ANZ Premiership
The ANZ Premiership is the premier domestic netball league in New Zealand. The league was formed in 2016 as a successor to the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which was held from 2008 to 2016. The ANZ Premiership is contested annually by six teams based throughout New Zealand, with a total of 47 games played over 14 weeks. Since its inaugural season the league has been sponsored by bank ANZ, hence the league's name. The inaugural season of the ANZ Premiership was played in 2017, with the Southern Steel emerging as champions. History. Origins. The league was launched  by Netball New Zealand as a successor to the ANZ Championship, a Trans-Tasman netball competition that was contested by five Australian teams and five New Zealand teams starting from 2008. The ANZ Championship saw netball reach the status of a semi-professional sport in both countries, with players making significantly higher salaries than in previous competitions. Over the course of nine years Australian teams dominated the ANZ Championship, winning eight of the nine seasons played. The final season of the ANZ Championship was held in 2016. Foundation. Australia and New Zealand subsequently announced separate leagues to commence in 2017 . The Australian league was announced in May 2016 as "Suncorp Super Netball", while the New Zealand league was announced in July 2016 as the "ANZ Premiership". Six teams were announced for the new ANZ Premiership, including the five New Zealand teams from the ANZ Championship plus a new team based in wider Auckland. The inaugural season commenced on 26 March 2017. The Southern Steel progressed through the initial round-robin stage of the 2017 season undefeated to emerge as minor premiers. The Steel also advanced through the finals stages undefeated, winning the grand final against the Central Pulse to become  inaugural champions. The 2018 season commenced in May 2018, starting later in the year than the previous season due to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. The start of 2020 season was postponed for two weeks due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Each team under the ANZ Premiership Eligibility Rule is entitled to contract one athlete who is ineligible for New Zealand as per INF Eligibility criteria. The Southern Steel and Central Pulse are the most successful teams in the competition, each having won two premierships. Format. The ANZ Premiership operates as a 14-week tournament with 47 matches during  the first half of the calendar year. The round-robin stage last for 13 weeks, which is followed by a two-game finals series in the final week. Often the season follows a pre-season tournament. In 2017, the official pre-season was held at Te Wānanga o Raukawa Campus in Otaki, with all six teams competing in the tournament between 10–12 March. Each team plays fifteen games over thirteen rounds. This is achieved by having three S"uper Rounds" (rounds 1, 6, 11) in which five games are played as opposed to the traditional three. During a "Super Round", all  5 games are played back to back at one venue. Games throughout the season are held on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. During the round-robin stage, each team plays every other team three times, accumulating points throughout the regular season. Each win is worth 3 points and a bonus point is awarded if a team loses by five goals or less. In the finals series, the 2nd and 3rd-ranked teams on the points table play off in the Elimination Final. The winner of this plays against the Minor Premiers (the winners of the round robin stage) in the Grand  Final. Media coverage. All 47 games are shown live on Sky Sport in New Zealand. Sky Sport will also show live games on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the season, and air the popular Sky Sport TV show "Netball Zone".