Just like the 2020 season, the 2022 season was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Central Pulse were due to host the sixth edition of the official ANZ Premiership tournament at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Otaki between 24 and 27 February. However, the tournament was cancelled after a change in COVID-19 alert levels.[56] Pulse's Round 1 match against Northern Stars was cancelled following a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad.[57][58] Their head coach Yvette McCausland-Durie also tested positive for Covid-19.[59][60][61] Further matches were cancelled throughout the season, most notably in early April when six matches were cancelled across Rounds 4 and 5.[62][63][64][65] Some cancelled matches were simply rescheduled and added to later rounds.[66] However, the backlog of cancelled matches effectively created a Round 13.[67]
Player pool
In order to reduce the number of cancelled matches, the ANZ Premiership created a free agent player pool that teams could use to recruit temporary replacements.[68] Greer Sinclair subsequently played for four teams during the season. As well as played for Northern Comets in the National Netball League, she also played for Northern Stars, Northern Mystics and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in the ANZ Premiership.[69][70][71][72] Another member of the pool, Storm Purvis came out of retirement to play for Stars. This saw her make her 100th senior league appearance.[73]