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Victorian Netball League

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The Victorian Netball League (VNL) is a state netball league featuring teams from Victoria, Australia. The league is organised by Netball Victoria, with the modern league beginning in 2009. It replaced an earlier state league as the top level netball competition in Victoria. On a national level, the VNL is effectively a third-tier league, below Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Netball Championships.

Victorian Netball League
Founded2009
CountryAustralia
RegionVictoria
DivisionsChampionship
23 & Under
Number of clubs11
Level on pyramid2
Current championsCity West Falcons
Most championshipsCity West Falcons
(7 Championship titles)
Websitevic.netball.com.au

From 2009-2011, due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, the VNL was known as the Holden Cruze Cup. Between 2018-2020, the league was sponsored by Bupa and was known as the Bupa Victorian Netball League.

A change at the end of the 2023 season saw three divisions (Championship, Division 1 and 19 & Under) become two - with Division 1 and 19 & Under replaced with a 23 & Under division. It also saw the inclusion of new clubs Bendigo Strikers, Gippsland Stars and Western Warriors. The Stars will initially field a 23 & Under team, before entering the Championship division by 2027.

Nine existing clubs (Boroondara, Casey, City West, Geelong, Hawks, Lightning, Blaze, Waves and Saints) had their licenses renewed, with foundation club Ariels a casualty of the restructure.

The league's most successful team, City West Falcons (originally known as Hume City Falcons), have won seven Championship titles and 17 premierships in total, to the end of 2023.

History

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Foundation

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The modern league began in 2009, replacing an earlier Netball Victoria state league as the top level netball competition in Victoria. The earlier league featured eighteen teams but, after restructuring, the number was reduced to ten. The founding ten members of the new league were Ballarat Pride, Boroondara Genesis, Geelong Cougars, Hume City Falcons, Monash University Central, North East Blaze, Peninsula Waves, Southern Saints, VU Western Lightning and Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels. The league featured three divisions – Championship, Division 1 and 19 & Under. The ten teams entered a team in each of the three divisions. The new structure was designed to encourage player development.[1][2][3][4]

City West Falcons

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The league's most successful team has been City West Falcons, who have won seven Championship titles and 17 premierships in total, across three divisions.[5] As Hume City Falcons, they won the inaugural Championship in 2009 and claimed it again the following year[2][6][7] With a team that included Kathleen Knott, they won their first Championship as City West Falcons in 2012 [8][9] and again in 2013.[10][11] In 2018, Falcons won their fifth Championship title.[12][13] Falcons won their sixth Championship title in 2022, also winning the 19 & Under Grand Final.

Victorian Fury

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The Australian Netball League team Victorian Fury is effectively the representative team of the VNL. In turn, Fury is the reserve team of Melbourne Vixens.[14][15][16]

Teams

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2023 teams

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Team Home venue/base Home city/town/suburb Debut season
Boroondara Express [17][18] Boroondara Sports Complex Boroondara 2009
Casey Demons [19][20][21] Casey Stadium City of Casey 2019
City West Falcons [5] Maribyrnong College[7] Maribyrnong 2009 (as Hume City Falcons)
Geelong Cougars [22][23] - Geelong 2009
Hawks Netball [24][25][26] - - 2009 (as Monash Storm)
Melbourne University Lightning [27][28][29] Parkville Campus University of Melbourne 2009 (as VU Western Lightning)
North East Blaze [30][31] Community Bank Stadium Diamond Creek 2009
Peninsula Waves [32][33] - Mornington Peninsula 2009
Wilson Storage Southern Saints [34][35] - City of Bayside 2009
Bendigo Strikers Red Energy Stadium Bendigo 2024
Gippsland Stars - - 2024
Western Warriors - - 2024
Notes

Source:[3][21][37][38][39]

Former teams

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Team Home city/town/suburb Debut season Final season
Ballarat Pride [4][40][41] Ballarat 2009 2014
ACU Sovereigns [41][42][43] Ballarat 2015 2018
Ariels Maroondah Nets 2009 2023

Championship Grand Finals

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Season Winners Score Runners Up Venue
2009 [2][5][17] Hume City Falcons 47–44 Boroondara Genesis SNHC
2010 [5] Hume City Falcons SNHC
2011 [17][25] Monash University Storm Boroondara Express SNHC
2012 [8][9] City West Falcons 42–37 VU-Western Lightning SNHC
2013 [10][11] City West Falcons 44–41 Peninsula Waves SNHC
2014 [44][45] Southern Saints 48–42 City West Falcons SNHC
2015 [46][47] Boroondara Express 50–44 City West Falcons SNHC
2016 [48][49] Melbourne University Lightning 53–52 City West Falcons SNHC
2017 [50][51] North East Blaze 49–46 Melbourne University Lightning SNHC
2018 [12][13] City West Falcons 56–48 Geelong Cougars SNHC
2019 [52][53][54][55] Geelong Cougars 69–55 Casey Demons SNHC
2020 No competition due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 No finals series played[56]
2022[57][58] City West Falcons 49–47 Geelong Cougars Parkville
2023 City West Falcons 60-54 Boroondara Express Parkville

Notable players

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The VNL is effectively a feeder league for the Suncorp Super Netball teams Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies. VNL players have also played for the Australia national netball team and other international teams.[14][59]

Internationals

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  Australia
  Malawi
  Scotland
  Sri Lanka

Melbourne Vixens

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Collingwood Magpies

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Source:[6][9][27][47][49][51][53][59]

Award winners

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Margaret Caldow Trophy

The Championship MVP award is named after Margaret Caldow.

Season Player Team
2009 [2] Brooke Thompson VU Western Lightning
2010
2011[60] Melinda Cranston Boroondara Genesis
2012 [8] Caitlyn Strachan (Note 1) Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels
Mwai Kumwenda Peninsula Waves
Helen Barclay Monash University Central
2013 [10] Caitlyn Strachan(Note 2) Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels
Brooke Thompson VU Western Lightning
2014 [44] Chloe Watson City West Falcons
2015 [46] Kathleen Knott City West Falcons
2016 [48] Maggie Lind City West Falcons
2017 [50] Micaela Wilson North East Blaze
2018
2019[61] Julia Woolley Geelong Cougars
2020 Not awarded
2021[56] Julia Woolley (Note 3) Geelong Cougars
Maggie Lind City West Falcons
2022[62] Nyah Allen North East Blaze
Notes
  • ^1 2012 award was shared.
  • ^2 2013 award was shared.
  • ^3 2021 award was shared.
Player of the Championship Grand Final
Season Player Team
2009 [2] Ashlee Howard Boroondara Genesis
2010
2011
2012 [8] Christie Barnes City West Falcons
2013 [10] Elizabeth Watson City West Falcons
2014 [44] Leah Percy Southern Saints
2015 [46] Sarah Yule Boroondara Express
2016 [48] Dani Stewart Melbourne University Lightning
2017 [50] Micaela Wilson North East Blaze
2018
2019 [53] Vanessa Augustini Geelong Cougars
2022 [63] Zoe Davies City West Falcons

Main sponsors

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Years
Holden Cruze[2][64][65] 2009–2011
Devine Homes [8][10] 2012–2013
Bupa[12][52][66][67] 2018–2020
No sponsor 2021-current

References

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