KEY POINTS:
The Northern Mystics' late play to keep Silver Fern Leana de Bruin looks to have fallen short, with the lofty defender mulling over offers from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic and Central Pulse.
With each of the 10 franchises due to submit their preliminary team lists to their
respective national bodies today, the mystery of where de Bruin plans to play next season will soon be known.
Franchises must name at least 10 of their 12-strong squad, but Magic chief executive Martin Ellis will name all 12 players today. However not all of those are officially contracted with some having only signed letters of intent to play.
The announcement of the teams will end months of speculation over de Bruin's future, which has been up in the air since her long time mentor Yvonne Willering was sacked as Mystics coach.
After already losing Silver Ferns Sheryl Scanlan to the Southern Steel and Paula Griffin to the Pulse, the Mystics were desperate to keep de Bruin and were last week hopeful they could convince her to stay.
But the Mystics have now resigned themselves to losing de Bruin, who faces the tough decision over whether to chase the dollars and guaranteed court-time in Wellington, or the promise of greater chance of success with the Magic.
The Mystics are now looking for an experienced shooter and defender to plug the gaps left by the defection of their three Silver Ferns.
Aside from Griffin, the only notable new signing at the Pulse appears to be Jamaican defender Althea Byfield. The 1.83m goal-keep will replace English star Sonia Mkoloma as the import in the line-up, though it remains to be seen whether Byfield, who splits her time between netball and basketball, can make the same impact on the ANZ Championship as Mkoloma.
Despite luring Griffin and Byfield to the Capital, the Pulse are still likely to struggle to field a competitive team, having lost three key players - Mkoloma, captain Frances Solia and defender Kahurangi Waititi.
Solia has joined the Magic in place of this year's captain Amigene Metcalfe, who has retired, while Waititi has signed with the Canterbury Tactix.
The Tactix are also believed to have signed an Australian shooter, with their import spot left vacant by defender Demelza Fellowes, who won't be returning to the club next season.
A lot of interest surrounds the make-up of the Australian franchises, with a flurry of action on the players' market recently.
Mkoloma has been linked with the Adelaide Thunderbirds and West Coast Fever, but the latest rumours suggest this season's league MVP could be off to the NSW Swifts.
The Thunderbirds have also significantly boosted their line-up with former Australian international Laura von Bertouch to come out of retirement.
The Thunderbirds have also strengthened their shooting end with the addition of Australian team member Jane Altschwager who returns after a lengthy lay-off with injury.
Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand will ratify the squads from their respective countries before forwarding the team lists on to the ANZ Championship office early next week.
