Fireballs target gold while Jaguars chase legacy in TNL showdown

The last round of the Telkom Netball League will be nothing short of excitement as the race to the 2025 title hits up.

The Gauteng Golden Fireballs are heading to the Durban International Convention Centre leading the charge in Division One. The Dr Elsje Jordaan-led side collected 18 points from the first two Power Weeks. They are followed closely by the defending champions, the Free State Crinums with 14 points. The North-West Flames and the Gauteng Jaguars complete the top four in the top tier division.

All eyes will be on the Fireballs who lead the division. They are the only team in the competition who has not yet tasted defeat. The 2022 champions are the hunted side however assistant coach, Bongiwe Msomi says all they are looking to do is to keep the same standard of their play without the pressure of keeping the top spot.

“We have been strictly about the standards. We have never thought of being at the top, it has never been part of our plan. It has been about one game at a time, how do we want to be seen on court?

"This means it doesn’t matter who you play against. It speaks to the whole group that will be taking to court but within that, can the standard not drop? Everybody understands that. It has been great to see,” says Msomi.

The former Spar Proteas captain says the goal is to win the competition again.

“We have a great group of a mixture of young talent with some of the seniors that want to step out and look good for the brand Fireballs which is exciting. With that, it comes with personal achievements, and we speak about that.

"I think we are still going to go forward with one game at a time and keep ticking the boxes of what we want to achieve as we go. We hopefully want to win gold but it has never been about the end result before we do the work,” she says.

Jaguars’ goal attack Kamogelo Maseko missed out on the first Power Week of the competition following an injury she suffered with the national team. Coming back in the second leg, she made her presence felt and helped her side secure a top four position at the close of the second Power Week. Maseko hails her resilience that pulled her through the second leg.

“I joined the TNL in the second leg coming from an injury, it was eight weeks post operation. Having to talk about my performance is very hard, coming from an injury because people expect the old you, no one cares about the injury, recovery, or the rehab process but I am one person who is very that is resilient.

"I have proven myself right, I am proud of myself because I didn’t anticipate that I would perform to the level that I did. I am proud of myself, I am growing day by day and getting stronger,” says Maseko.

Jaguars are the record title holders in the competition. They have engraved their name on the trophy six times since the inception of the tournament in 2014 and have played in every final of the tournament. Maseko says their goal is to remain in the top four for a chance of getting to yet another final.

“Our goal is to have a top four finish then from there the tournaments starts all over again. We always say the semifinals are a different ball game. That is when the TNL will start for us. Now we have to stay clinical to stay in the top four, taking it game for game to ensure we finish on the top four to get a semifinal spot,” says Maseko.

Meanwhile, the Limpopo Baobabs will have to make a huge turnaround if they don’t want to find themselves in yet another promotion/ relegation match again at the end of the season. The Baobabs face a significant challenge to avoid relegation as they find themselves sitting at the bottom of the Division One table after winning only one match so far in the league.

The battle of the top four positions in Division Two will not be any easier. The race to the summit is incredibly tight as there is only one point separating the top four teams in the stream. The Western Cape Tornados lead the pack with 20 points, followed by the North West Tshukudu with 19.

The Mpumalanga Sunbirds are third with 18 points and the KwaZulu Natal Kingdom Stars close the top four with 17 points.

The single point will make for an interesting semifinal round where teams usually change up the gears for a place in the final and possibly a place in the promotion match.