Netball Magpies to nest in Hobart

Collingwood Magpies Netball will appear at their home away from home twice in 2019. The Magpies will take on the NSW Swifts in round 13 of the Suncorp Super Netball Season (SSN) in Launceston and take on two-time reigning champions.

Sunshine Coast Lightning in a practice match on the 1st February in Hobart. The 2019 season will mark the third time that the Magpies have played a home game at Launceston’s Silverdome. On the previous two occasions, the Magpies have been triumphant on Tasmanian soil, defeating the Queensland Firebirds, and they will be looking to continue that trend when they take on a new opponent in the Swifts. Magpies Netball Head Coach Rob Wright said it is always great to travel to Tasmania and the team love playing in front of a home crowd there. “It’s truly phenomenal to have that ongoing support from the fans.” “Off the court, it’s always a great trip away for the team and they love spending time in Tasmania” he said.

After a well-received practice match, attracting over 2000 people at the beginning of 2018, the Magpies will travel to the south of the state early in the new year to take on two-time premiers, Sunshine Coast Lightning at the Derwent Entertainment Centre. Lightning will be without star players Kelsey Browne and Geva Mentor, who have since made the switch to the pies at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

Netball Tasmania CEO Aaron Pidgeon is pleased to be brining multiple Collingwood matches to Tasmania again in 2019.

“Bring SSN competition to Tasmania allows the community to view the highest standard of Netball possible and gives young netballers direct access to their heroes which is important for the promotion and development of our game.”

“We hope that the Netball community will come out in force and sell out both games, demonstrating that Tasmania has the capacity to draw big crowds which strengthens our case for future Australian Diamonds games, or one day having an SSN team of our own” Pidgeon said.

Tickets to the practice match are scheduled to go on sale on the 7th January, with the round 13 on-sale date to be advised in the new year. Magpies Netball memberships are now also available via their website, with a special Tasmania membership full of benefits.