# 2017 Southern Steel season

The 2017 Southern Steel season saw the Southern Steel netball team compete in the 2017 ANZ Premiership and the 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club. With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Shannon Francois, and Jane Watson, Steel finished the 2017 season as inaugural ANZ Premiership winners. After finishing the regular season unbeaten and as minor premiers, Steel defeated Central Pulse 69–53 in the grand final. This saw Steel complete a 16 match unbeaten ANZ Premiership season. Steel remained unbeaten as they went onto win the inaugural Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament, defeating Northern Mystics 79–58 in the final. This saw Steel finish the season with 21 wins and zero defeats.

## Players
### Player movements

Gains and losses :
| Gains | Losses |
| Olivia Bates (Netball South) Aliyah Dunn (Netball South) Dani Gray (Netball South) Jennifer O'Connell (Netball South) | Brooke Leaver (Mainland Tactix) Stacey Peeters (Celtic Dragons) Storm Purvis (Northern Mystics) |
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### 2017 roster

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## Pre-season

Ahead of the 2017 season, Steel appointed Reinga Bloxham as their new head coach. During the pre-season, Steel played three series of two matches against Noeline Taurua's Sunshine Coast Lightning, Mainland Tactix and their own National Netball League team, Netball South. They also played three matches at the official ANZ Premiership pre-season tournament at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki.
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## ANZ Premiership regular season
### Fixtures and results
#### Round 12

Steel's perfect season was almost derailed on 12 June when a van with six of their players on board was involved in a road traffic accident in Fendalton, Christchurch. Four of the players were injured. Wendy Frew received over seventy stitches and underwent surgery while Te Paea Selby-Rickit suffered a dual fractured rib. Shannon Francois and Jhaniele Fowler-Reid had minor injuries. Just two days later, on 14 June, Steel notched up win number 14 of the season against Mainland Tactix. Sophie Erwood, Olivia Bates, Dani Gray and Aliyah Dunn were seconded from Steel's National Netball League team, Netball South. Despite been 41–38 down after three quarters, Steel launched a comeback in the fourth quarter to win 51–46.
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#### Round 13
### Final standings

2017 ANZ Premiership laddervte :
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | GF | GA | GD | G% | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Southern Steel | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1062 | 812 | 250 | 130.79% | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | Central Pulse | 15 | 9 | 6 | 783 | 756 | 27 | 103.57% | 2 | 20 |
| 3 | Northern Mystics | 15 | 8 | 7 | 878 | 851 | 27 | 111.35% | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic | 15 | 7 | 8 | 873 | 848 | 25 | 102.95% | 5 | 19 |
| 5 | Northern Stars | 15 | 4 | 11 | 738 | 868 | -130 | 85.02% | 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Mainland Tactix | 15 | 2 | 13 | 676 | 875 | -199 | 77.26% | 2 | 6 |
Qualified for Grand final and the 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club Qualified for Elimination final and the 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club
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## ANZ Premiership Finals Series
### Grand final

| 28 June 7:40 pm | Stats | Southern Steel | 69–53 | Central Pulse | Stadium Southland | Sky Sport |
| Sky Sport |||
| 28 June 7:40 pm | Stats | Jhaniele Fowler-Reid 56/60 (93%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit 13/19 (68%) | | Tiana Metuarau 27/30 (90%) Cathrine Tuivaiti 26/29 (90%) | Stadium Southland | Sky Sport |
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## Netball New Zealand Super Club
### Group stage

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#### Final ladder

Group A :
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Southern Steel | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 244 | 153 | 6 |
| 2 | NSWIS | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 209 | 168 | 4 |
| 3 | UTT | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 164 | 223 | 1 |
| 4 | Gauteng Jaguars | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 145 | 218 | 1 |
Qualified for Semi-finals 5th/8th place classification
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### 1st/4th Play offs
#### Semi-finals

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#### Final

| 7 July 2017 | Stats | Southern Steel | 79–58 | Northern Mystics | Trafalgar Centre | Sky Sport |
| Sky Sport |||
| 7 July 2017 | Stats | Jhaniele Fowler-Reid 65/70 (93%) Te Paea Selby-Rickit 12/18 (67%) Olivia Bates 2/3 (67%) | | Bailey Mes 32/33 (97%) Maria Tutaia 20/27 (74%) Tera-Maria Amani 6/8 (75%) | Trafalgar Centre | Sky Sport |
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## Award winners
### New Zealand Netball Awards

| Award | Winner |
| ANZ Premiership Player of the Year | Jane Watson |
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