Ouch... First the winless season, now two key players exit
A month after its final game and the Steel is also now eyeing the 2024 season on the back of news that they will be without two of their best players.
The Southern Steel’s awful 2023 has just got much worse with two key players heading to rival ANZ Premiership teams.
The Steel went through its 2023 campaign winless, the first team to do so in the competition’s history.
A month after its final game and the Steel is also now eyeing the 2024 season on the back of news that they will be without two of their best players.
Defender Kate Burley was the first to announce her departure.
Soon after being named the Steel’s 2023 player of the year Burley confirmed she would be joining Stars for next season’s ANZ Premiership.
“I am excited to come back home as both a different person and player. But I think it was the right time for me so I could be around my partner and whanau and friends, just that life outside of netball balance” Burley said.
Now shooter Saviour Tui has confirmed she too has departed the Steel.
The Waikato/BOP Magic announced Tui’s signing on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old is a rising star in terms of shooters in the ANZ Premiership and is a significant loss.
Tui missed the start of the season because of injury but in her come back played a key role in lifting the performances of the Steel despite the losses still racking up.
As a result, Tui was named the Steel’s most improved player at the end of the season.
The interest will now centre on where Reinga Bloxham will go to in building her 2024 Steel squad.