Vitality Netball Superleague 2022: Tamsin Greenway's players to watch

With the 2022 Vitality Netball Superleague starting on Saturday, Tamsin Greenway marks your card with some of the key players to watch.

Let's start with the defending champions Loughborough Lighting and it's a new partnership that I'm really looking forward to seeing this year - Fran Williams alongside Zanele Vimbela.

We know that Fran is an up-and-coming English defender, and that she plays quite differently to a lot of the defenders sitting in Jess Thirlby's squad.

Getting to play with an international goal keeper behind her, and Beth Cobden and Nat Panagarry in front of her, should bring out the very best in her game.

Fran is smart on court and if you've got people setting things up for her then she's going to win you ball. Her move from Wasps to Loughborough has paid off and should mean that the 2022 season is a standout one for her.

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I mentioned in a recent column that England's defensive end is fairly settled. You've got four very experienced types of players all at the latter stages of their career in it. However, England will need to decide whether they need fresh blood in there to shake up things before the Commonwealth Games?

I don't believe that it's a closed shop and Jess Thirlby has said she's going to continue to watch every player available.

Fran's move to Lightning alongside assistant coach Olivia Murphy gives her a real opportunity to bid for a place in England's final Commonwealth Games 12, along with some other key defenders like, Funmi Fadoju, Vicki Oyesola, Zara Everitt and Razia Quashie.

Overall, when you look at Lightning's squad for this season, I believe they've actually ended up being stronger in the defensive end than they were last year… that's a frightening thought for the rest of the teams in the competition!

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Next, I'm eager to see Niamh McCall at Strathclyde Sirens and how she performs this season.

Niamh had a breakthrough year in 2021; Lynsey Gallagher has always been the starting goal attack for Scotland and for the Sirens franchise, but sadly for her she suffered a knee injury. Niamh took the opportunity that was afforded to her and I've loved working with her as Scotland head coach.

After a good Superleague season, she then had a great international series against Barbados and as a young player, she's got all of the attributes that you need to be a world-class goal attack.

Niamh is not afraid to go to the post and a goal attack that is prepared to take shots from anywhere was a slightly dying breed. Ameliaranne Ekenasio brought that back and the goal attacks in Suncorp Super Netball have started to shoot from distance more too, with the introduction of the Super Shot.

A young player that isn't afraid to put up shots at the top level, and one who has her level of vision and distribution, well that's definitely someone you have to keep a close eye on.

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Next, I'm heading to Wasps to keep an eye on Ella Powell-Davis.

Ella is a great player and an exceptional athlete. I don't think she was as dominant at Wasps last year because she is a better goal defence than wing defence, however this season she will get more court time in that position.

Having watched her play for Wales against Scotland I was seriously impressed with her performance. She also had a leadership role with Wales recently, as vice-captain in their Test series against Gibraltar, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland, which is the sign of a player ready to take their game to the next level.

Wasps have had a lot of players leave and this season, I think they may struggle to be up in the finals mix. However, that can actually help a young defender to just go out there, win ball and get stuck in. That's why I think Ella is someone to keep an eye on as I believe that she's going to be an absolute pain for all goal attacks this season.

Let's move over and take a look at Team Bath Netball next. Other than being forced into a late change in their defensive end due to Eboni Usoro-Brown's departure to Australia, they've not really changed their line-up.

That's always a big call for a team that came so close to a title but didn't get over the line, as if you're not bringing in an impact player to help you go one better, you need to tweak and change what you've already got.

This is why I would like to focus on Sophie Drakeford-Lewis. I know that she's someone most netball fans are aware of, but mainly as a goal attack. This season, I think we're going to see her develop as a wing attack as well.

Anna Stembridge will be under no illusions that if she wants her player to go to the Commonwealth Games then Sophie needs to have more time at wing attack under her belt.

Wing attack is also a position where Bath didn't really have an impact change last season. The way that Bath play in the goal third, and the way that Kim Borger at goal shooter plays, you need to have creativity and I think Bath will need to explore this far more this year.

I want to see whether they play Sophie out there and put Betsy Creak out to goal attack, where she has been playing for Wales. I will be intrigued to see how and if this develops and the knock on effect it has on both Team Bath, England and Wales selections.

I can't not talk about the big-name arrivals of exceptional shooters Peace Proscovia and Cat Tuivaiti at Surrey Storm and Severn Stars.

Obviously, we know that both are huge signings but what's going to be critical is how their teammates connect with them in order to give their teams the best chance of making the top four.

The onus will be on Liana Leota at Stars and then Yas Parsons and Sophia Candappa at Storm, to really bring the best out of Cat Tuivaiti and Peace Proscovia.

You'd expect the Liana Leota to Cat Tuivaiti partnership to be box-office, providing us with incredible moments. Storm will need to find that same magic and connection with their WAs.

Although selecting Peace Proscovia and Cat Tuivaiti as ones to watch is stating the obvious, what I'm keen to look at is how the whole attacking unit step up against some of the big teams.

Can their mid-courters consistently feed them? Can the goal attackers take the load when they are being doubled? And, will these two signings blow open the race for the top four?

Storm and Stars meet each other for the first time on the opening day of the season, so it's going to be fascinating to see which outfit is able to hit the ground running and set them up for the year ahead.

Finally, I want to throw two youngsters in the mix to keep an eye on, Emma Rayner at Manchester Thunder, this WA is very promising and I'm hoping to see her get some court time alongside Nat Metcalf, Eleanor Cardwell and Laura Malcolm. Also, Aliyah Zaranyika at Saracens Mavericks has huge potential and is proving to be a real pain at WD.

So, what about the predictions season? Well, I believe Manchester Thunder, Loughborough Lightning and Team Bath will all secure play-off netball and then I think that you've got three teams duelling for the other play-off spot, with three more pushing them really hard.

Strathclyde Sirens, Saracens Mavericks and Leeds Rhinos Netball along with Severn Stars, London Pulse and Surrey Storm are the six that should be pushing all the way. It won't be until the Season Opener we will see which teams are genuinely going to have a go at making the final play-off spot their own.

Take London Pulse for example, they're playing against Loughborough Lightning and Team Bath on Saturday and Sunday. Pulse need to stand up against both teams to show that they're serious about making the top four. They don't necessarily need to beat both, but they need to be there or thereabouts.

It will be the same for Strathclyde Sirens when they meet Team Bath Netball and Wasps - they need to be close to Bath and beat Wasps to state their intentions.

Of course, the season is a long one but if you gain an early scalp it's banked and does so much for a team's confidence. In these first two rounds I expect to see some hard hitting, physical end-to-end games as teams battle to stamp their authority on this year's competition and I really can't wait.