A former midcourt stalwart of the Swifts as a player, Briony won two premierships with the club when they were known as the Sydney Swifts (they changed their name to the NSW Swifts in 2008). She won Premierships in 2001 and 2004 and played in a team of greats including Liz Ellis and Catherine Cox.
After retiring from playing, Briony worked in sports administration across both netball and rugby league, but also began earning her coaching accreditations. As she worked her way through the Netball NSW coaching pathway she began to achieve national success with the state’s underage teams, and also was also involved with Australian underage setups.
In late 2017, when then NSW Swifts head coach Rob Wright suddenly stepped down from his role, Briony was appointed head coach of the club she’d starred with as a player almost 15 years earlier.
The Swifts had the youngest bunch of players in the Super Netball competition, but despite the Club’s illustrious history of having the most Premierships they hadn’t won one since 2008.
That changed in 2019 when, despite being picked by most pundits as unlikely to even make the Finals, the Swifts won their sixth Premiership against huge odds.
In 2021 Briony led the Swifts to a second Premiership in three years (and a seventh in total) as her team overcame five state relocations and numerous isolation period to once again be crowned Australia and NSW's leading professional female sports Club.
In 2022 Briony tasted international success when she coached Australia to the Fast5 World Series title in New Zealand before being named part of Tonga's coaching setup for the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town.
Also in 2023, she led the Swifts to the Minor Premiership and a third Grand Final in five years. The Swifts just missed out on Premiership No.8 after an extra-time defeat to Adelaide.
At home: Briony is born and bred in Sydney and is mother to four young boys, and has a very supportive husband called Sarkis. He is a small business owner and runs a chain of hair salons. How they balance full time professional sport, business ownership, sports media spotlight and full time parenthood is quite remarkable.
Updated: Dec 2023
