Netball Superleague: Sasha Corbin aims to get good times rolling

The poster girl of English netball tells Stuart Robertson why this season will be a game-changer for the sport

Sasha Corbin is back in the England fold and excited about the new season (Sky Sports)

She describes her career as a “rollercoaster” and on Wednesday in Liverpool, the ride will have come full circle for Sasha Corbin as she helps England take on world champions Australia in the curtain-raiser to the club netball season.

It is almost three years to the day since Corbin and younger sister Kadeen – the poster girls of the domestic game – performed their trademark acrobatic backflips all the way down the court at Wembley Arena as the Roses celebrated a first series victory over the Diamonds.

That historic day is one that Sasha could be forgiven for looking back on wistfully, as there have been a few dips on the rollercoaster since.

First came the 2014 Commonwealth Games, when an England side – fancied by many to finally break the Antipodean stranglehold on the sport after the previous year’s heroics – left Glasgow without a medal. Then followed the disappointment of last year’s Superleague final as the Hertfordshire Mavericks side she captained, lost to Surrey Storm.

Finally, and most devastatingly, she and Kadeen were surprise omissions from the England squad for the Netball World Cup, a decision that left many fans reeling.

“It wasn’t great, it was very disappointing,” the 27-year-old says of missing out on the team that went to Australia. “You work really hard to make the team and when you miss out you think, ‘but I’m not ready to retire yet’. However, I had to try and stay positive and do the best I could as a training partner. I still had a job to do.

“It was tough to watch but when they won bronze I was happy for the team because I know how much it meant. These situations are all about learning and what you take forward from the experience.”

It is that type of positive attitude, combined with a dynamic style of play based on athletic ability that runs in the family – the sisters are cousins of sprinter Asha Philip – that has earned Sasha such a huge following. Search for her name on Twitter and you will see her featuring in countless selfies taken by starstruck fans of all ages.

“It’s important to set a good example,” she says. “I get a lot of young girls who message me and say they want to play like me and be like me. It’s all very humbling.”

Corbin’s popularity mirrors that of a sport on the rise, with attendances last season regularly outstripping those of women’s football and rugby. England Netball is now aiming to build on that fanbase by staging its most ambitious season opener ever. Following the three-match series against Australia, Superleague, the sport’s elite domestic competition, will get under way on 30 January with Super Saturday, when all eight teams will be in action in front of more than 8,000 fans in Birmingham’s Genting Arena.

“I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a while,” says Corbin, who along with Kadeen, 24, is now plying her trade with Loughborough Lightning. “Starting with Super Saturday is just an amazing opportunity. People see a game that’s just so fast, they look at it and think, ‘this is elite!’, with lots of skill and tactics. It’s also in your face, you can see it on the TV and people are being drawn in.

“As far as the fans go, we are selling out matches pretty quickly and sometimes there’s not enough space for people when they want to see some of the bigger games. It’s good to have a chance to move some games to bigger venues.”

Although fans will be able to see Sasha in action over the coming weeks, they will have to wait for the return of the full sister act as Kadeen is sidelined with a knee injury. However, the fact that the former Mavericks pair will be reunited came as something of a surprise, even to big sister.

“I wanted a new challenge and to work with new people,” says Sasha of her move. “Kadeen was injured and was thinking of taking a year out, so my thoughts were, ‘what can I do to move things forward for me?’, but then I suddenly found out that she’d had her own transfer talks.

“I’m looking forward to us playing together again. There’s definitely no big sister thing, though. If anything, she’s more organised and puts me in my place.”

For many of her fans, Corbin is already in her place: back in the England team with a chance to shine once more on the biggest stage. For one of the game’s great entertainers, the future is looking rosy.

Sky Sports’ biggest-ever season of netball begins with live coverage of all three internationals between England and Australia, followed by every round of the Vitality Netball Superleague.