
| 6 | Geelong | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 735 | 712 | 28 | 103.23 |
| 7 | Western Warriors | 13 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 749 | 769 | 22 | 97.40 |
| 8 | Bendigo Strikers | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 675 | 671 | 20 | 100.60 |
| 9 | Southern Saints | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 724 | 732 | 20 | 98.91 |
| 10 | Casey | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 814 | 867 | 20 | 93.89 |
| 11 | Peninsula Waves | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 597 | 979 | 0 | 60.98 |
The ladder is tight, with so many potential possibilities for how it may end.
It is so tight that only one team – Peninsula Waves – is officially out of finals contention, with several other teams down the bottom of the ladder still several losses away from bring out of finals contention too.
VNL Round 16 Fixture
Western Warriors vs North East Blaze
City West Falcons vs Bendigo Strikers
Southern Saints vs Peninsula Waves
Casey vs Booroondara Express
Melbourne Uni vs Geelong
BYE – Hawks
Match of the Round
The match with perhaps the most potential influence tonight is the Melbourne Uni vs Geelong clash.
These two sides are currently fifth and sixth, and a Uni win will see the Lightning jump into the top four while a Geelong win by a big enough margin will see the Cougars jump into the top four.
Last time the sides met it was an eight goal win to the Cougars, but the Lightning have caused a few big upsets already this season.
Key Note
Some of the teams will be affected personnel wise by the currently underway Pacific Netball Series. One of the worst affected is the City West Falcons.
Streaming Guide
Via Netball Victoria Facebook – Casey vs Boroondara
7pm – 23 & Under
8:30pm – Championship
Via KommunityTV – Western Warriors vs North East Blaze
7pm – Championship
8:30pm – 23 & Under
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