New rolling subs rule set to make game 'faster' and 'challenge the coaches'

Coaches and players expect the new rule, which has been introduced for all ages, to breathe new life into the popular sport, making for a faster and more exciting game.

Previously, substitutions could only be made at an interval or when play was stopped for injury or illness.

Now, players can be substituted at any time.

Only one rolling substitution per team can be made at one time but play will not be held up for the change.

West Leagues Balance continued their dominance of Newcastle championship netball when they won their fifth straight grand final by beating University of Newcastle last year.

They open their title defence against Nova Thunder, who finished fourth last year but lost the minor semi-final to West, and coach Tracey Baggs was keen to take advantage of the new rule.

"If you see something that needs to be changed you can do it straight away," Baggs said.

"It will probably see how strong your playing squad is if you can freshen up the court and use people in there, and it will also challenge the coaches to be able to make decisions that are the right ones at the right time."

READ MORE: How are the teams shaping up in Newcastle championship netball 2024?

Norths have replaced back-to-back beaten grand finalists University and coach Rian Hodges expects rolling substitutions to prove "amazing".

"It creates a new element to the game, brings a bit of excitement," Hodges said.

"Trying to get used to the new rules of where you can come on and off is going to be a bit testing to start off with, but I think it will be great. It will make it faster."

Norths' first test with be Souths, who claimed the minor premiership but bowed out in straight sets without featuring in the grand final.

Evergreen midcourt dynamo Narelle Eather has stepped into a coaching role at Souths with an eye on a grand final appearance this year.

"We don't have our centre courts available for various reasons, so we're going to use this game as our first stepping stone to see where we're at and see what we can tweak for the rest of the season," Eather said.

"All of our team seem quite excited by the new rule and the opportunity to use it if something isn't working or we want to change it up mid-quarter.

"As coaches we can use that to our advantage to have fresh legs and a different strategy for short bursts in the game."

Waratah are set to start their second campaign in the premier competition against Junction Stella while Kotara South play BNC.

"I think it will take us a few rounds to work out how to use it," Waratah coach Dwight Graham said of the new rule.

"We had a gala day within our club and I used it a lot there and I've been using it at training but probably using it excessively just to get everybody used to it.

"It will be a combination of keeping fresh legs on and maybe changing something that's not working. I think there's the risk it will get overused."

All round-one championship games are at 2.30pm.