Monday 25 February 2019 14:03, UK
What a start to last week with Monday's Superleague match between Storm and Bath. We were finishing uni training at Herts as the game started and had to keep refreshing Twitter for updates.
As soon as we'd finished we shot back to our uni house to watch the rest of it. Hats off to Mikki Austin, she had certainly done her homework. It was really good to see some of the Bath youngsters getting their chance on court with the much-missed absence of Eboni Esoro Brown. I love matches that keep you on the edge of your seat and this was definitely one of those.
It's been an awesome start to this year's Superleague with every team taking a win in the first few rounds so no one can be underestimated this season, anything can happen which will mean it will be a really competitive league, and entertaining for the fans!
I must admit that I don't always enjoy watching netball as I have too critical a point of view and I get engrossed in the tactical analysis rather than actually enjoying the game. I'd rather watch sports that I don't compete in like rugby, swimming or Formula 1 but nothing beats watching sport live so you can soak up the whole atmosphere, especially rugby! That said though I did really enjoy Monday's netball and with more games like this I could really get into TV viewing.
Last Friday was the transfer window deadline for British Basketball, and it got me thinking about if netball had one. I think it would shake up the netball and raise the profile of the game further with everyone talking about who might move where. It would make the competition more competitive, not only for the clubs but also individually as you'd always need to bring your A game. It would almost be like a try before you buy situation. Anyway food for thought!
I was back with the Herts Uni team for the BUCS competition on Wednesday after missing a couple of the earlier fixtures in the year. We were off to Bath Uni and as we had lost to them in our home game we needed to win by a minimum of 14 goals to win the BUCS South League. We knew it would be a hard game as Bath have a strong squad but we were totally stoked to come away with a 72-40 win. So we are now South League Champions and have secured a home Semi-Final for the National Cup which always makes a difference having your support behind you.
So to celebrate the whole team came to ours for a 'family' dinner! We are a really close, tight squad and as if living with four of the netballers isn't enough, the other players often stay at our house. We are just like a big family even to the point that I got told off for not cleaning up after our meal - what do they expect haven't they seen my room? It's like having four mums!
I closely followed the Storm vs Wasps match on Twitter on Saturday, raising funds for cancer in memory of Tom Reseigh, Storm's former team manager. It was the third year the cup has been run and I was lucky enough to be part of the previous two with Wasps. I never knew Tom personally, although you kind of know everyone through someone in the netball world, but the girls all speak so highly of him and I know it's an event very close to their hearts.
On Monday, I headed to Wales with Saracens Mavericks to face Celtic Dragons in Round 4 - a hard-fought game and we came away with another win. To top it all off, Celtic Dragons gave me player of the match which was totally unexpected and probably showed when I was interviewed as I couldn't get my words out and just talked about the score being 'pretty numbers' well it was 66-44, - I've been getting a total roasting from the team! The new hashtag is #prettynumbers.
Now looking forward to next week's fixture against my old team Wasps. It will be an interesting match-up. It will be weird being back at The Ricoh Arena, my home for the past two years. It's always hard going up against your old team but I'm sure the fans will be as lovely as they've always been.
Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague action as Wasps Netball host Saracens Mavericks on Monday February, 11 live on Sky Sports Mix from 6.45pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
