"There is work to do but it feels like we are right at the start of something very exciting."
Friday 7 June 2019 15:57, UK
With the news that Leeds Rhinos are to enter the Vitality Superleague in 2021, what is the vision for the franchise, how did the link up come about what are their hopes for the future? Paul Prenderville got the lowdown from director of netball Anna Carter on a franchise with a plan.
On Wednesday it was confirmed that the Rhinos are to become the 11th franchise to be given a Superleague license, and fifth in the last four years.
Whether it's at the expense of one of the current ten or alongside remains to be seen, but for Carter it's something she has been planning for, both since she returned to her native Yorkshire and when Leeds Rhinos Netball was launched in 2017.
"We are keen to maximise the appetite for netball," Carter told Sky Sports.
"Our bid last year was described as exceptional but there was only room for one more team and it was Pulse, who are very much a business proposition, that were successful and it's interesting to see how that is unfolding for them.
"With Rhinos everything has had rationale, a business plan and they've supported us in everything we feel we need to be a success."
The return to top-level netball in Yorkshire is long overdue - the Yorkshire Jets paid the price for the new wave of arrivals in 2016 - but delight was evident across social media on the county's return - Grand Final champions Thunder were just one of the sides to welcome back their Roses rivals with open arms.
"It's the happiest I have been in work for such a long time," said Carter.
"The opportunities to work with another professional club in a professional sport like Leeds Rhinos and mixing with coaches who have been working at the highest level over a number of years."
Carter has Superleague pedigree of her own having coached Loughborough and Team Bath, two of the league's most storied teams. They also represent part of the older guard, those long-established units with proud roots in the university systems.
As Carter explains, netball is changing and franchises with big plans are starting to make their way. It began with Wasps, Sirens and Severn Stars. Pulse joined the party last year and the Rhinos aim to be next.
"With England winning the Commonwealth Games netball seems to have gone 'boom'. There is so much appetite for community netball, pathway netball as well as the Superleague.
"Rugby league is a good example of a sport that went from amateur to professional and netball is in that area at the moment.
"One of England Netball's ambitions is to make the league full-time and I know that will make things difficult for the university models.
"I have worked with two at Superleague levels, I know what they are able and not able to do but with these relationships we don't know where the ceiling is - for any young girl starting out on that journey there is a sense of where can this go."
Carter already has strong coaching support in place; England Futures coach Emily Perry is the Rhinos Pathway head coach and former England international Maggie Birkinshaw is also part youth development programme which has been in place since 2017.
"Some girls may not make it in our sport. So we are already working with Rhinos women's rugby league side to provide joint opportunities and how some players may have a skill-set that fits into rugby league," shared Carter.
"We have already had girls transferring from one sport to the other and that is in both ways - its about opportunity.
"With netball changing and more and more about contested ball and contact we need girls that want to play that kind of sport."
There will be obstacles to overcome, chief among them had being a home venue. Rhinos will play games at Leeds Beckett University, Sheffield EIS, and the First Direct Arena and it's the latter, nestled in the city centre, that is home to Premier League darts and numerous sell-out concerts of more than 10,000.
Much of what happens next in terms of Superleague growth depends on crowds, and arenas being filled, regularly - like their Suncorp equivalent in Australia.
Sirens, Wasps, Pulse have permanent homes in purpose-built arenas rather than sports halls. Thunder, Lightning, Storm and Mavericks have all staged games in bigger venues away from their traditional homes - what the Rhinos do in terms of a regular home could be crucial.
Carter's outfit will also be the third team with rugby links, following Mavericks' partnership with Saracens and the creation of Wasps Netball.
It's a model that has worked in Australia where access to commercial opportunities and tie-ins have allowed the teams to prosper and share multi-million-pound training complexes, it's also been cited by England Netball CEO Jo Adams as an avenue that can benefit the sport as a whole.
"We are really looking at Saracens and Wasps. We know what we can bring and the exciting thing is what being a part of Leeds Rhinos is giving us and what we are giving back to them," added Carter.
"We have done quite a bit of research, not just in the UK and that included going over to Australia where the tie-ups are quite prevalent, the Magpies, the GIANTS and most Suncorp teams are in some way connected to different codes.
"People trust the name, their delivery system and now they can include netball which gives us an opportunity not just to grow the sport but to give everyone access to our sport."
For Carter, there are also the coaching extras, the injury rehabilitation and player welfare that is a major draw.
"The environment those players are in, how they structure a week around athletes, support stuff but also the Leeds Rhinos Foundation who are linked right the way through the school programme.
"There is cross-code learning from things like peripheral vision and contact to movement skills - for us in particular we have seen great access to girls who do like the physical side of sport."
There is also the small matter of the development programme. Yorkshire is one of the biggest playing netball counties and Rhinos were first granted a youth licence two years ago - a system that is flourishing with more than 180 athletes.
As well as the netball players of the county, Carter and her team have been mining the women's rugby league set-up for talent.
"The schools, the universities and the colleges are already attached the 'brand' if you like after years and years of hard work - it opens the door and makes it easier for netball to get in.
"We are already working with Rhinos women's rugby league side to provide joint opportunities and how some players may have a skill set that fits into rugby league.
"We have already had girls transferring from one sport to the other and that is in both ways - its about opportunity.
"From a talent perspective, we also get to look outside the traditional routes, perhaps see players who have not played netball before and potentially bring them into our pathways."
It's an interesting approach, one that is being mirrored across youth development programmes in sport.
Despite this season troubles for Leeds Rhinos in the men's Super League, it's no surprise to see a forward-thinking sports entity like Rhinos embracing the netball package. In turn, it's no surprise to see the early signs that Leeds Rhinos Netball are ready to make their mark.
With 18 months to continue preparations and refine plans that have already been in the pipeline for a couple of years, the Rhinos are ready to charge - and Superleague can't wait to welcome them.
The Vitality Superleague returns in 2020 but before that Sky Sports is your home of netball starting with every match of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup live and available via our YouTube channel. Coverage starts on Friday, July 12 right through to the final on Sunday July 21.
