Monday 3 April 2017 15:49, UK
Fresh-faced and fearless, Hertfordshire Mavericks' youthful squad have a bright future, according to their coach Robyn Broughton.
When they opened their season with a 52-48 victory victory over Northumbria, the temptation was to believe that Mavericks had continued where they left off last season.
A semi-final defeat last year continued their record as perennial top-four contenders but that masked a summer of change that has seen the franchise put their faith in some of the brightest young talents in the game, under the guidance of one of it's most experienced coaches.
A brutal run of fixtures followed that opener - Bath, Wasps, and Surrey Storm - three of the league's fiercest title contenders, and a trio of losses for the Mavericks and their coach, Robyn Broughton.
Broughton is not a woman used to losing. The New Zealander won seven titles in ten years coaching the Southern Sting, worked with the formidable Silver Ferns from 2000-02, and led the FastNet Ferns to a World Netball Series title.
Conquering English netball, however, is providing a new challenge as Broughton explained to Sky Sports.
"What's exciting about this Mavericks squad, in my opinion - having come from eight years of ANZ where I had teams full of experienced members - is the youth of some of my players," she says.
"With Sophie [Drakeford-Lewis], Zara [Everitt], and Hali [Adio], I've got three schoolgirls - it's exciting for them, and for me too, seeing them develop and come on."
These prodigious talents are accustomed to making their mark upon the junior game, but the senior Superleague has proven a stiff task.
"Our first couple of games were against far more experienced players," Broughton says when asked about the four losses sustained by the Mavericks so far this year.
But is experience the single most important quality in a team?
"It's a bit of everything - but definitely experience counts for a lot. We get to a certain level in matches, but then have a drop of momentum, which I think might be a bit of inexperience.
"Our standards as coaches are quite high, and I'm not slow in saying when it's not happening right. I think we can be a bit hard-nosed about it… I always say: 'It's not about you guys personally, it's about your netball.' If you're playing in that way, you're not going to get any better.
"It's a really physical game now, and you've got to be mentally strong - there's so much going on all the time. We've got a good fitness person, and all the professional things around us - medical, strength and conditioning, media training.
"Netball's come a long way in the last few years, but - now that they've had a taste of the Superleague, and the types of games played at this level - I'm really pleased with them."
Broughton's willingness to blood her young stars appears to be paying dividends already, with Drakeford-Lewis named Player of the Match in their recent win over Celtic Dragons, and the coach has every faith that they will continue to perform:
"Each week, if you get them on court regularly, you see that they've stepped up a little bit more. That's if it's in them, which it is."
Inexperience might even be a weapon, she believes: "It's almost like an innocence - innocence of what's ahead. All of these experiences are new, so they're forced to react to the unexpected, which I quite like.
"They're not discussing the girls they'll be facing - 'oh, she does this, she does that' - like the experienced players do."
If the squad can maintain such youthful fearlessness and spontaneity whilst accruing experience, their second meetings with the league giants might well end differently.
"I'm really looking forward to the second round when we replay all those teams - we lost to Wasps and Bath by such small margins, which is really positive.
"The girls will then see what hard work and a bit of care and attention to detail does."
It seems a potent combination: a fresh-faced team, led by one of the sport's most experienced coaches. Is it one with all the makings of future Superleague champions?
"Yes, but - not only that - England netball will be helped as well if they can keep these talented youth players. I think netball will just get bigger and better here.
"It's refreshing for me; I've been doing this all my working life, and this team probably has the most youth all in one team that I've had. It's going to be good."
Coverage of the Superleague continues on Monday night when Manchester Thunder host Hertfordshire Mavericks on Sky Sports Mix from 7.15pm
