Kalifa McCollin , the shooting star who shone for Celtic Dragons last season, returns to South Wales on Monday evening.

The 21-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago is in the benecosMavericks team for their Vitality Netball Superleague match against Dragons at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff (Monday, 7pm).

McCollin, who started playing netball with her local club Soul City Sports, played at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland and the Netball World Cup in Australia where she had a 92 per cent shooting average.

Captain Suzy Drane leads Dragons into their opening fixture, while Natalie Peperell is coach after being appointed following the departure of head coach Trish Wilcox.

Dragons are among 10 teams in Superleague and there will be a mid-season break in March and April when the Commonwealth Games are being played on the Gold Coast in Australia.

Peperell and her team are intent on improving their Superleague fortunes this season, having earned only two wins in 2017.

Dragons did, though, finish with a 52-47 win against Team Northumbria at Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre and are aiming for a flying start in Cardiff.

They play two home fixtures in six days, taking on Mavericks on Monday evening and then five-times champions Team Bath next Saturday (7pm).

“Our aim is to reach the final four and we will have to see how the season develops,” says defender Leila Thomas.

“There is an overlap between the Wales and Dragons squads and we feel we are a lot more cohesive this season.

“That overlap definitely works as an advantage to us because we know in different situations how to make each other click and how to get the best out of each other. We started pre-season quite early and have been training together for quite a while now and we are hungry for our first match.

“Having Georgia Rowe back down the shooting end this year is exciting and gives us quite a nice, tall target in the circle to aim for.”

Mavericks finished seventh last season, their worst ever finish, but they have added McCollin and Karyn Bailey, who has moved from Australian club Adelaide Thunderbirds.

Team Bath made a shaky start to 2017, winning only four of their first 10 matches before bouncing back with seven successive wins.

They finished fourth before in Superleague, but lost both finals matches.

Bath have signed Josie Janz-Dawson and Kadeen Corbin, who has returned from a season with Tactix in the ANZ Premiership.

They have an impressive Superleague record, winning five of the first eight titles. They have, though, failed to make to make the Grand Final since 2014.

Former Wales coach Melissa Hyndman has joined the Team Northumbria backroom staff, working alongside Te Aroha Keenan.

Severn Stars have signed South Africa’s Maryka Holtzhausen and Phumza Maweni. Both played for Loughborough Lightning in 2015.

Vitality Netball Superleague 2018 teams:

Celtic Dragons: Include many Welsh international competitors and have played in every Superleague season.

Last season: 10th

Dragons: Suzy Drane (capt), Kelly Morgan (vc), Sara Bell, Fern Davies, Bethan Dyke, Clare Jones, Kyra Jones, Nia Jones, Sarah Llewelyn, Cara Lea Moseley, Megan Powell, Eleanor Roberts, Georgia Rowe, Leila Thomas, Amanda Varey.

Coach: Natalie Peperell.

Team Northumbria: Lost against Team Bath in their opening match on Saturday.

Last season: 9th.

Northumbria: Toni Anderson, Lisa Bowman, Alice Currie, Francine Hall, Sophie Hankin, Emily Hollingworth, Paige Kindred, Holly Linighan, Tamsin Moala, Hayley Mulheron, Jenny Mrozik, Ash Neal, Loreen Ngwira, Chiara Semple, Iman Thomas.

Coach: Te Aroha Keenan.

Severn Stars: Appointed Sam Bird as head coach for their second season in the Superleague.

Last season: 8th.

Stars: Laura Malcolm (capt), Rosie Allison, Ellie Cardwell, Sophie Carter, Samantha Cook, Iona Darroch, Amanda Davis, Dominique Ford-Gordon, Jodie Gibson, Maryka Holtzhausen, Phumza Maweni, Becky Oatley, Shona O’Dwyer, Ella Powell-Davies, Laura Rudland.

Coach: Sam Bird

benecosMavericks: The two-time champions include England international Sasha Corbin.

Last season: 7th

Mavericks: Sacha Corbin (capt), Summer Artman, Karyn Bailey, Steph Collard, Clare Drakeford, Michelle Drayne, Beth Ecuyer Dale, Zara Everitt, Lindsay Keable, Ellie Kelk, Kalifa McCollin, Gabby Marshall, Razia Quashie, Alice Travis, Frankie Wells.

Coach: Kat Ratnapala

UWS Sirens: Representing Scotland, Sirens include Thistles captain Claire Brownie.

Last season: 6th

Sirens: Claire Brownie (capt), Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, Sara Bayman, Kelly Boyle, Lynsey Gallagher, Ella Gibbons, Bethan Goodwin, Leah Kennedy, Nicola McCleery, Sam Murphy, Jo Pettitt, Emily Nicholl, Shantal Slater, Bethany Sutherland, Vanessa Walker.

Coach: Tanya Dearns

Surrey Storm: Second highest scorers behind Loughborough in 2017.

Last season: 5th.

Storm: Katy Holland (capt), Mikki Austin, Charmaine Baard, Adi Bolakoro, Sigi Burger, Rhea Dixon, Jade Forbes-Wattley, Emily Gulvin, Kate Harris, Tallisa Haynes, Lorraine Kowalewska, Georgia Lees, Yaz Parsons, Emily Porter, Jo Trip.

Coach: Tania Hoffman.

Team Bath: Include England international Kadeen Corbin.

Last season: 4th.

Bath: Eboni Beckford-Chambers (capt), Imogen Allison, Kadeen Corbin, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Asha Francis, Layla Guscoth, Josie Janz-Dawson, Chelsea Lewis, Tash Pavelin, Paige Reed, Mia Ritchie, Abi Robson, Rachel Shaw, Jess Shaw, Jazz Scott.

Coach: Anna Stembridge.

Manchester Thunder: Opened their season with a one-goal win against Severn Stars (48-47).

Last season: 3rd.

Thunder: Emma Dovey (capt), Kerry Almond (vc), Kathryn Turner (vc), Dani Bloomfield, Amy Carter, Amy Clinton, Taylor Cullen, Beccy Hoult, Liana Leota, Sophie Morgan, Joyce Mvula, Caroline O’Hanlon, Bea Skingsley, Ally Thomas, Abby Tyrrell.

Coach: Karen Greig.

Loughborough Lightning: Include Uganda captain and last seasons Player of the Year Peace Proscovia, who was also 2017 top goal scorer.

Last season: Runners-up

Lightning: Natalie Panagarry (capt), Rebekah Airey, Susie Armstrong, Ella Clark, Beth Cobden, Brittany Coleman, Chloe Essam, Brie Grierson, Rosie Harris, Hannah Joseph, Lauren Nicholls, Vicki Oyesola, Peace Proscovia, Shamera Sterling, Anya Wood.

Coach: Anna Carter.

Wasps: Defending champions, having beaten Loughborough in the Grand Final last time out. South African international Renske Stoltz has joined their squad this season.

Last season: Champions

Wasps: Halimat Adio, Sophia Candappa, Jade Clarke, Rachel Dunn, George Fisher, Amy Flanagan, Lucy Harris, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Josie Huckle, Sam May, Hannah Reid, Renske Stoltz, Monique Thompson, Francesca Williams.

Coach: Tamsin Greenway.

There are 10 from England, Scotland and Wales in Superleague. The season runs from February to July with a mid season break after round seven, accommodating for the Commonwealth Games.

All sides will play each other home and away, with the top four sides advancing to the semi finals. The winners of each semi final will meet in the Grand Final on July 7.

Vitality Superleague results from the opening weekend: Team Northumbria 39, Team Bath 52; Severn Stars 47, Manchester Thunder 48; Loughborough Lightning 55, UWS Sirens 44; Wasps 68, Surrey Storm 43.

Celtic Dragons Tickets are now on sale. Head to Ticketline to get yours: https://tinyurl.com/ycl6px69 

2018 Vitality Netball Superleague – Dragons fixture list

February

Monday 12: Celtic Dragons v benecosMavericks, 7pm

Saturday 17: Celtic Dragons v Team Bath, 7pm

Saturday 24: Loughborough Lightning v Celtic Dragons, 6pm

Monday 26: Celtic Dragons v Surrey Storm, 7pm

March

Saturday 3: Manchester Thunder v Celtic Dragons, 5pm

Saturday 10: Celtic Dragons v Severn Stars, 4pm

Sunday 18: Wasps Netball v Celtic Dragons, 6pm

Commonwealth Games April 5 to April 15 2018 – Vitality Netball Superleague takes a break

April

Monday 28: UWS Sirens v Celtic Dragons, 7pm

Saturday 28: Celtic Dragons v Team Northumbria, 4pm

May

Friday 4: Team Bath v Celtic Dragons, 7:30pm

Monday 7: Surrey Storm v Celtic Dragons, 3pm

Monday 14: Celtic Dragons v Loughborough Lightning, 7pm (Live on Sky)

Saturday 19: benecosMavericks v Celtic Dragons, TBC

Friday 25: Celtic Dragons v Manchester Thunder, 7pm

June

Saturday 2: Team Northumbria v Celtic Dragons, 6pm

Saturday 9: Celtic Dragons v Wasps Netball, 4pm

Saturday 16: Celtic Dragons v UWS Sirens, 4pm

Monday 25: Severn Stars v Celtic Dragons, 7:30pm