Forest End Historic First Netball Season

Although there’ll be no silverware in Nottingham, it has been a successful, debut season for Nottingham Forest Netball in the Super League, and NXT Gen League, respectively.

Both sides have enjoyed a mid-table, fifth place finish, with a combined sixteen victories between them, the Super League side finishing with a 7-7 record and 926pts scored, whilst the NXT Gen stars ended 9-7 and 893pts scored.

A highlight in the Super League campaign for the side managed by former Vitality Rose, Chelsea Pitman, was the two victories over Loughborough Lightning, their Midlands rivals finishing second in the regular season table, and who will now travel to first place London Pulse in the semi-finals (Manchester Thunder, third, host London Mavericks, fourth, in the other tie).

Four months of action started for the Reds, back in mid-March, in the aftermath of the season-opening, Super League Cup competition, the Reds being beaten semi-finalists, losing 15-13 to Leeds Rhinos, a defeat that was avenged, twice, during the league campaign.

Leading from the front meanwhile, Forest’s South African Goal Shooter, Rolene Streutker, notched 25 goals in the opening day loss at the Copper Box Arena, against hosts, London pulse (they’d finish second in the final standings).

Form for Forest has been their major downfall over the 2025 season, with back-to-back victories happening just the once, mid-season, against the Rhinos and the Pulse, 74-60 and 69-59 respectively, but the first victory in the Super League, Reds didn’t have to wait too long for that to happen.

Gameday Two, and home to the LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons, Pitman’s charges impressing in a 70-44 win, despite the visitors’ Georgia Rowe top-scoring with 33 goals; Streutker bagged 31 for Nottingham, along with double figures for team-mate and GA, Rhea Dixon (10).

The Lightning made the trip to Nottingham on Gameday Four (5 April) and Streutker was again on fine form, notching 39 goals in a narrow, 73-71 win; Lightning’s GA, Ella Clark, helped herself to 30 goals in reply.

Consecutive losses, against London Mavericks (h) and Birmingham Panthers (a), the latter by a point, was perhaps the low point for Pitman et al, and perhaps the costliest in their making the end-of-season, semi-finals/final.

Streutker ‘only’ netted 56 goals over those two games, compared with the 74 goals in the next two, both victories, against Rhinos (32) and Pulse (42), the 42 in which the South African Goal Shooter notched against the Pulse was her season-best as well.

Erratic form continued throughout the second half of the campaign, with no continuity, no momentum, in the Reds’ tank; although victory away to the Lightning, at the Sir David Wallace Arena, on Gameday Twelve, offered a little hope.

With nearly twice as many goals as the next best, Lightning’s Samantha Wallace-Joseph (21), Streutker put on her second-best showing of the season with 41 goals, Forest picking up another narrow victory, this time 66-62 – the Lightning lost four games throughout the season, and two were against Pitman’s Reds.

A heart-breaking loss at home to the Panthers, 75-69, on the second-last game of the season, killed off any hopes the Reds had of progressing, before finishing off the campaign, in style, this past weekend (14 June), winning 80-61, at the Motorpoint, against the Rhinos.

Although visiting GS, Joyce Mvula, top-scored with 37 goals, Streutker was not far behind with 35 of her own, finishing a campaign in the only way she knows how, scoring goals, in what has been an impressive for her.

That victory confirmed fifth place for the Reds, two points ahead of sixth (Panthers), and just three points off the last semi-final spot, and fourth (Mavericks); meanwhile, the Reds’ NXT Gen side also impressed when winning nine of their league games, to also finish in fifth place, they being just six points of champions, Loughborough Lightning.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST NETBALL STATISTICS 2025

BIGGEST WINNING MARGIN

24pts; 16.05.2025 away vs. LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons (W 77-53)

GOALS/SUPER SHOTS

GS Rolene Streutker 441gls/685 shots, 84% accuracy (third best in league); 157 super shots (best in league)

GA Rhea Dixon 82gls/139 shots, 62% accuracy

GS Freya Henshall 43gls/82 shots, 66% accuracy

REBOUNDS

GK Jayda Pechova 29

GD Tash Pavelin 16

GS Rolene Streutker 12

EVER-PRESENT (apps)

CIona Christian, GS Rolene Streutker, GK Jayda Pechova, GD Tash Pavelin, GA Rhea Dixon (five players were ever-present with 14 appearances apiece).

NB – Pechova (top three interceptions with 24), Pavelin (joint-fourth interceptions with 22); WA Brie Grierson (eighth centre pass receives with 202); Pechova and Pavelin in top ten for Gains.