London Pulse head coach Sam Bird believes this will be her team’s year after falling short against Loughborough Lightning in their previous Netball Super League Grand Final meeting back in 2023.
Pulse are looking for their first ever title at London’s O2 Arena, having won the inaugural Super Cup this year before finishing top of the table.
Lightning are aiming to become the first side to win the title for three years running, after booking a spot in the season-ending showpiece for the fifth consecutive season.
Loughborough Lightning continued their hunt for a historic three-peat as they beat Manchester Thunder 69-57
But Pulse are full of confidence, after beating the defending champions just a couple of weeks ago, and Bird is adamant that the core of the capital outfit is more experienced now and that the team will be ready for the big occasion.
“We are a young side, but we have players now that are the core part of this squad that have been part of the club for a few years now,” she said.
“Lots of them have been at the club for four or five years, and they’ve sort of lived and breathed the heartache of not quite getting across the line. And I think that they’ve just sort of grown up in the club and are just really, really determined to win this year.
“Loughborough are obviously really experienced. They’ve won titles for fun. But we feel like this is the year where that balance has slightly tipped. We’ve got experienced internationals in our team now, that although they’re young in age, they are experienced in terms of playing top-flight netball.
“And I think it will be a bit like a game of chess and strategy. But I think for the first time ever, we’re just really thriving and looking forward to being in this final.”
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Highlights as London Pulse take on Leeds Rhinos in the inaugural Netball Super Cup final
Loughborough came from behind to beat Manchester Thunder 69-57 in the Netball Super League Preliminary Final to book their spot at the O2, and Hannah Joseph is readying herself for a seventh appearance in the season-ending clash.
“We set out at the start of the season wanting to get to that Grand Final, so we’re just so pleased we’ve done it,” she said.
“Off the back of last week and losing in the major semi-final it gave us a real fight coming into this game, we knew we were going to put everything out there to get to the final.
“We want to win three in a row, we named that at the start of the season. It is exciting that we get to play Pulse again, for the fourth time, it is not often you get to play another team four times.
“We know where we can fix up from last time, we have got loads of evidence of where we can be better.”
Samantha Wallace-Joseph led Loughborough with 272 goals this season at a conversion rate of 91 per cent, while Pulse goal shooter Olivia Tchine was second in the league with 451 goals behind only Manchester Thunder’s Elmeré van der Berg.
Funmi Fadoju has meanwhile starred at goal defence for Pulse with 31 interceptions, 120 deflections, 77 gains – all league-highs – as well as 18 rebounds.
Pulse are primed to feature for the second time in the Grand Final since their Super League debut in 2019, while Loughborough are looking for their fourth title in their eighth appearance in the season climax.
Live on Sky – final will be streamed on Sky Sports YouTube and be live on Sky Sports+ from 5pm