All you need to know about Netball Super League 2026

Double-digit temperatures, lighter evenings and the return of the Netball Super League – winter is beginning its retreat.

Season two in the league’s 10-year drive towards full professionalisation has arrived, with first-time champions London Pulse launching their defence against Manchester Thunder on Friday, 27 February at the Copper Box.

Pulse have handed back one trophy already, with Loughborough Lightning winning the Super Cup final in Sheffield.

Those two sides, who also contested the Grand Final last July, are setting the highest standards, but others could credibly join them in the 2026 campaign.

There are new kits, new faces, and new stories waiting to be written.

Mavericks’ pioneering kit

It is not ‘death to the dress’ yet, but several Mavericks players will break with tradition and wear a combination of vests, shorts, skorts and leggings this season. The theory is that if players feel their best, they will produce their best netball.

As coach Tamsin Greenway told BBC Sport: “It’s a bit of a no-brainer. We’re women, we’ve all got different shapes and sizes. As a 20-year-old, wearing a dress would have been fine for me, but if you put me on court now I couldn’t think of anything worse than wearing a netball dress.”

Cardwell comes home

The return of England goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell is one to watch. She is back at Manchester Thunder after enjoying huge highs and crushing lows in a mixed three years in Australia. Thunder looked rusty at the recent Super Cup, so it could be a slow build for them this season, but Cardwell adds quality. They should be there or thereabouts.

Growth spurt

After a 45% surge in average attendances last season, NSL is looking to draw in even more spectators. Three double-headers will take place at major arenas in Nottingham and Liverpool, while the Grand Final will move from London’s O2 to Manchester’s Co-op Live, a new setting for netball. Two other venues will stage netball for the first time: the National Cycling Centre in Manchester and Essex Sports Arena.

Free-to-air netball stays on the BBC

Eleanor Cardwell (Manchester Thunder): The 31-year-old goal shooter is beginning a third spell with Thunder. Expectations are high.

Cardwell was a 2023 World Cup silver medallist with England and has league title medals from the NSL and Australia’s Super Netball.

Her championship season down under came with Adelaide Thunderbirds, before knee trouble spoiled her time at Melbourne Mavericks.

Thunder finished third last season. All eyes are on their fit-again star signing.

Jaz Brown (Leeds Rhinos): Once a promising tennis player, Doncaster-born Brown is now better known for guarding nets than striking forehands over them.

England’s new goal keeper is enjoying being back in Yorkshire after leaving Birmingham Panthers.

Brown, 24, forms part of a new-look Leeds defensive circle, with South African defender Sanmarie Visser another arrival.

“We’re building a good combination,” Brown said after a semi-final Super Cup run.

Gracie Smith (London Pulse): Aged just 16, Smith last year became the youngest ever player on an NSL title-winning team. The Pulse centre did her GCSEs three weeks before the Grand Final.

Already summoned by England A, could Smith, now 17, challenge for senior selection in time for the Commonwealth Games?

She has enjoyed almost non-stop success, so it stung when Pulse were beaten in the Super Cup final.

Eight teams make up the NSL: Birmingham Panthers, Dragons (previously Cardiff Dragons), Leeds Rhinos, London Mavericks, London Pulse, Loughborough Lightning, Manchester Thunder and Nottingham Forest.

Several eye-catching rules were introduced last year and remain for 2026.

Here’s a reminder:

BBC Sport will show one game per week during the regular season.

These are the games you can watch live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer:

28 February: London Mavericks v Nottingham Forest (14:00 GMT)

7 March: Manchester Thunder v London Mavericks (17:00 GMT)

15 March: Nottingham Forest v Leeds Rhinos (16:00 GMT)

22 March: London Pulse v Nottingham Forest (18:00 GMT)

28 March: Loughborough Lightning v Birmingham Panthers (18:30 GMT)

4 April: London Pulse v Birmingham Panthers (17:00 BST)

11 April: Dragons v Birmingham Panthers (16:00 BST)

18 April: Loughborough Lightning v London Mavericks (18:00 BST)