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In that regard the Swifts are probably the best placed, in that they have only two players who are not yet contracted for next season in Sarah Klau and Kate Eddy. Given their youth and the fact that this has been a successful season in that they have qualified for the Super Netball finals for the first time in the competition's three-year history, they have a fairly strong pull on the loyalty of those players.

Goal keeper Klau in particular has blossomed under the tutelage of coach Briony Akle, with international honours coming her way for the first time this year. It is hard to see her fleeing that nest to head back to her native Adelaide and a Thunderbirds team that has signed superstar Jamaican keeper Shamera Sterling to a multi-year deal.

The challenge for all clubs is in deciding who to sign on a one-year contract and who to sign to a multi year deal. The advantage of the latter is that it gives you flexibility come the end of next season if you need to let them go. This is important given the small size of Super Netball squads. The downside, of course, is what happens in the event that the player, like for example the Giants' Amy Parmenter, has a breakout year and suddenly other clubs come calling.

You can see from looking at the lists that most clubs hedged their bets last year, signing roughly half of their players for a couple of years, and the remainder on single-year deals.

The outlier was last year's beaten grand finalists, West Coast Fever. After making a meal of their decision to let go star goal attack Natalie Medhurst just days after hosting their first ever grand final, Fever have followed it up with very little flexibility in a line-up that has failed to build on last year's stellar season. They only have one player, goal attack Kaylia Stanton, off contract at the end of the year, and if they decide not to re-sign her, there isn't a huge pool of off-contract goal attacks to choose from. The biggest name is Tegan Philip, and I cant see her leaving her beloved Vixens any time soon. One possibility is Collingwood's Gabby Sinclair, who has been impressive when given her chances this season.

Having said that, even if they do sign another goal attack, Fever have also lacked defensive punch this year, but with their entire back line signed until at least the end of 2020, they face a tough season next year.

While the next couple of weeks will be challenging, I suspect that most clubs will sign the majority of their players before the finals start, or will be in a position to announce the retirements of players who will be finishing up at season's end. In which case anyone left unsigned by that point either wants out, or is unwanted. I can't see that there will be a huge number of players in those positions, although I suspect that there might be one or two big names who may be wearing different colours next year. Stay tuned.