Serena Guthrie says Vitality Netball Superleague is bridging the gap on Southern hemisphere
"We are bridging the gap with the overseas leagues and it's really exciting to be back and be a part of that"
Wednesday 27 February 2019 08:08, UK
Team Bath co-captain and England Roses superstar Serena Guthrie believes the Vitality Superleague is bridging the gap on the Southern hemisphere which is good news ahead of this year's World Cup.
England centre Guthrie, one of the world's finest netballers and a pivotal player in England's historic Commonwealth Games success, returned to Bath for the 2019 Vitality Superleague season after moving abroad in 2015.
Guthrie, who excelled in New Zealand's ANZ Championship before a successful spell with Australian side Giants, says she is happy to be back on home soil and believes the current standard can only help develop players, which bodes well for the future of the game.
Everyone has just got to improve that little bit more and the competition it going to get tighter, and for me that's just as good a preparation as going out and playing in the Suncorp Super Netball league.
"I have to have a holistic lifestyle approach to everything that I do and that involves netball even though it's my professional career," Guthrie told Sky Sports.
"It's great to be back in the English league which is something that I am passionate about and I've had this conversation quite a few times with a lot of different people and actually we are bridging the gap with the overseas leagues and it's really exciting to be back and be a part of that.
"As we kind of continue to grow throughout the year you can kind of see these teams already and it's not just the Bath's, the Pulses, and the Sirens. Everyone has just got to improve that little bit more and the competition it going to get tighter, and for me that's just as good a preparation as going out and playing in the Suncorp Super Netball league because in terms of the different players you play against each week and then what you demand from yourself and from myself as well in order to be where I need to be come World Cup - that doesn't change for me whether I'm in Australia, New Zealand or England."
Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague action when Severn Stars take on Saracens Mavericks on Monday March, 4 live on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix from 6.45pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
