Celtic Dragons Aim To Keep Mavericks In Line As Super League Returns

By Rob Cole

Celtic Dragons are looking to pick up where they left off last season when they launch their 2018 Vitality Netball Super League campaign with a home clash against the Mavericks on Monday night at the Sport Wales National Centre.

The Dragons ended their 2017 season on a high with a 52-47 win over Team Northumbria in Ebbw Vale in June – only their second win in 18 outings in a season that saw them finish bottom of the table.

But with back-to-back home games to kick-off their 2018 campaign, defender Leila Thomas is hoping for a flying start.

“The aim is to carry on the progression from the end of last season and to progress with that, we’ve got a few new players this season and we are looking forward to pushing on. We are definitely aiming to reach the Final Four and we will have to see how the season develops,” said Thomas.

“We finished last season with a strong performance against Northumbria, so we are looking at bringing that strong start into what is going to be a really exciting new season. We obviously have a bit of an overlap between the Wales and Dragons squads, so we feel we are a lot more cohesive this season.

“That overlap definitely works as an advantage to us because we know in different situations how to make each other click and how to get the best out of each other. We started pre-season quite early and have been training together for quite a while now and we are definitely hungry for our first match.”

The Dragons start against the newly branded Benecos Mavericks before hosting five-time champions Team Bath Netball. They pushed the Mavericks all the way at home last season before going down to a 55-53 defeat.

With Welsh internationals Nia Jones, Cara Lea Moseley, Georgia Rowe and Amanda Varey back in harness the Welsh-based franchise are hoping they can rekindle the kind of form that took them to the final in 2013.

“The focus has been a lot more on our S&C programme early on, trying to get our speed and strength up. I think that will show on court,” added Thomas, who has returned from Team Northumbria.

“Having Georgia Rowe back down the shooting end this year is exciting and gives us quite a nice, tall target in the circle to aim for.”