Netball Super League: Loughborough Lightning backed for historic three-peat in Grand Final | Netball News
Leah Middleton by Cardiff Dragons supported Lughborough Lightning to claim a three historic peat in the grand final of the Netball Super League.
Lightning, champions in 2023 and 2024, finished second in the Super League table behind London Pulse after winning 10 of their 14 games and the two teams are now preparing to come out in the semi-final, live, live Sports Sports Mix On Friday June 20 from 8 p.m., the winner progressing directly in the grand final on July 6.
The minor semi -final will see the third place of Manchester Thunder on the London MaveRicks fourth – live on Sports Sports Mix From 6 p.m. Friday and a rehearsal of their last championship match that Thunder won 67-45-with the winner playing the loser of the major semi-final of the preliminary final.
“My money is on loughborough lightning to win all along,” said Middleton on the Sky Sports Netball podcast.
“I think it will be a loudborough lightning with three peat, but I think the Mavericks will give Thunder a good race for their money, but I don’t think thunder will beat the Mavericks twice in a row.”
Loughborough Lightning lost against the Birmingham Panthers of sixth place 58-67 at Utilita Arena in Cardiff during the 14th round of the Super League.
“I think loughborough is just not a team that loses like that twice,” added Middleton.
“I can guarantee this. We played them the week after losing like that before, and they did not hold back. They are not 100% a great team to see after losing.
“I think they will be impatient to go to these finals. They would have taken this loss so much this weekend and would have learned a lot. They were going to put out a good performance at the time of the finals.
“Lughborough’s experience is almost untouchable, and when you enter these moments of pressure, this is when it is useful.
“It’s a cliché, but you can’t buy experience, and I think it will do wonders for them. Some of these players have a great final experience, and you can’t beat this.”
Middleton should return in September after a “weird accident”
Earlier this year, Middleton suffered an injury that saw the cardiff dragons match against the abandoned Birmingham panthers.
The former Surrey Storm Middleton player, who can play as goalkeeper or goal defense, is one of the co-captains of the dragons and has been released since March, in rehabilitation.
“My surgeon described it to me as an absolute monster accident,” said Middleton.
“He is an extremely experienced surgeon with more than 30 years of work in his industry and he honestly said to me, he never saw a compound dislocation.
“That’s what I have. It’s really scary. I had the first surgical intervention to correct the whole skin side of things and now I face a really horrible ankle sprain.
“I think it was very difficult for my parents at home [in Australia]Obviously, trying to look at the flow, but not able to have all the information.
“I am so grateful that everything is going like that, and the recovery is going well. And rehabilitation is a hard slog, but we get there.”
The Middleton team, Dragons, ended at the bottom of the Super League table in eighth place, having won only two of their 14 games, the first victory arriving in niners.
“There has certainly been a certain growth in the group,” said Middleton.
“This first victory, I have the impression that it was long to come, but our head coach Reinga Bloxham, she says that we have to focus on being better every week and the girls really took this in their stride.
“They had really competitive matches that went to the thread, took a bonus point from Manchester Thunder, which was incredible.
“And even if we haven’t always had this consistency for 60 minutes, they have made a great effort there, and it goes in the right direction.
“It takes time. There was a propagation of talent. Some of the teams below a few years ago would have struggled to approach the summit and take a bonus point from Thunder or push Mavericks nearby.
“All these things are a step in the right direction.”
Friday June 20
Semi-final
Manchester Thunder vs London Mavericks (live Sports Sports Mix From 6 p.m., central pass: 6.30 p.m.)
The winner plays the loser of the major semi-final in the new preliminary final
Major semi-final
London Pulse vs loughborough lightning (live Sports Sports MixCentral pass: 8 p.m.)
The winner goes directly to the grand finale
Second weekend: June 28-29
Preliminary final
Loser of the major semi-final (reception location) vs winner of the minor semi-final
The winner goes to the grand finale
Grand finale: Sunday July 6
Winner of the semi-final semi-final VS of the preliminary final
The winner crowned the Netball Super League champion
Why the new format?
The new structure puts more emphasis on the League classification for the best four teams in the running.
The two best teams have a second chance to reserve their place in the grand finale, because they could lose in the semi-finals, but which still go to the grand final with a victory in the preliminary final.
The third and fourth teams placed in the regular season must win two dam games to obtain a place in the grand final.
