The opening weekend of the 2016 Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria was as competitive as expected, and nobody was more impressed with this than Gauteng Jaguars coach Jenny van Dyk.

Van Dyk’s team set the tone for a thrilling weekend when they beat the defending champions the Free State Crinums 55-39 in the first match of the season on Friday night.

That puts them tied second on the log behind the Western Cape Southern Stings, albeit having played one game less than the Stings. The Stings made a perfect start to their campaign in Round 1 with two victories.

But looking at the bigger picture, Van Dyk says the start of this season’s league is exactly what South African netball needs.

“I think the player movement between the teams has saved us this year, especially in the former B Division where there are now teams that are much stronger. I think that will give us a much more competitive league overall.

“And that’s exactly what we want for our netball in South Africa. You want a league where we’ve got 10 super competitive matches and which gives the girls that opportunity to play under pressure. We don’t want runaway victories. We want our players to feel that pressure because it can only improve our country’s netball overall,” said Van Dyk.

The Stings took the lead early in the competition with a full haul of four points thanks to first their victory over the Northern Cape Diamonds 67-19 on Saturday and then the Golden Fireballs 44-34 on Sunday.

The North West Flames also started their season on a winning note when they beat the Eastern Cape Aloes 68-36 on Sunday. Flames coach Dorette Badenhorst took the opportunity of the opening match to give all of her players court time.

The KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Stars also gave a clear indication of their title hopes when they beat the Aloes 46-26 on Saturday.