2008 ANZ Championship season

2008 ANZ Championship season
League	ANZ Championship
Sport	Netball
Duration	5 April 2008 - 28 July 2008
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	Fox Sports (Australia)
Champions	New South Wales Swifts
Runners-up	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
Minor premiers	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
Season MVP	Romelda Aiken (Firebirds) Sonia Mkoloma (Pulse)

The 2008 ANZ Championship season was the inaugural season of the ANZ Championship, a new trans-Tasman netball competition replacing Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy and New Zealand's National Bank Cup. The 2008 season began on 5 April, with competing franchises playing each other once, and playing each franchise from their home country a second time. Four teams progressed to the finals stage, played over three weeks. The grand final was played on 28 July at Acer Arena in Sydney, with the New South Wales Swifts emerging victorious over minor premiers the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic. Overall, 6792 goals were scored during the season, averaging 98.44 per match.

Teams

The inaugural season featured five teams from both Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, one team represented each participating state. In New Zealand, each team represented one or more regions.

Team	Representative area	Former team(s)
New South Wales Swifts	New South Wales	Sydney Swifts, Hunter Jaegers
Melbourne Vixens	Melbourne	Melbourne Phoenix, Melbourne Kestrels
Queensland Firebirds	Queensland	Queensland Firebirds
West Coast Fever	Western Australia	Perth Orioles
Adelaide Thunderbirds	South Australia	Adelaide Thunderbirds
Northern Mystics	Northland, Auckland	Auckland Diamonds, Northern Force
Central Pulse	Central North, Wellington, Tasman	Wellington Shakers, Western Flyers
Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	Waikato, Bay of Plenty	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic
Canterbury Tactix	Canterbury	Canterbury Flames
Southern Steel	Southland, Otago	Southern Sting, Otago Rebels

The Central Pulse, Northern Mystics, Southern Steel, Melbourne Vixens and NSW Swifts were formed as amalgamations of previous teams in their respective national competitions. The West Coast Fever were the renamed Perth Orioles and the Tactix were the renamed Canterbury Flames. The Firebirds, Thunderbirds and Magic retained their names from the national competitions.

Franchise map

Fever

Thunderbirds

Vixens

Magic

Mystics

Swifts

Firebirds

Pulse

Tactix

Steel

Transfer Season

See the 2008 Transfer Season

Name	2007 Team	2008 Team
Mo'onia Gerrard	Sydney Swifts- CBT	Adelaide Thunderbirds
Geva Mentor	Team Bath- Superleague	Adelaide Thunderbirds
Kate Beveridge	Perth Orioles- CBT	Adelaide Thunderbirds
Romelda Aiken	Jamaican Squad- Internationals	Queensland Firebirds
Tamsin Greenway	Team Bath- Superleague	Queensland Firebirds
Karen Atkinson	Mavericks- Superleague	West Coast Fever
Ama Agbeze	Loughborough Lightning- Superleague	West Coast Fever
Sonia Mkoloma	Brunel Hurricanes- Superleague	Central Pulse
Rachel Dunn	Team Bath- Superleague	Canterbury Tactix
Jenny-May Coffin	Auckland Diamonds- NBC	Southern Steel
Jodi Brown	Otago Rebels- NBC	Canterbury Tactix
Maria Tutaia	Auckland Diamonds- NBC	Waikato/BOP Magic

Competition ladder

2008 ANZ Championship season
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	G%	Pts
1	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	13	10	0	3	687	599	114.69	20
2	New South Wales Swifts	13	10	0	3	727	652	111.50	20
3	Adelaide Thunderbirds	13	9	0	4	652	577	113.00	18
4	Melbourne Vixens	13	9	0	4	673	620	108.55	18
5	Queensland Firebirds	13	7	0	6	693	645	107.44	14
6	Southern Steel	13	7	0	6	617	616	100.16	14
7	Northern Mystics	13	5	0	8	625	637	98.12	10
8	Canterbury Tactix	13	5	0	8	607	678	89.53	10
9	West Coast Fever	13	2	1	10	605	697	86.80	5
10	Central Pulse	13	0	1	12	471	636	74.06	1
Updated: 2008-11-22

• Pld = Games played
• W = Win (2 points)
• D = Draw (1 point)^[1]
• L = Loss (0 points)
• GF = Goals For (Total goals scored)
• GA = Goals Against (Total goals conceded)
• G% = Goal percentage (= 100 × GF/GA)
• Pts = Progressive points tally

Round-robin games

All listed times are local.

Round 1

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 5 April	2:30 pm	Central Pulse	33–50	Melbourne Vixens	TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Sunday 6 April	1:00 pm	Queensland Firebirds	48–46	West Coast Fever	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sunday 6 April	5:30 pm	Northern Mystics	44–48	Canterbury Tactix	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Monday 7 April	7:00 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	46–42	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Energy Events Centre, Rotorua
Monday 7 April	7:00 pm	New South Wales Swifts	53–42	Southern Steel	Acer Arena, Sydney

Round 2

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 12 April	2:30 pm	Canterbury Tactix	50–44	New South Wales Swifts	Westpac Centre, Christchurch
Sunday 13 April	1:30 pm	Melbourne Vixens	62–52	Queensland Firebirds	State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne
Sunday 13 April	5:30 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	56–52	Northern Mystics	Energy Events Centre, Rotorua
Monday 14 April	7:00 pm	Central Pulse	50–52	Southern Steel	TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Monday 14 April	6:00 pm	West Coast Fever	41–54	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Challenge Stadium, Perth

Round 3

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 19 April	2:30 pm	Northern Mystics	45–49	West Coast Fever	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Saturday 19 April	2:30 pm	New South Wales Swifts	50–47	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Sunday 20 April	1:30 pm	Melbourne Vixens	38–39	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Vodafone Arena, Melbourne
Monday 21 April	7:00 pm	Canterbury Tactix	42–51	Southern Steel	Westpac Arena, Christchurch
Monday 21 April	7:00 pm	Queensland Firebirds	56–28	Central Pulse	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Round 4

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 26 April	2:30 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	61–47	West Coast Fever	Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton
Saturday 26 April	2:30 pm	Queensland Firebirds	46–40	Northern Mystics	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sunday 27 April	1:00 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	54–41	Southern Steel	ETSA Park, Adelaide
Monday 28 April	7:00 pm	Canterbury Tactix	50–58	Melbourne Vixens	Westpac Arena, Christchurch
Monday 28 April	7:00 pm	New South Wales Swifts	59–30	Central Pulse	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre

Round 5

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 3 May	2:30 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	54–37	Central Pulse	Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton
Saturday 3 May	12:30 pm	West Coast Fever	46–65	Queensland Firebirds	Challenge Stadium, Perth
Monday 5 May	7:00 pm	Southern Steel	48–50	Northern Mystics	Stadium Southland, Invercargill
Monday 5 May	7:00 pm	New South Wales Swifts	52–53	Melbourne Vixens	Newcastle Entertainment Centre
BYE:  Adelaide Thunderbirds, Canterbury Tactix

Round 6

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 10 May	2:30 pm	Southern Steel	48–51	Canterbury Tactix	Stadium Southland, Invercargill
Saturday 10 May	2:30 pm	Queensland Firebirds	66–52	New South Wales Swifts	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Monday 12 May	7:00 pm	Northern Mystics	45–59	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Monday 12 May	6:30 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	66–50	West Coast Fever	ETSA Park, Adelaide
BYE:  Melbourne Vixens, Central Pulse

Round 7

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 17 May	2:30 pm	Central Pulse	50–55	Canterbury Tactix	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
Sunday 18 May	1:00 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	46–52	Melbourne Vixens	ETSA Park, Adelaide
Monday 19 May	7:00 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	56–47	Southern Steel	Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton
Monday 19 May	7:00 pm	New South Wales Swifts	66–54	West Coast Fever	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
BYE:  Queensland Firebirds, Northern Mystics

Round 8

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 24 May	2:30 pm	Canterbury Tactix	50–54	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	Westpac Arena, Christchurch
Sunday 25 May	1:30 pm	Queensland Firebirds	60–51	Melbourne Vixens	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Monday 26 May	7:00 pm	Central Pulse	48–54	Northern Mystics	TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Monday 26 May	6:30 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	44–50	New South Wales Swifts	ETSA Park, Adelaide
BYE:  West Coast Fever, Southern Steel

Round 9

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 31 May	2:30 pm	Southern Steel	41–29	Central Pulse	Stadium Southland, Invercargill
Sunday 1 June	1:30 pm	Melbourne Vixens	57–44	West Coast Fever	State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne
Monday 2 June	7:00 pm	Northern Mystics	50–46	Canterbury Tactix	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Monday 2 June	7:00 pm	Queensland Firebirds	41–47	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
BYE:  New South Wales Swifts, Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic

Round 10

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 7 June	2:30 pm	Southern Steel	47–46	Melbourne Vixens	Stadium Southland, Invercargill
Sunday 8 June	1:00 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	61–41	Canterbury Tactix	ETSA Park, Adelaide
Sunday 8 June	5:30 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	56–50	Queensland Firebirds	Energy Events Centre, Rotorua
Monday 9 June	7:00 pm	Northern Mystics	62–64	New South Wales Swifts	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Monday 9 June	6:00 pm	West Coast Fever	draw[2] 33–16	Central Pulse	Challenge Stadium, Perth

Round 11

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 14 June	2:30 pm	Northern Mystics	47–48	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Sunday 15 June	1:30 pm	New South Wales Swifts	61–60	Queensland Firebirds	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
Sunday 15 June	5:30 pm	Canterbury Tactix	50–49	Central Pulse	Westpac Centre, Christchurch
Monday 16 June	7:00 pm	Southern Steel	58–43	West Coast Fever	Edgar Centre, Dunedin
Monday 16 June	7:00 pm	Melbourne Vixens	47–40	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne

Round 12

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 21 June	2:30 pm	Central Pulse	41–46	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Saturday 21 June	12:30 pm	West Coast Fever	48–54	Melbourne Vixens	Challenge Stadium, Perth
Sunday 22 June	1:30 pm	Queensland Firebirds	50–36	Canterbury Tactix	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Monday 23 June	7:00 pm	Northern Mystics	47–41	Southern Steel	North Shore Events Centre, Auckland
Monday 23 June	7:00 pm	New South Wales Swifts	51–41	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre

Round 13

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 28 June	2:30 pm	Northern Mystics	42–28	Central Pulse	North Shore Events Centre, Auckland
Saturday 28 June	2:00 pm	Adelaide Thunderbirds	66–47	Queensland Firebirds	ETSA Park, Adelaide
Sunday 29 June	11:30 am	West Coast Fever	50–44	Canterbury Tactix	Challenge Stadium, Perth
Monday 30 June	7:00 pm	Southern Steel	47–43	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	Stadium Southland, Invercargill
Monday 30 June	7:00 pm	Melbourne Vixens	49–62	New South Wales Swifts	Vodafone Arena, Melbourne

Round 14

Date	Time	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 5 July	2:30 pm	Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic	69–44	Canterbury Tactix	Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton
Sunday 6 July	1:30 pm	Melbourne Vixens	56–47	Northern Mystics	Vodafone Arena, Melbourne
Sunday 6 July	5:30 pm	Southern Steel	54–52	Queensland Firebirds	Edgar Centre, Dunedin
Monday 7 July	7:00 pm	Central Pulse	32–44	Adelaide Thunderbirds	Pettigrew Green Arena, Napier
Monday 7 July	6:00 pm	West Coast Fever	54–63	New South Wales Swifts	Challenge Stadium, Perth

Finals

The top four teams from the round-robin stages qualified for the finals series, played over a three-week period. These teams were (in descending order) the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic (minor premiers), New South Wales Swifts, Adelaide Thunderbirds and Melbourne Vixens.

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Major semi-final

Sunday 13 July 17:30 (UTC+12)	Report Stats	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	56–57	New South Wales Swifts		Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton Umpires: Jacqui Jashari (AUS) Bronwyn Meek (NZL) Reserve umpire: Mandy Nottingham (NZL)	FOXSports SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 15-16, 17-14, 9-17, 15-10
		van Dyk  29/29 (100%) Tutaia  27/34 (79%)		Cox  41/48 (85%) Pratley  16/19 (84%)

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Minor semi-final

Monday 14 July 16:30 (UTC+9:30)	Report Stats	Adelaide Thunderbirds	53–48	Melbourne Vixens		ETSA Park, Adelaide Umpires: Rachael Ayre (AUS) Bobbi Brown (NZL) Reserve umpire: Helen George (AUS)	FOXSports SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 8-16, 16-8, 12-14, 17-10
		Beveridge  38/44 (86%) Medhurst  15/20 (75%)		Thwaites  28/37 (76%) McMahon  20/21 (95%)

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Preliminary final

Monday 21 July 19:00 (UTC+12)	Report Stats	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	51–49	Adelaide Thunderbirds		Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton Umpires: Sharon Kelly (AUS) Bronwyn Meek (NZL) Reserve umpire: Bobbi Brown(NZL)	FOXSports SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 17-14, 12-11, 12-11, 10-13
		van Dyk  31/32 (97%) Tutaia  20/23 (87%)		Beveridge  29/34 (85%) Medhurst  20/22 (91%)

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Grand final

Monday 28 July 19:00 (UTC+10)	Report Stats	New South Wales Swifts	65–56	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic		Acer Arena, Sydney Attendance: 12,999 Umpires: Sharon Kelly (AUS) Bronwyn Meek (NZL) Reserve umpire: Jacqui Jashari (AUS)	FOXSports SKYSport
		Scoring by quarter: 19-14, 15-14, 16-17, 15-11
		Cox  41/46 (89%) Pratley  24/30 (80%)		van Dyk  45/46 (98%) Tutaia  11/15 (73%)

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Notes

1. The 2008 rules specified that games must play to a result, excluding the possibility of a draw. However, see note for Round 10 (below) for a singular exception in which a game was declared a draw.
2. Game called off due to stadium leak. Despite West Coast leading 33–16 prior to the decision, the game was declared a draw, with each team receiving one competition point. The goals scored by each team were included in the competition ladder.

References

• ANZ Championship rules (as of 2008)