Netball Super League: London Pulse head coach Sam Bird had 'no doubt' they would beat Loughborough Lightning in Grand Final

London Pulse head coach Sam Bird said her side had ‘no doubt’ they would win the Netball Super League Grand Final and revealed she is already thinking about defending the title next season.

Having dominated the regular season, Pulse beat Loughborough Lightning 53-45 at The O2 on Sunday to take the trophy for the first time in the club’s history.

Bird has now been with the club for five years, having taken over from a side which finished bottom of the league in 2019.

“There was genuinely no doubt we were not going to win today,” Bird said. “Genuinely in the changing room, if we did everything right that we could do, it was down to us to lose it rather than not win it.

“We knew if we did our basics right, got our connections right, we’ve got this amazing defence and everybody knows.

“But we have enough respect for Loughborough to know that they can sink two-point shots. Sammy and Ella were both really strong today and they were quite clever in screening off, so we couldn’t get around for the ball.

“We still knew the two-point shot was a threat and that’s one of the new rules that’s quite challenging for coaches, because you can never relax.

“I’m super proud because we are the youngest team in the league, so to win just shows where we can go from here and my immediate thought was, ‘we are winning this next year’.”

The result was extra special for Pulse as it was in their home city in front of a record-breaking crowd, 10 years on from the final was first played at their regular home, the Copper Box Arena.

“I have a real affinity with London,” Bird added. “I went to university in London. I’ve worked in London my whole life.

“I feel like this is where I should be and ever since then, we’ve just recruited talent, found our talent, brought the talent up through the pathway and you just saw the proof of five years of hard work.

“It’s absolutely amazing to be playing here, it’s so loud. It’s amazing, it’s the sport we love and this is what we want. We want this more and more, and it was a very special occasion for everybody.”

Team captain Zara Everitt has also been with Pulse since 2020 after she spent a single season at Lightning and has been a consistent performer within the side.

But it is also extra special for her, because not only did she win alongside her friends, but also her 16-year-old sister – Darcie.

“It’s so surreal – if you could have written it, then that’s what you would have done,” Everitt said. “It feels like it’s been such a long time coming, we’ve worked so hard.

“We’ve had so much support, particularly this year, and there has been a real expectation that we would win, so the fact that we’ve been able to absorb all of that and put out such a great performance today, I’m just so happy.

“But it’s a crazy feeling [to be playing with my sister]I never really believe when she steps on court next to me because I still think she’s 12 years old. She’s had a huge impact and it just shows the depth we have on the team.

“Status’s [Halimat Adio] obviously done a phenomenal job for us all season, but Darcie’s been there, been primed and ready to go. I was super proud of her and all the other girls as well.”

For Lightning, however, it was heartbreak as their dream of the league’s first three-peat champions slipped away in the final quarter.

This year marked captain Nat Panagarry’s 10th year with the team and her seventh final with them. Despite the devastating result, Panagarry was excited for the future of netball after an ecstatic final for the fans.

“It’ll sting for a long time, but I think as you get a little bit older, you also realise that someone wins, someone loses and you got to be on the back of it sometimes,” she said.

“I’m a bit disappointed with the stuff that we put out, but hopefully the fans enjoyed it and it was a good final. For me, stepping out and hearing those fans was just incredible, to say I’ve done that at The O2 is something that I’ll never forget.

“Netball is growing and we’re proving that, the fans are there and we’ve got the backing. I think that’s what we’re going to have to keep doing as players, we have to keep putting on the show, we have to keep putting in the performances and hopefully they’ll [fans] just keep finding us.

“You can tell with the Super League the difference there’s been and the growth that we’ve got, there’s still a long way to go for me and I can’t wait.”

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