Netball Super League | How the 2024 NSL Grand Final was won

Credit: Ben Lumley

Loughborough Lightning beat Manchester Thunder 70-54 in the 2024 Netball Super League Grand Final but the scoreline does not tell you everything.

To gain an insight into how they did it, you need to look at how they have evolved from the 2023 title-winning team.

Loughborough themselves are not a team to look back too much, as they have stayed focused on their goal of going back-to-back – and this is where the 2024 Grand Final was won:

History means nothing

In 2023 and now in 2024, Loughborough Lightning have gone into the final almost as the underdogs.

Against London Pulse last year and this season against Thunder, they have come up against the regular-season winners in the Grand Final.

To even get to this year’s showpiece Lightning had to down Pulse, something they failed to do in the regular season, before winning comfortably when it really mattered.

The winning moment 🥹#NSL2024 l @LboroLightning pic.twitter.com/Bcku9Wf9pC

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) June 29, 2024

Their regular-season record against Thunder stood at one win apiece, each of them a victory for the away side.

But in Loughborough’s heartland of the Midlands, Lightning heard their fans drown out the noisy Northerners to cheer their side on to victory.

History means everything

Before 2021, Loughborough Lightning’s imprint on the history of the Netball Super League stood at being one of the founding members of the competition.

Now they have moulded themselves into one of the most successful sides the league has ever seen.

With their win on Saturday, the East Midlands franchise became only the third team to win three or more Super League
titles, joining Team Bath (five) and their opponents Manchester Thunder (four).

They have also done something even Thunder have never achieved, matching Bath, Surrey Storm and Wasps in winning back-to-back titles.

Taken during the Grand Final of the Netball Super League between Manchester Thunder and Loughborough Lightning at the Resorts World Arena, NEC, England on the 29th June 2024

“It is something we set out to do from the get-go, so to achieve those goals is amazing,” head coach Vic Burgess said.

“I am really proud of the girls, really proud of the staff, the university for backing us, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

The more things change…

Despite winning the title last season, Loughborough Lightning underwent a significant amount of change ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Last year’s Player of the Final Fran Williams departed to Australia with only Alice Harvey remaining in the defensive end.

Down in the opposite circle, up-and-coming shooters Emma Thacker and Suzie Liverseidge moved on, but Burgess could call on NSL legend Ella Clark again as she returned from injury.

The mid-court remained relatively settled in comparison with only Hannah Williams making way for youngster Bella Baylis.

✈️ @ShadineVDM with the turnover
🔄 @Npanagarry with the counter interception
☄️ @Marynubas2 with the goal

This game has everything and we’re less than five minutes in 🤯 pic.twitter.com/GxpSV8yUkh

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) June 29, 2024

That meant it took Loughborough’s new recruits, including South African defender Nicola Smith, time to get up to speed.

Burgess added: “The girls have really connected, more specifically in the last four or five weeks.

“We didn’t have Nic arrive with us until two weeks before the start of the season so we are trying to build connections
in the training sessions we have and games.

“So there were moments of real great connection across the season. I feel like it has solidified as the season has progressed and the games have got tougher, it has been brilliant to watch that happen.”

…The more things stay the same

Sport is all about peaking at the right time and Loughborough Lightning did just that as their connections clicked perfectly in the final.

It is why a delighted Burgess was able to leave her team entirely unchanged bar an enforced positional switch for the first 55 minutes of the hour-long game.

That was when captain Nat Panagarry served a two-minute suspension with Hannah Joseph temporarily taking the centre bib.

And rather than disrupting Lightning, the loss of a player sucked the life out of Manchester Thunder’s third-quarter charge.

With the win sewn up, Burgess gave Ella Clark and Annabell Roddy precious time on court, while the players who came off stayed standing through the tiredness to cheer their side to victory.

She said: “They all believe in each other and they all believed in themselves.

Credit: Ben Lumley

“There were times where Thunder did a good job against us and put a bit of hesitation in our minds, but ultimately we adapted and changed that.

“That got us through, there are some really experienced players out there.

“They massively support each other and every time we were even close to an interception or a great ball into the circle, they were up cheering each other and that is exactly what you want from your squad.”

Do not rest on your laurels

Last year’s title win felt like a release of pressure for Loughborough, as they let go of all the emotion that had surrounded their 2023 season.

They had defied the one title wonder tags and surmounted themselves as one of the heavyweights of the NSL.

To do that, you always have to keep looking forward and that does not change even as the Super League under goes a transformation heading into 2025.

Lifting their third trophy in four years 🏆

👏 Congratulations to champions @LboroLightning!#NSL2024 | #SeeUsNow pic.twitter.com/VDmLsGUAVD

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) June 29, 2024

With a third title in the bag, now they will go for a slice of history as they bid to become the first team to win three titles in a row.

“It is such a privilege to be in that position and to be one of those top-performing teams,” Burgess concluded. “It is our vision to continue to do so.

“As we go into Netball 2.0, there is recruitment across the summer. It starts on Monday and we’ll be into our recruitment strategy and planning for the future in 2.0.”

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