Loughborough Lightning haven’t lost a match. Not one. Seven rounds in and nobody’s got close enough to properly test them except Nottingham Forest, and even that ended with Lightning winning by two. The Super Cup went their way in February as well, 18-17 over London Pulse in a final where one goal separated the teams.

Alt: 2026 Netball Super League

Pulse are second. Thunder third. Below that, honestly, the table’s a bit of a mess, and if you’re following the netball betting markets that middle section is where the interesting prices live right now. Forest hanging on in fourth. Panthers didn’t win until Round 7. Leeds Rhinos signed seven players in the off-season and it hasn’t clicked yet.

Fourteen rounds, four playoff spots, halfway done.

Loughborough Lightning’s Unbeaten Run

That Forest match in Round 7 is the one everyone keeps talking about. 75-73 in an East Midlands derby, Lightning were behind, Forest had all the momentum, and then Samantha Wallace-Joseph just took over. 54 goals. 10 Amex Super Shots. 96% accuracy. Oddsmakers watching that game probably started recalculating title lines before the final whistle.

Why Lightning Look Different This Year

• Won the Super League in 2021, 2023, and 2024, then Pulse took it off them last season
• Vic Burgess kept the core squad together instead of rebuilding
• Wallace-Joseph’s super shot accuracy leads the league through seven rounds
• Five points clear of third gives them room to breathe heading into the back half

Losing to Thunder in the 2025 Preliminary Final stung, and it shows. There’s an edge to this squad that you didn’t see in the second half of last season. Bookmakers had them as favourites before a ball was thrown, and seven rounds later nobody’s given them a reason to move those prices.

London Pulse Defend Their Title Quietly

Pulse won the Grand Final last year and came into 2026 as champions. Four straight wins now. Not flashy about it either. Funmi Fadoju put up eight gains, six interceptions, four deflections and three rebounds against London Mavericks in Round 7. That stat line won’t end up on a highlight reel, and yet it’s the reason Pulse won 56-46.

Sophie Kelly’s super shot accuracy has been a problem for opponents. Six from seven against Mavericks. What makes Pulse tricky to bet on is that they don’t lean on one player the way Lightning lean on Wallace-Joseph. Goals come from different sources each week. Early in the season their form wobbled a bit, and you’d want to see how they handle the back half of the schedule before putting too much faith in the current run. Champions defending titles in this league tend to hit a rough patch somewhere around Rounds 9-11.

Manchester Thunder and the Chasing Pack

Thunder are third, two points behind Pulse, four wins from five. Eleanor Cardwell’s shooting has been clinical and Nicola Smith’s defensive work gives the midcourt a platform. They’ve been Grand Final regulars for years and know what the playoff pressure feels like better than most squads in this league.

Below the top three, Forest’s Rolene Streutker remains a one-person wrecking crew. She averaged 11 super shots per game last season and hasn’t slowed down. Leeds Rhinos signed Jaz Brown and Sanmarie Visser to fix the defence, which they did, but converting defensive improvements into wins has been a different story. Panthers got off the mark in Round 7 with a one-goal win at the Dragons, the sort of tight result that tells you this league has no easy fixtures once you leave the top three.

What the Betting Markets Say About the Grand Final

Sky Sports doubled its netball audience last season. This year they’re showing 75% of matches live. The betting side has followed, with more data and more eyeballs producing tighter title markets than the NSL has ever had.

Lightning are the shortest price. Pulse and Thunder are close together behind them. Forest are the longshot that sharp bettors keep an eye on because of Streutker’s ability to win a match on her own. If you’re pricing the Grand Final right now, the top three feels locked. But Pulse proved last year that the team sitting first in April doesn’t always lift the trophy in June.