2003 Southern Sting season

The 2003 Southern Sting season saw the Southern Sting netball team compete in the 2003 National Bank Cup league season. With a team coached by Robyn Broughton, captained by Lesley Nicol and featuring Tania Dalton, Adine Harper, Donna Loffhagen and Wendy Telfer, Sting won their fifth consecutive league title. In the semi-final, they defeated Otago Rebels 56–43. In the grand final, they defeated Northern Force 51–49. It was the first time in the history of the league that it featured a South Island v North Island final.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Southern Sting
2003 season
Head coach	Robyn Broughton
Manager	Kate Mackintosh
Captain	Lesley Nicol
Main venue	Stadium Southland
Season results
Wins–losses	9–1
Season placing	1st
Team colours
Southern Sting seasons
← 2002 2004 →

Players

Player movements

Gains and losses

Gains	Losses
Jenny Ferguson (Otago Rebels) Kate Lundy Emma Moynihan Gemma Russell Anna Veronese^1 (Canterbury Flames) Debbie Telfer	Reinga Bloxham Kirsty Broughton (retirement) Bernice Mene (retirement) Debbie Munro Kate Newson Kylie Young

Sources:^[4][6]

2003 roster

2003 Southern Sting roster
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height   Tania Dalton GS, GA (1971-11-26)26 November 1971 (aged 31) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)   Jenny Ferguson GD, WD (aged 24) 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)   Adine Harper WA, C, GA (1979-06-08)8 June 1979 (aged 23) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)   Megan Hutton GK (1976-03-26)26 March 1976 (aged 27) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)   Donna Loffhagen GS, GA (1978-04-29)29 April 1978 (aged 24) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)   Kate Lundy –   Emma Moynihan –   Lesley Nicol (c) WD, C (1973-05-09)9 May 1973 (aged 29) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)   Gemma Russell –   Jo Tapper –   Debbie Telfer –   Wendy Telfer WD, C, WA (1984-10-15)15 October 1984 (aged 18) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)   Anna Veronese^1   GK, GD, WD (1978-11-20)20 November 1978 (aged 24) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	Head coach   Robyn Broughton Manager: Kate Mackintosh Physiotherapist: Neil Familton and Victoria O'Connell Sports Science: Steve Jackson Marketing & Events Manager: Liz McDonald Sponsorship Manager: Karen Brown Office Administrator: Judy Fleck Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain   – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Notes

• ^1 Anna Veronese was signed as replacement for Bernice Mene but she found she was pregnant in January 2003.

Source:^[4]

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Round 1

29 March	Southern Sting	80–29	Counties Manukau Cometz	Stadium Southland
		Report

Round 2

6 April	Otago Rebels	50–48	Southern Sting	Edgar Centre

Round 3

11 April	Southern Sting	67–53	Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic	Stadium Southland
	Donna Loffhagen   35/38 (92%) Tania Dalton   32/34 (94%)	Report	Irene van Dyk   44/48 (92%) ??

Round 4

13 April	Southern Sting	53–49	Northern Force	Stadium Southland
		Report

Round 5

17 April	Auckland Diamonds	44–58	Southern Sting	Auckland
		Report	Donna Loffhagen   29/30 (97%)

Round 6

25 April	Canterbury Flames	51–60	Southern Sting	Christchurch

Round 7

27 April	Western Flyers	42–80	Southern Sting	New Plymouth
		Report

Round 8

4 May	Southern Sting	77–44	Capital Shakers	Stadium Southland

Round 9

Southern Sting received a bye.

Source:^[4]

Finals series

Semi-final

16 May		Southern Sting	56–43	Otago Rebels		Stadium Southland Attendance: 4,000
		Scoring by quarter: 15–9, 30–20, 41–29, 56–43

Sources:^[1]

Grand final

23 May		Southern Sting	51–49	Northern Force		Stadium Southland Attendance: 4,100
		Scoring by quarter: 9–14, 25–24, 35–35, 51–49

Sources:^[2][3][4][5]

References

1. "Netball: Title within Sting's grasp". www.nzherald.co.nz. 16 May 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
2. "Netball: Sting too strong for fading Force". www.nzherald.co.nz. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
3. "New Zealand. Netball Final. Southern Sting vs. Northern Force". www.photosport.nz. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
4. . www.sting.co.nz. Archived from the original on 26 May 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
5. "Stadium Southland's impressive netball finals history". stuff.co.nz. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
6. . www.sting.co.nz. Archived from the original on 26 May 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2023.