As we get set for the major and minor semi-finals in the Netball Super League, Tamsin Greenway and Tracy Neville from the Off the Court Podcast have given their thoughts on the two matchups as the 2026 season goes down to the wire.
Manchester Thunder and reigning champions London Pulse will go head to head in the major semi-final, with the winner booking their place in the Grand Final on June 20 at Co-op Live in Manchester.
Loughborough Lightning and Nottingham Forest play in the minor semi-final, with the winner facing the loser of Thunder and Pulse’s clash to determine who the other finalist will be.
Netball Super League 2026 standings
Both major and minor semi-finals are to be played on Saturday, June 6 – live on Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports‘ YouTube – with Lightning vs Forest on first from 3pm, before Thunder vs Pulse from 5.30pm.
Minor semi-final: Loughborough Lightning vs Nottingham Forest
Tamsin Greenway: “On paper, it should be Loughborough’s game to win.
“They’ve been in a million finals, have got so much experience across the board, but they’ve been suffering their own issues the last few weeks with a heap of injuries and having to muddle their team around.
“Where they are so dominant is in the goal circle, where they’ve scored over 1,000 goals. And you look at the amount Forest have scored, they’re over 100 behind them on that.
“You think on paper it’s Loughbrough’s game. However, we’ve talked about bogey teams and Nottingham Forest are Lightning’s.
“They played each other in round seven, where Loughbrough won – but by only one goal – and then in round 12, Forest came out on top 76-65. They were pretty faultless that day.
“Forest, for me, have no fear when they play teams. That’s why they’re so dangerous.
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On the Off the Court podcast, Tamsin Greenway suggests increasing squad sizes could reduce the number of injuries in the Super League.
“I think all the pressure is on Lightning here. I’m not sure they’ve found themselves in this position with this many issues with their injuries.
“It’s going to be a cracker but I think Loughborough could still do it, just because they’ve got so much experience in this position.”
Major semi-final: Manchester Thunder vs London Pulse
Tracey Neville: “Do I say that Pulse can’t come through? They have got match winners in their team.
“They’ve also got a pretty good, stable back end to go up against Thunder’s strength, their front end.
“What I’ve seen is that these Thunder players are flourishing at the right time; Sophie Fawns has been outstanding, and I think Eleanor Cardwell is back to regaining her past performances she was hitting before injury.
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Sophie Fawns shares her journey to Netball and joining AO Manchester Thunder.
“The thing with Pulse is that they contain Eleanor, but I think the feeding into Eleanor over the last month has been exceptional, particularly when Nat Metcalf’s in there.
“I think Thunder are coming to form at the right time. And do you know what, they have so much incentive to get to the final in their own city – there’s no bigger chocolate bar than that, is there.
“Thunder have got everything to lose, but everything to win as well.”
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