The NSL teams for the new season starting in January are out! However, season 2025 will look much different from the previous seasons. There will only be eight teams, meaning that we have lost Surrey Storm, Team Bath, Severn Star and Strathclyde Sirens. Saracens Mavericks have changed to London Mavericks, and we welcome Nottingham Forest Netball and Birmingham Panthers.
Within the teams, there has also been a lot of change. Here are the most notable transfers, incomings and outgoings.
Transfers:
Shadine Van der Merwe (Manchester Thunder to Loughborough Lightning)
Thunder have lost an exceptional defender in Van der Merwe. From South Africa, she has played for Manchester for the past three seasons, originally coming from Surrey Storm, and Lightning have gained an asset here.
Nicola Smith (Loughborough Lightning to Manchester Thunder)
However, whenever a team signs, someone must be let go of, and Nicola Smith, who was crucial to Lightning’s title defence last season, has moved up north to Manchester. Whilst Van der Merwe can also step in at Wing Defence, Smith’s strengths lie wholly in the defending circle, as she can also play Goal Keeper. It will be extremely interesting to see how each team utilises their new key defensive signing in the coming season.
Jas Brown (Severn Stars to Birmingham Panthers)
Since Stars will be no more come 2025, defender Brown needed a team, and she has found one not so far away from her old team. Having been named on the Future Roses programme for 2024/2025 season, Jasmine Brown will hope to step up her game, potentially putting on the red dress for England in the coming months. She is certainly one to watch in 2025, and definitely a huge player in the Panther’s line-up.
Incomings:
Samantha Wallace-Joseph (NSW Swifts to Loughborough Lightning)
Rolene Streutker (Melbourne Mavericks to Nottingham Forest Netball)
Neither of these two were given a huge amount of time on court in Australia, and with new talent coming into the league, naturally some must make way, and it is fantastic for the NSL to see two shooters from the SSN signed. It will be fascinating to see how they adapt to and perform in our league.
Outgoings:
Mary Cholhok (Loughborough Lightning to Queensland Firebirds)
Lightning’s star shooter has left England to pursue her Australian netball career. This is undoubtedly a blow to the back-to-back NSL Champions and Lightning have some big shoes to fill. For Mary herself, however, this is an exciting next chapter and I wish her all the best!
Imogen Allison (Manchester Thunder to Queensland Firebirds)
Another NSL player to head down under, England Rose Imogen Allison has made her mark over the past couple of seasons for Thunder. Again, whilst she is a loss for the NSL in terms of talent acquisition, as an England fan, it is great news to see another Rose compete against the best in the Australian Suncorp Super Netball League.
Teams to watch in 2025:
Similarly to last season, I think we will find that Loughborough Lightning, Manchester Thunder and London Pulse will be tough to beat. Following them are Birmingham Panthers and London Mavericks- these are two potential ‘dark horses’ to watch in my opinion! It appears to be a toss of a coin between the other teams. The talent has certainly gone up a notch from last year and despite concerns of having no team in the South West, I’m excited for the new season, now with only eight teams and ten players on each team.
You can find more information about the signings during the netball transfer window here: https://www.netballsl.com/news/2025-squads/
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Also, see other articles from me below.
By Natasha Callis
Photo credit: geralt via Pixabay
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