Loughborough Lightning’s Shadine van der Merwe believes the new contact and contest rule in netball will help umpires protect players when making a call about a suspension on dangerous play.
Manchester Thunder’s Taylor McKevitt suffered a two-minute suspension after a late hit on Lightning’s Nat Panagarry during Loughborough’s 66-52 win on Sunday.
Leeds Rhinos’ Geva Mentor was also suspended after her hit on Birmingham Panthers’ Gabriella Marshall during their 71-63 victory, raising questions about how much the new rule will affect teams.
“I think with this new rule, the umpires will really look out to protect the players, and it’s really important, and so sometimes umpires will have a different discretion of when to call a suspension and when it was actually really difficult or dangerous play,” said Lightning’s Van der Merwe, who received the player-of-the-match award after the win over Thunder.
“Sometimes it’s a bump in the back and it’s not always intentional, there’s times where you end up being in the same line and a player is taken out.
“I think the umpires are really looking to put that suspension rule straight into play this season to make sure they have control over the game.
“It’s to protect the players, and so as defenders, or even any player, can be suspended, and it’s just to be able to adapt, and come back from that as well.
“So much respect for Mentor that she was able to come back on court and have a completely clean game.”
Lightning will next take on London Pulse at the Sir David Wallace Arena in Loughborough at 6pm on Saturday and will be hoping to extend their winning run.
“I think both our defence and Pulse’s is going to make this a really exciting match because they will be ball turning,” added Van der Merwe.
“I think if we look at the different styles of play, so it will be interesting to see how clean and physical it can be.
“There will be a lot of ball turning from both ends so it will be a matter of who will be able to convert that.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham Panthers’ shooter Sigrid Burger reflected on her team’s 71-63 loss to Leeds Rhinos after they let a 21-15 lead in the first quarter slip away.
“It was definitely a game we should have won, we ended up making a lot of errors ourselves,” Burger said.
“It’s crucial now, particularly with the Super Shot being introduced, that when you have a lead, you really have to capitalise on it and step into the next gear.”
Panthers only managed to score six Super Shots during their game against Rhinos and were missing Australian player Gabby Sinclair who is renowned for her accuracy.
“We are really privileged to have Sinclair with us, she is like a Super Shot specialist and she is currently on her return to play but it shows how much we are missing her,” Burger added.
“Having someone who has put that shot up in Australia, she is an awesome addition to the team and it helps to be able to capitalise in the final moments of the quarter.
“Everyone is giving it a crack in training and we’re now incorporating it. The Super Shot is having a crucial role in the games now.”
