Byrne took over the head role at the Sunshine Coast Lightning at a difficult time for Super Netball and women's sport in general, but hasn't lost her sense of optimism around the future of the sport.

“It was a great year to take a position like this wasn’t it? We quite often joke that I got my dream job and now I can’t do it at the moment,” she told The Australian.

“It’s just been this real sense of ‘we love our game, we don’t want it to die, and we’ll do whatever we can to make sure it happens.’"

Super Netball's players, many of whom effectively earn minimum wage playing in the competition (a wage that still stacks up well against other netball codes around the world) have been hit hard by stark reductions taking wages down to as little as $10,000 per year.

However a resumption to training in isolation - and some semblance of normality - has been welcomed by the Lightning roster.

“There are some that are certainly crying out for it, and want to feel that they haven’t forgotten what they know and what their job is,” Byrne said.