With the off-season movement now in full swing, we take a look back at the 2022 Victorian Netball League season.
After two years of COVID-interrupted netball, it was great to complete a full 18-round season and a thrilling finals series. The Grand Finals were held in front of hundreds of fans on 10 August with City West Falcons claiming the titles in both the 19/Under and Championship divisions, while Hawks Netball took out the premiership in Division 1.
It was an intense season with the top four decided in the last round of the home and away season and seven of the 10 clubs making it to finals, highlighting the closeness of the competition.
Round 1 kicked off in March with the State Netball Centre hosting all 10 teams before clubs hosted home games across the state. There were plenty of milestones throughout the season with Ariels and North East Blaze star Stacey Gannon and Blaze stalwart Tayissa Coppinger each playing their 200th game.
Renae Ingles returned to the court and didn’t skip a beat for the Casey Demons, and North East Blaze showed they had a point to prove winning 18 rounds straight in Division 1 before unfortunately bowing out in straight sets in the finals.
In Round 9 we celebrated Pride Round with teams wearing rainbow bibs and ribbons to showcase their support for the LGBT+ community. We also celebrated our inaugural First Nations Round with Casey Demons and Melbourne University Lightning donning First Nations dresses, while our RAP artwork was incorporated into the bibs and court decals.
Several VNL stars also made their Suncorp Super Netball debut with Gabby Coffey stepping out on court for Collingwood along with Casey Adamson and Zoe Davies. Sharni Lambden also debuted for the Melbourne Vixens in their Round 7 clash against Collingwood highlighting the calibre of Victorian talent in the VNL.
Clubs are now finalising their squad lists ahead of the 2023 season - view current signings.
