Northern Ireland stars ready to make their mark on big stage as Superleague prepares to make its return

Leading light: Fionnuala Toner will co-captain Leeds Rhinos

Richard Bullick

February 12 2021 09:45 AM

Netball fans will be watching closely when newcomers Leeds Rhinos make their Vitality Superleague debut at teatime today in the opening game of the 2021 campaign.

Northern Ireland head coach Dan Ryan is doubling up as the Yorkshire franchise's first supremo and the Aussie has two of his Warriors in the ranks.

Experienced defender Fionnuala Toner has been handed an official leadership role as co-captain with England's most capped player of all time Jade Clarke.

Meanwhile, Michelle Magee, who only turned 21 last month, has secured her first contract in the semi-pro Superleague and will be fighting for game-time in the back circle.

The well-connected Ryan has assembled a strong squad, though the Rhinos have suffered a late blow with their star signing Madison Browne ruled out of the entire campaign by injury.

The Aussie legend was Ryan's marquee signing, though her compatriot Donnell Wallam, a fairly recent convert from basketball, is another eye-catching acquisition.

Browne will be a big loss at wing attack and, rather than a like-for-like replacement, Rhinos have signed a specialist goalkeeper, New Zealand's Tuaine Keenan, to complete their roster.

In Keenan, England's Vicki Oyesola, Northern Ireland vice-captain Toner and evergreen veteran Clarke, the Leeds side will be building on firm defensive foundations.

Although Keenan's arrival has increased competition for places at her end of the court, with Paige Kindred also in the mix, Magee won't be overawed when her chance comes.

Although just a schoolgirl then, she relished facing hosts and hot favourites Australia in a packed cauldron on the opening night of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Her older sister, Emma, had to wait until the following year's World Cup for her big breakthrough but made a major impact after arriving in Liverpool as a relative unknown.

Like her younger sibling, the 23-year-old is a new face in Superleague this season, joining Northern Ireland team-mate Niamh Cooper at Surrey Storm.

Player-coach Mikki Austin has other options in Francesca Wells and Ellie Kelk, but Magee has the talent to become towering Aussie veteran Karyn Bailey's regular shooting partner. Belfast woman Cooper's first Storm campaign was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic which saw the action paused in mid-March and the season later declared null and void.

Storm's last match before the shutdown saw Cooper and her Northern Ireland captain, fellow doctor Caroline O'Hanlon of Manchester Thunder, on opposing sides.

Now 36 and beginning her fourth season with the Manchester side, world-class centre and fan favourite O'Hanlon will be a key figure as Thunder try to hang onto their title.

Thunder have a strong starting seven in O'Hanlon, England's Ellie Cardwell, Laura Malcolm and Amy Carter, Malawi pair Joyce Mvula and Loreen Ngwira plus skipper Emma Dovey. However, with the addition of the Rhinos, meaning 20 rounds of regular league games ahead of the play-offs, Thunder's depth could come under scrutiny as the campaign progresses.

After Rhinos face Welsh side Celtic Dragons (5.15pm), Thunder take on Scotland's Strathclyde Sirens (7.15pm) in the second game of a Sky Sports double-header. The first fixture tomorrow could feature three Northern Ireland internationals, with Michelle Drayne's London Pulse facing Cooper and Magee's Storm (2pm).

Previously with Saracens, Mavericks, mid-courter Drayne joined Pulse last winter, when fellow Warriors star Toner left for what proved a truncated campaign with Team Bath.

Northern Ireland stars ready to make their mark on big stage as Superleague prepares to make its return

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