Release supplies the timing reference
World Netball’s current resource explains that a successful shot counts when the time-ending or time-holding whistle comes after the ball has left the shooter’s hands. The ball need not have completed its passage through the ring before that whistle.
At the end of a period, the ball leaves the hands, the whistle sounds and the shot then drops through. Those are three events in order. A viewer timing only the ring passage against the whistle will answer a different question from the current release test.
A visible gap can resolve the sequence
A replay showing daylight between fingertips and ball before the official time signal is more informative than a reaction shot after the goal. Keep the release and signal in the same sequence where possible.
This explains an apparent late goal without adding an invented grace period measured in seconds. The shot’s success remains necessary; a release before time does not convert a miss into a goal. The example concerns the standard current rule resource and does not infer that every alternative netball scoring format uses identical end-period procedures.
Questions answered
Must the ball already be through the ring when time is called?
Not under the release-based provision described.
Does releasing before time make an unsuccessful shot score?
No.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.