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The Loughborough Lightning face defending champions London Pulse in Saturday’s Netball Super League preliminary final, live on Sky Sports – and former England head coach Tracey Neville has revealed his X-factors for the Lightning.
The two teams are set to battle it out for second place in the title-deciding grand final, with AO Manchester Thunder awaiting the winner at the Co Op Live Arena on June 20.
The Pulse are coming off a heartbreaking 60-56 defeat to the Thunder in the major semi-final, and will face a Lightning side coming off an impressive 77-57 win over Nottingham Forest Netball in the minor semi-final – and Neville has identified a player who can help Loughborough go all the way.
Alice Harvey fights for the ball
“Alice Harvey “Obviously the team is going to come back, and Loughborough Lightning – with Harvey as a keeper – have always beaten (Manchester) Thunder,” Neville said. outside the court podcast
“If they can get to the finals, they’ve got a card that probably hasn’t been seen for a very long time.”
Despite the price of Harvey’s return, Neville is not writing off Pulse, who had won 12 of their 14 Super League games before their 4-goal defeat in the big semi-final.
“I think London Pulse’s form hasn’t been where it needs to be – but they still finished second in the league,” he said. “They still churned out a big semi like them.
Netball Super League 2026 standings
“From my point of view, Saturday is anyone’s game. Loughborough were pretty consistent, but this is the final.
It’s the worst game on Saturday, because you don’t get a second chance.
“Do it or die before you get to the co-op arena.”
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Tamsin Greenaway and Tracey Neville discuss the full-time netball program and what it means for the sport.
Neville expects strong Pulse to ‘defend hard’ – as ‘inconsistent’ Bon miss chances
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Tamsin Greenaway and Tracy Neville discuss whether Briony Ackley should reapply for his current role as head coach of the New South Wales Swifts.
Nottingham Forest netball have reached the semi-finals in their second season – but Neville believes it was a case of missed opportunities for the Super League newcomers, who fielded a much-changed lineup in their loss to the Lightning.
“I always feel you have to play with your starting seven to get to the final. You see (Rolen) Struke out, (Jayda) Pekova on the bench – I just feel it was disjointed going into it.
“They had a tough game the week before against Pulse, and with Loughborough having a tough game against Manchester Thunder, they came in better form.
The final shows a lot – the top three teams are so far away from the rest of the league at the moment – it’s a bit of a sad state of affairs.”
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In the Off the Court podcast, Tamsin Greenaway suggests that increasing squad size could reduce the number of injuries in Super League.
Reigning champions Pulse handed themselves an extra hurdle to lose to Manchester Thunder in the major semi-finals, but Neville argues – despite poor defending – they still have reason to be encouraged.
“The Pulse defense — I think there were times when I wanted them to tighten up in the first period — but I think it would have shocked them, run the deep ball and then potentially gotten the ball back.
“I thought there was no sense that (Manchester Thunder) were going to lose that game. They were in control of what they did.
“London Pulse had some exceptional parts of the game, and when you reflect on it, four goals at this level is nothing.”
Stream the Netball Super League preliminary final for free on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 3pm on Saturday. Don’t get Sky Sports? Stream netball and more on Sky Sports without a contract.
