ANTRIM’S Ulster Junior Championship final against Fermanagh next Saturday is already looming large on her horizon, but before then local sportswoman Michelle Magee is set for a busy weekend in netball’s British SuperLeague.
The multi-talented 22-year-old will be on opposing sides to a few familiar faces when Leeds Rhinos host Surrey Storm tonight (Friday) followed by unbeaten table toppers Manchester Thunder on Sunday.
Michelle’s older sister Emma Magee and fellow Belfast woman Niamh Cooper both play for Storm while their Northern Ireland captain Caroline O’Hanlon is an influential figure for star-studded Thunder.
Along with the possibility of the Magee siblings marking each other tonight, there is also a very realistic chance of a direct clash between Michelle and O’Hanlon given their successful conversions to unfamiliar roles.
World-class centre O’Hanlon was first deployed out of position at wing attack by Thunder last season while Rhinos’ new Aussie supremo Tracey Robinson has frequently utilised Michelle Magee at wing defence in the current campaign.
All of her senior international experience has come in the back circle, but Magee junior has started the last eight SuperLeague games, mainly at wing defence, for Rhinos including in their first ever victory over Team Bath.
Emma Magee got the nod as starting goal attack for Surrey Storm for the first seven SuperLeague games of this season before sustaining a nasty concussion which kept her out of two matches followed by being an unused sub in her first fixture back.
Since then, she has been brought off the bench six times in a row to partner Uganda captain Peace Proscovia up front for a Storm team much improved from last season when they finished second bottom of the table.
The multi-talented Michelle Magee has established herself as first choice wing defence for Leeds Rhinos
The signing of the giant Ugandan goal machine has helped transform Storm’s fortunes and they have had some great results including a famous away win at Team Bath, but inconsistency is set to cost the Surrey side a place in the top four play-offs.
Likewise, Rhinos are now unlikely to emulate last season’s achievement in reaching the SuperLeague semi-finals at the first attempt thanks to a few costly losses of important matches they were well placed to win.
Going into tonight’s game in Hull (7pm), both teams have lost nine times this year but Storm are three points ahead of their hosts having played one match more so it should be a fascinating contest never mind the sibling bragging rights being up for grabs.
This is the fourth meeting between Storm and Rhinos since the Magees joined their respective franchises ahead of last season, but they have yet to face each other on court in spite of playing plenty.
Emma was sidelined with torn ankle ligaments for the first fixture between these teams last year, while Michelle was an unused sub for the return game and likewise when Rhinos were beaten at Surrey Sports Park earlier in this campaign.
That Storm match was one of just three that Michelle hasn’t featured in for Rhinos this season, while Emma has been on the court at some stage in all but three of her side’s fixtures so far in 2022.
Although Michelle has established herself as first choice wing defence for Rhinos over the past couple of months, she has switched to goal defence before half-time on several occasions while Storm have often introduced Emma at goal attack in the second quarter.
This is the first of the four Rhinos-Storm matches since the Magees joined which won’t have been broadcast by Sky Sports, either on television or at least online, but parents Jim and Andrea are expected to be in the audience in Hull later tonight.
Sunday’s War of the Roses between northern rivals Rhinos and Thunder (4pm) will be shown live on the Sky Sports Youtube channel but should also attract a big attendance at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
This will be only the second time that Rhinos have had the opportunity to play in the big venue in the new franchise’s title city and the first occasion was certainly memorable for Magee and her team-mates.
South Belfast ace Emma Magee started Surrey Storm's first seven British SuperLeague games this season
The 2017 and 2018 SuperLeague champions Wasps looked like pooping the party when leading by three at the final interval, but Robinson brought on Magee as one of several changes and Rhinos pulled off a thrilling 44-43 victory to the home crowd’s delight.
Rhinos have used an image from that day of a beaming Magee applauding the crowd in their promotional materials for Sunday’s showdown, which is being billed as ‘The Big One’ though Thunder will be regarded as firm favourites.
Thunder guaranteed themselves a top four finish with six rounds of fixtures remaining and set a new all-time record for most goals in a single SuperLeague game when walloping Wasps 88-57 in Coventry last month.
They had hit 80 for the first time against Storm on Easter Sunday, have since brought up the milestone of 1000 goals for the season and stretched their 100 percent record in this campaign to 16 games by beating Team Bath convincingly on Monday evening.
A crowd of around 5000 watched Thunder defeat Rhinos 69-45 at Manchester Arena in early March, which by coincidence came on the only weekend when Michelle Magee wasn’t part of the Leeds side’s matchday squad.
That was due to a peculiar contractual technicality, but she has subsequently been upgraded to a full pro deal, the perks of which include being guaranteed to be in the 12 for every fixture if fit.
Thunder have an awesome attack with O’Hanlon and England’s likely new captain Nat Metcalf supplying a silver service for two of SuperLeague’s leading shooters, Joyce Mvula from Malawi and English Roses star Eleanor Cardwell, to clock up the goals.
Containing that quartet will be a daunting job but the ambitious Magee would relish the opportunity to lock horns with Metcalf, Cardwell or Armagh Gaelic football great O’Hanlon, who is also looking forward to an Ulster ladies football final for her county later this month.
