Free State Crinums’ Karla Pretorius is impressed by the level of the Telkom Netball League. The 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup Player of the Tournament is playing in the TNL this season after returning from an illustrious spell in Australia.
Pretorius won back-to-back titles with the Crinums before starting her international career, first in the United Kingdom where played for Team Bath and she later moved to Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Suncorp Super Netball where she won back-to-back premierships.
The TNL started with 10 teams when it was established in 2014, but it has now been expanded to 16 teams. The Free State boasts two teams in the competition; the Free State Sonoblomo were added to the roster in the 2023 season and they compete in division two. The 2017 Grand Final MVP reckons the league has become a lot more competitive however it can still get to the next level.
“I definitely feel that there is an up in intensity and the standard but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to get to almost international standards. I must say there is an improvement and it’s good to play there again,” says Pretorius.
Crinums, the three-time champions, last won the competition in 2016 under the guidance of Burta de Kock. The Bloemfontein-based side came agonisingly close to recording their fourth title in the final against the Gauteng Jaguars last season. Crinums finished the second power week on top of the Division One table after nine matches with no loss registered this season so far. They are closely followed by defending champions, the Gauteng Jaguars who are equal on 17 points with a single loss. Pretorius says the team hopes to return to the top of the podium again.
“We definitely want to win the competition, that is our main aim but we take it power week to power week. We know we need to get the process right though to get to good standards. We want to win. I think we need to make sure we keep a good standard regardless of who we play, in terms of intensity, good standard and quality of you play you put out. For us, it’s to build that depth and make sure that with the different combinations, the standard stays the same,” she says.
Pretorius says she is enjoying being back home where she has had the opportunity to play with her sister again, although this time for different teams. Her sister
“It’s very nice being back home. Just being in a normal state of doing things, is what I appreciate. I am back home because I am doing it on my own terms. Just having that normal life again but still being able to do what I love, playing netball,” she says.
The Spar Proteas will get to test themselves under new coach, Jenny van Dyk for the first time in August. South Africa will host Malawi for a test series at the Ellis Park Arena which will also see the Baby Proteas take on the Junior Queens as a warm up to next year’s Netball World Youth Cup.
Van Dyk named a 15-player squad that will work towards the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia. Out of the team that represented South Africa in the World Cup in Cape Town last year, only nine players, including Pretorius, remain in the team. The former Lightning player believes the team has a good combination that will see South Africa do well.
“I think there is a good combination between experienced and younger players. It’s the time for the younger one to come in and build. I think it is really about combinations right. There are not a lot of international games this year but what can we do in terms of training? We have already had a training camp where we set the standard and know that we are not necessarily going to play a lot of games but when we do get together, what do we do to get to the standard that is needed? We have a good group together, it is just training those combinations right. We know that the more we play together, the better the combination and connection we will build,” she says.