Netball: ANZ Championship introduces new initiatives

Catherine Latu of the Mystics gets posession ahead of Sonia Mkoloma of the Swifts. Photo / Getty Images

The ANZ Championship will take on a new look next season after the TTNL Board approved a host of changes for the eighth edition of the competition.

There's the introduction of Australian and New Zealand conferences, a restructured six-team finals series and an a Challenge Trophy competition that will run concurrently with the regular season.

"We are committed to ensuring that the ANZ Championship remains a world-class competition and we feel that these initiatives will significantly contribute to the ongoing growth of the league," the league's general manager Andy Crook said.

The traditional league ladder will be replaced by Australian and New Zealand conference standings, with all points accumulated during the season to be calculated within individual ladders. The top three teams from each conference will make the playoffs.

Despite the move to conferences, the season format will remain the same as in the previous seven seasons with each team playing 13 games.

The top three teams from each conference will progress to the Australian and New Zealand conference finals. The first game will see second and third contest the conference elimination final with the winner to take on first place in the final to decide the conference champion.

The two finalists from each conference will progress to the tournament's semifinals where the two conference champions will host the loser of the rival conference final for a berth in the grand final.

"The ANZ Championship will feature more games than ever before with the expansion of the finals Series to feature seven games - three more games than any previous season," Crook said

"The introduction of conferences provides our uniquely transtasman league with the opportunity to restructure the finals series and recognise a conference champion in Australia and New Zealand before the ANZ Championship finals series."

The final initiative for 2015 will be the introduction of the Challenge Trophy concept which will see the trophy holders defend the silverware every time they play at home.

The inaugural holders of the Challenge Trophy will be determined by a lotto-style ballot system leading up to next season.

"We're thrilled that the new challenge competition will be introduced next season. It supports our ambition of establishing a long and proud tradition in the ANZ Championship for many years to come," Crook said.

The 2015 ANZ Championship gets underway on Saturday, February 28 when the Adelaide Thunderbirds host the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.