Wales will prepare for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Tasmania ©Getty Images

Wales' netball team will prepare for next year's Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast by playing a series of matches in Tasmania, it has been announced.

Wales also based themselves there before the 2015 International Netball Federation World Cup in Australia. 

Warm-up matches will be played in  Launceston and Hobart at the end of March, with the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) team Collingwood Magpies and the Tassie Magpies Australian Netball League team due to provide the opposition.  

Tasmania will also be hosting Northern Ireland’s national team and Wales will play them in a friendly. 

"This warm-up tour to Tasmania will be invaluable to our players as they final preparations for the Commonwealth Games, and we’re grateful that Netball Tasmania are able to host us once again," Welsh Netball’s head of performance Rosie Pretorius said.

"The holding camp will give the squad an opportunity to acclimatise and put together the final pieces of the last four years of preparations. 

"It will be exciting to return to Tasmania after receiving such a warm welcome from the hosts during our warm-up tour before the Netball World Cup in 2015.

"Northern Ireland, Collingwood and the Tassie Magpies will provide Wales with three competitive fixtures that will replicate the squads group stage games. 

"This is the ideal way to make those final tweaks to match day preparations in time for the first group match against the New Zealand Silver Ferns."

Suncorp Super Netball team Collingwood Magpies will play Wales as a warm-up for the Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images
Suncorp Super Netball team Collingwood Magpies will play Wales as a warm-up for the Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images

Wales have been drawn in Pool B at Gold Coast.

Besides New Zealand, who they are due to open their campaign against on April 6, they will face England, Malawi, Scotland and Uganda.

Netball Tasmania chief executive Aaron Pidgeon hopes the presence of two international teams in the build-up to Gold Coast 2018 will help boost the profile of the sport in the an isolated island state off Australia’s south coast,

"If participation in netball in our State is to continue to grow, and Tasmanian high-performance netball teams are to have an impact on the national stage, then it’s really important for the netball community in Tasmania to have exposure to elite netball in a live environment," she said.

"Seeing SSN and International athletes competing in a live environment is the ideal showcase for our sport, and will no doubt inspire lots of young women in Tasmania to be future Australian Diamonds players. 

"We want to give them every opportunity possible to achieve that dream."

Final details of the matches are due to be released shortly.