Platinum Queens raring to go
PREMIER Netball League champions Platinum Queens are back in training for the 2024 season with coach Simbarashe Mlambo saying they always strive for excellence.
Having claimed the PNL title three times in a row, Platinum Queens have proved to be a force to reckon with, maintaining their dominance in the league.
The Zvishavane-based side have begun their pre-season training ahead of the announcement of the dates for.
The PNL leadership is yet to announce the dates for this year’s programme but indications are that games should get underway midMarch or end of March.
Mlambo confirmed they have begun pre-season training.
“Training started this January. It’s going on well, everybody is ready to just show what they have this year and we are trying one or two things to get us in the season mode. Obviously a bit of team building here and there but all is well.
“We have got a pre-season tournament obviously to prepare for. So we are going to keep the girls occupied as much as we can and try to get them psyched up, try to get them to remove a bit of complacency obviously coming from a long holiday.
“We are still a long way from reaching where we want to be but that’s the plan, training and team building, and just making sure that everybody is ready for the task at hand,” said Mlambo.
Platinum Queens were crowned champions for the third time last season when beating GreenFuel in the decider, in the last games of the competition.
Both teams had lost a game each going into the last match.
GreenFuel have been on the rise under the guidance of coach Sibonginkosi Dube and will be out to continue from where they left last season.
As they prepare for the new season, Mlambo said they just want to focus on building their team.
“We want to be doing very well again and we are not complacent, we are not looking down on anyone, we remain humble and work as a team.
“We work as a team, always striving for excellence and we are quite geared up for the season. So the trick is to just keep your head up and remain realising that anything can happen in the game of netball and we lost at one time, so we know what it means. So we get prepared always,” said Mlambo.
Mlambo would want his team to replicate their 2021 and 2022 performances when they won the title without losing a match.
They were handed their first defeat in the PNL by Ngezi Platinum last year. Prior to that they had not lost a match since the launch of PNL in 2021.
“Definitely we had a good run in 2023 and we lost to Ngezi, which is something that we used to build on to the championship last year.
“And it just shows that you cannot afford to be complacent and you need to have everybody ready for these games and the competition is improving. But I think everyone wants the championship and maybe someone wants to surprise us this year.
“But we know what is at hand and we like being at the helm, so we will do everything in our power to just make sure that everybody gets a run for their money.
“We just want to win. We want to get the championship and obviously we cannot be training for anything less. It doesn’t matter we have won the last three years, we just like to win and we think we have got everything and everyone that we need to get our championship again.
“But we might need to just up our game so that’s exactly what we are doing.”