Coverage will be live on Sky Sports Action and Mix from 4.45pm on Saturday
Saturday 11 May 2019 20:40, UK
After weeks of twists and turns, it is the time of the season when four will become two and the Vitality Netball Superleague Grand Finalists will be decided.
Wasps Netball, Loughborough Lightning, Manchester Thunder and Team Bath all arrive at this point knowing that there's no room for error.
In her Talking Points this week, Sky Sports expert and four-time Superleague title-winner Tamsin Greenway said that the semi-finals are 'the worst day of the year' because you are one step away from where you want to be - in a Grand Final, contesting for the title.
The question is which team will handle the pressure the best? And which will fly in the heat of a winner-takes-all environment?
Let's start with the fixture that has enthralled us all as a Grand Final for the past two seasons shall we?
Lightning are a long way from their 30-goal loss to Wasps at Super 10 and Wasps are now a long way from their mid-season 'wobble' which included a loss to Loughborough in Round Ten.
Mel Mansfield's outfit finished the regular season with seven victories on the bounce and for every one, the head coach put out a consistent starting seven.
This has allowed combinations to cement and an area to look at this weekend, may well be their defensive circle.
When the outfit lost to Loughborough, Hannah Knights (GK) and Josie Huckle (GD) had the task of containing the presence of Mary Cholhok.
Fran Williams has since made the starting GD bib her own. So will a Knights-Williams combination (if selected again) from the outset, make a difference?
Of course, when it comes to looking at Wasps, this preview would not be complete without talking about the pressure that's sitting on their shoulders as the defending champions.
Not only have they had to carry a target on their backs all season but they have history in their sights - no outfit has ever won three Superleague titles in a row.
With veterans (experience wise) in every section of the court - Rachel Dunn in the circle, Jade Clarke in mid-court and Knights in the defensive end - they have the backbone to cope with this pressure.
Alongside that, their last-gasp loss to Lightning earlier in the season and their other losses, will have been extremely helpful.
So what of Lightning? What can we expect from Sara Bayman's side?
Bayman spoke to us just a few days before the start of the season and her message then was for her team to play with no regrets.
"I just don't think there's any point losing games wondering what we could have done. My message to the girls has always been to go out and attack games."
Loughborough's season then commenced with a 30-goal defeat at the hands of Wasps. Not ideal. But, as they established together and Cholhok arrived and settled, the results performed an about turn.
At the heart of their campaign has been their captain, Nat Panagarry. From the way in which she speaks to her players to her unrelenting work-rate and skills on court, she has been a tower of strength.
Panagarry has enhanced her own skill-set but honing her work at WD with Jess Shaw taking the reins at Centre. However, Loughborough's captain will often play both positions in a match.
Lightning's Achilles heel has been coping with target shooters - Tuaine Keenan does not have the height that Shamera Sterling provided last season - and with Dunn there for Wasps, disrupting early ball must happen.
With Cholhok up the other end, quick goals will be available as long as the attacking unit back themselves and there's no reason to think that they shouldn't.
Despite the fact that both sides will be different in complexion to the ones that contested for the Grand Final last season, and the one before, the intensity should be the same as they both try and avoid dropping into the dreaded bronze final.
As soon as the full-time whistle blows at the University of Warwick our attention will flip to Manchester where there will be another intense duel.
This is going to be another intriguing one too as the home side are set for a meeting with a team that they've lost to twice already.
Thunder's performances in the final rounds of the regular season read - W, L, W, L, L, W - and within that was a three-goal loss to Bath (at home).
After their Round 18 victory over Storm, Karen Greig said her players did "a good job" and all "stepped up" at different times.
In the same manner as one of the other semi-finalists Wasps, Thunder have experience from back to front including the likes of Kerry Almond, Laura Malcom and Liana Leota.
Bath aren't short of experience either as their two Vitality Roses lead their charge. This season, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis and Imogen Allison have also come of age and on court they will need to prove themselves once more.
With Greig and the departing Jess Thirlby at the helm for Thunder and Bath respectively, the franchises are being led by two first-class netballers, and now coaches.
These two know what it takes to get the job done and must ensure that their sides find their form instantly on Saturday evening and show the best version of themselves at crunch time.
Will the emotion of it potentially being Thirlby's last match in charge propel Bath to a third victory over Thunder this season or will the home side gain revenge at the best possible time of year? Only time will tell...
Watch both of Vitality Netball Superleague semi-finals live on Sky Sports Action and Mix on Saturday, May 11 from 4.45pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
