Netball Australia has announced that the 2019 Deakin University Australian Netball League (DUANL) finals will be held in Melbourne at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June.

The weekend will be hosted by Netball Victoria and will see the semi-finals played on the Saturday, with the Grand Final and bronze medal playoffs to take place on the Sunday. The match times are as follows:

Netball Victoria’s General Manager – Vixens, Performance and Pathways Rebekah Webster said Victoria is excited to be hosting the finals weekend, which was last held in Melbourne in 2015.

“Netball Victoria is incredibly passionate about the netball pathway and the Deakin University Australian Netball League competition particularly, and through hosting the finals series, we’re able to showcase the future talent of Australian netball to Victorians,” said Webster.

“The league is a fantastic and crucial part of our pathway, simultaneously exposing developing athletes to the elite environment while in Netball Victoria’s case, supporting athletes in the Melbourne Vixens program, programs that we pride ourselves on.”

The 2018 DUANL season saw the Tasmanian Magpies defeat the Canberra GIANTS at AIS Arena in Canberra to win their first DUANL premiership.

The 2019 DUANL finals weekend takes place in the first week of the four-week Suncorp Super Netball hiatus which is taking place to cater for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

State Netball and Hockey Centre redevelopment
In 2018, the Andrews government announced funding of $64.6million for the redevelopment of the State Netball and Hockey Centre – the largest investment in netball in the nation’s history.

Construction has begun on the centre, with thousands of netballers continuing to use the facilities throughout the process including events such as the Deakin University Australian Netball League finals which is expected to draw crowds across the weekend.