National Bank Cup - Early Years: Coca Cola Cup

Early Years: Coca Cola Cup

Franchise Setup

Originally called the Coca Cola Cup from 1998, the competition promised to enhance netball's profile in New Zealand. Nine franchises were announced by Netball New Zealand in late 1997. The new teams included the Southern Sting - a side based in Invercargill that included star Silver Ferns Donna Loffhagen and Bernice Mene. Otago's Rebels fielded an impressive line-up that included former, current and future Silver Ferns Jo Morrison, Belinda Colling, Adine Harper, Anna Rowberry and Belinda Charteris. Further north in Auckland, their city was represented by three teams. The CMTV Cometz featured the best from South Auckland, the Diamonds represented Central Auckland and the highly fancied Northern Force were based from the North Shore. In Christchurch, the city welcomed to the sporting scene the Canterbury Flames. A province with proud netball links, the Flames were made up of the talented netballers in the Canterbury region.

1998-2001

The 1998 season started with the Otago Rebels named outright favourites to take the inaugural season. With six current, former or future Silver Ferns in their ranks, they came through season 1998 undefeated. The Invercargill based Southern Sting were the surprise package during 1998. With two Silver Ferns at each end of the court, the Sting surprised all making their way to the grand final in Dunedin, going down to the Rebels 57-50. The Auckland Diamonds, along with the Canterbury Flames reached the top four. Flames were eliminated from the semi's in a game from Invercargill where they went down by a single goal. The Waikato Wildcats and Bay of Plenty Magic suffered large losses throughout the season and joined forces in 1999 to create the Waikato/BOP Magic.

The 1999 season promised to be just as exciting as the Coca Cola Cup's inaugural season. Like in 1998, the two southern sides Sting and Rebels came into the competition as the strongest. The Rebels retained their talented line-up of Silver Ferns, while Sting added to their roster, picking up English international Naomi Siddall as the teams import. The Auckland Diamonds also came into the season as a threat, along with their northern rivals the Force. After nine rounds of the competition, the semi-finals began. The Sting fought off the Northern Force in Invercargill 61-44, while the Rebels were also victorious. The Sting and Rebels met in the final for the second year in a row, but this time it was the Sting who celebrated by taking the title 63-54.

After the Rebels taking the 1998 title, and the Sting 1999, the competitions North Island teams fought hard in season 2000. The Auckland Diamonds recruited smartly. Jamaican star Elaine Davis was picked up as their marquee signing. The Northern Force fielded as strong side also that included Tania Dalton, Temepara George and Linda Vangana. The two Auckland sides though, the Diamonds and Force failed to take the title, Diamonds finishing 6th and the Force reaching the semi-finals stage. In Wellington, the Capital Shakers landed South African Irene van Dyk. The 1.90m shooter helped the franchise on attack, but was unable to steer the team to the title. In the end, after three months of competition, the Sting took the title once again. After signing Lesley Nicol from the Rebels and retaining Silver Ferns Donna Loffhagen and Bernice Mene, the Sting were unstoppable. Winning back to back in front of their home fans in Invercargill, they defeated the Canterbury Flames 43-40 in the final, in front of a capacity crowd of 4300.

Season 2001 had the Sting aiming for three years in a row. The Invercargill based franchise recruited well, retaining it's stars and adding another to the roster, in Adine Harper. The Canterbury Flames plotted a plan to take the cup as well. Finalists in 2000, the Flames welcomed Leigh Gibbs to the coaching bench and assembled a strong team that included Silver Ferns Angela Mitchell, Belinda Colling, Julie Seymour, Belinda Charteris and Vili Davu. The Capital Shakers made their second semi-finals appearance, but again like in season 2000, were unable to progress, beaten by eventual champions the Southern Sting. The Sting made it three from four seasons defeating the Flames again for the second consecutive year in the final from Invercargill.