Netball Super League | Wasps’ Rachel Dunn set to hit appearance milestone

Wasps Netball star shooter Rachel Dunn is set to hit a major milestone against London Pulse on Saturday.

Dunn, who is now in the 16th year of her netball career, will take to a Vitality Netball Superleague court for the 200th time this weekend.

She started her career at Team Bath in 2003 and moved to Surrey Storm in 2009, before arriving at Wasps in 2017.

The England goal shooter starred in the first Superleague campaign with Bath in 2006 and won the title that year. She has now won seven titles, including two with Wasps.

Her tally of seven titles is the joint highest – alongside her former teammate Pamela Cookey.

Dunn believes the Superleague has come a long way since it debuted in 2006 and has had a positive impact on the sport in England.

She said: “Time really has flown by. I remember that first Superleague game, it was a brand new structure and built on the county structure and the Super Cup which came before.

“I have the first team sheet from when Bath played Loughborough Lightning. Jade Clarke and Hannah Knights both feature for Loughborough, and now we all play together at Wasps.

“The league just keeps getting stronger. There’s more international players coming in and there’s a lot of quality coming through from our domestic players too.

“Netball is much more in the public eye now and the excitement levels surrounding the sport is incredible.”

Wasps face London Pulse at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday 26 January (7pm centre-pass).

Their last two visits to the Copper Box Arena have ended in silverware, winning the Superleague Grand Final in July and the Fast5 All Stars in October.

It will be the first time Dunn and her team mates have faced Pulse in the Superleague, after the London-based side joined the league in the off-season.

Dunn added: “It’s exciting that Pulse are now in the league and based at the Copper Box Arena. It’s a great venue for netball and we’ve had some good times there with Wasps in the last year.

“I saw some of their games at Super 10 and they are a very exciting team, with top talent in their squad. We’re looking forward to taking them on.

“We’ve got three new goal attacks now with Katie Harris, Tamsin Moala and Chloe Essam joining, and we’re already building great connections.

“I’ve played with Katie before at Storm. She was superb in the first game, people underestimate her, but her timing and ability to take the ball is great.

“We’re aware that other teams are really strong this year, but like every season we are taking it game-by-game and the first goal is to make the top four.”

Wasps Netball’s first fixture of the season at Ricoh Arena will see them take on Saracens Mavericks on Monday 11 February (7pm centre-pass).

Season Memberships are now on sale, and individual tickets for the first six home Vitality Netball Superleague fixtures of the 2019 season are also available.