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Cardiff Dragons’ Leah Middleton supported Loughborough Lightning to request a historic triple Friday at the Grand Final Netball Super League.
Lightning, champions 2023 and 2024, finished second in the Super League table after London Pulse after winning 10 out of 14 games, and two teams are now getting ready to face each other in the main semi -final Sky Sports Mix On Friday, June 20, from 8pm, and the winner progressed straight to the grand finale on July 6.
Smaller semi-finals will see third-placed Manchester Thunder in a fourth-ranked London Mavericks-Takodjer Live Further Sky Sports Mix From 6pm on Friday and the repetition of their last league match that Thunder won the 67-45-S team that the winner played the loser of the main semi-final in the preliminary finals.
“My money is at Loughborough Lightning to win all the way,” Middleton said on Sky Sports Netball Podcast.
“I think it will be Loughborough Lightning Three Peat, but I think Mavericks will give Thunder a good race for his money, but I don’t think Thunder would have won the Mavericks twice in a row.”
Loughborough Lightning lost to a six-ranked Birmingham Panthers 58-67 at the Arena Utilita in Cardiff during the 14th round of the Super League.
“I don’t think Loughborough is simply not a team that loses it twice,” Middleton added.
“They can be guaranteed for this. We played them a week after they lost, and they didn’t stay. They are 100 percent, not the beautiful teams against which they faced after they lost.
“I think they will appear to come to these finals. They would take so much from that loss over the weekend and learn a lot. They will bring out good performances, come the final time.
“Loughborough experience is almost untouchable, and when you get into these moments of pressure, then it’s useful.
“It’s a cliché, but you can’t buy experience, and I think they’ll do it wonders for them. Some of these players have a great final experience, and you can’t win that.”
Middleton is expected to return in September after the ‘crammed accident’
Earlier this year, Middleton suffered an injury in which she played the game of Cardiff Dragons against Birmingham Panthers.
Former Surrey Storm Middleton player, who can play as a goalkeeper or a goal defense, is one of the captains of the Dragon, and has been undergoing rehabilitation since March.
“My surgeon described it to me as an absolute freedom accident,” Middleton explained.
“He is an extremely experienced surgeon with 30 years and over, working in his industry and honestly told me: He never, never saw a complex dislocation without a break.
“That’s what I have. They are really scary times. I had the first surgery to straighten all my skin and now deal with a really awful sprained ankle.
“I think it was difficult for my parents at home (in Australia), obviously trying to look at the stream, but I can’t have all the information.
“I’m simply grateful that everything turns out the way it has, and recovery goes well. And rehabilitation is a heavy syllable, but we get there.”
The Middleton team, Dragons, finished the bottom of the Super League table in eighth place after winning only two of his 14 games, and the first victory arrived at nine.
“There was definitely growing in the group,” Middleton said.
“That first victory, I feel like she’s been coming for a long time, but our Reinga Bloxham’s main coach, she says we have to focus on being better every week, and the girls really achieved it in their progress.
“They had a few really competitive matches that went down to the wire, took a bonus point with Manchester Thunder, which was amazing.
“And even though we have not always had that consistency for 60 minutes, they made a great effort there, and that goes in the right direction.
“It takes time. There was a talent spread. Some of the teams at the bottom a few years ago would fight to enter anywhere near the top and take a bonus point from Thunder or push the Mavericks into the extra time.
“All these things are one step in the right direction.”
Friday, June 20th
Smaller semi -finals
Manchester Thunder VS London Mavericks (Live Further Sky Sports Mix from 18:00, central passage: 18:30)
The winner plays the loser of the main semi -finals in the new preliminary final
Main semi -final
London Pulse Vs Loughborough Lightning (live on Sky Sports MixCentral Passage: 20:00)
The winner progresses straight to Grand Final
Second weekend: 28-29. June
Preliminary finals
Loser of the main semifinal (domestic place) against the winner of the smaller semifinals
The winner progresses to the Grand Final
Grand Final: Sunday 6. July
The winner of the main semi -final against the winner of the preliminary finals
The winner is crowned Netball Super League champion
Why a new format?
The new structure puts greater emphasis on the league ladder for the four best teams in the quarrel.
The best two teams get the second opportunity to book their place in the grand finale, as they could lose in the main semifinals, but still progress to the big finals with a win in the preliminary finals.
The third and fourth-ranked teams from the regular season have to win two play-off matches to secure a place in the grand finals.
