Narrabri Netball Association’s 2023 winter competition began at the Bev Burrows Courts on Saturday where last year’s two A-grade grand finalists started off the new season in style.

The defending champions, Tourist Tornadoes, continued right where they left off in 2022 as they scored a 40-25 opening-round victory against All Nets.

The Tornadoes managed to secure the two competition points following a gutsy effort during which they lined up one player short as only six of the team’s players were available on the day.

Last season’s minor premiers and grand finalists Fever also started the season in fine form as they outscored The Flames 45-28.

The other A-grade game on Saturday was won by the Pharmacy Flamingos, which downed Fever 2.0 24-8.

Hail Mary’s had the round one bye and will line up for the first time in 2023 in round two this weekend.

All eight teams took the took in the B-grade competition as some high-scoring matches were contested.

The Hairy GOATs defeated Wilga Warriors 42-7, Baxter Babes beat Blue Diamonds 34-13, Hot Shots outscored Wrecking Ballers 38-21, and Golfie Grubs downed Firebirds 48-18.

There were two junior competition matches played as the under-11/12 season got underway.

Giants edged out the Namoi Cotton Thunderbirds 11-10 in one of those games, and the other was won 20-8 by C and W Firebirds against Lightning.

There are five teams in the under-11/12 competition this year, and it was Swifts that sat out with the bye.

The under-9/10 competition teams played on Saturday, however, it was a grading week for the three Narrabri sides ahead of the round one matches this weekend.

Their first round of the season will see Valley Vixens take on Diamonds on court eight and Rubies challenge Sapphires on court seven.

Round two of the under-11/12 comp will see Swifts meet Giants on court one and C and W Firebirds take on Namoi Cotton Thunderbirds on court two.

Lightning has the round two bye in that division.

In the senior A-grade competition, defending champions and round one winners Tourist Tornadoes will sit out with the bye in round two while fellow round one-winning teams Pharmacy Flamingos and Fever go head-to-head on court one.

Hail Mary’s will play its first game of the year when it challenges Fever 2.0 on court two, while The Flames and All Nets meet on court two.

B-grade matches will see the Wilga Warriors take on Wrecking Ballers on court three, Blue Diamonds meet Hairy GOATs on court six, The Golfie Grubs line up opposite Hot Shots on court seven, and Baxter Babes and the Firebirds go head-to-head on court eight.

The senior divisions will contest a 14-round regular season ahead of a two-week finals series this year.

In both A-grade and B-grade, all teams will play against each other twice before the top four teams play semi-final matches.

In both divisions, the semi-finals will see the minor premiers take on the side that finishes fourth on the ladder while the second placed sides challenge the third-placed teams.

The winners of those games will qualify for the September 16 grand finals.

The under-11/12 competition will not host semi-finals this season. All five teams in that division will line up against each other three times each across a 15-round regular season, and then the two top-ranked sides will play off in the decider on September 16.

The under-9/10 comp will operate under a different finals format.

All under-9/10 teams will play against one another four times across a 12-round regular season ahead of a three-week finals series.

All four teams will play in the first week of the finals, during which the two top-ranked sides will meet in the major semi-final, and the third and fourth-placed teams will play off in the minor semi-final.

The winner of the major semi-final will progress straight through to the September 16 grand final, and the loser will play against the winner of the minor semi-final in the preliminary final on September 9.

The winner of that match will be the second team in the grand final.

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