The 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season is shaping up to be another thrilling chapter for the NSW Swifts, with a renewed focus and determination to bring home their eighth premiership.
“We'd love another premiership, another flag up there,” Co Captain Paige Hadley said, as she looked to the seven premiership flags hanging above the Show Court at Netball Central.
“After 2024, there is a lot of hard work to be done to make that goal a reality".
The Swifts, already formidable, have been working relentlessly throughout their preseason to fine-tune their technical and defensive strategies as well as positive mindset for the season ahead.
“We’ve got lots of variety out there. It's going to be a big season for us, so the focus is one week at a time - being in that final four and then going for the championship at the end,” Hadley shared.
Looking at the competition ahead, the Swifts know that every team in the league is hungry for victory.
“Everyone. Every year Super Netball gets bigger, stronger, tougher and I feel like every week you don’t know who’s going to beat who—that’s really the hardest thing as you’ve got to show up every week,” Hadley said.
However, some teams stand out as formidable opponents, with the Adelaide Thunderbirds leading the charge after their back-to-back premierships.
“You can’t go past the Adelaide Thunderbirds, they’ve won back-to-back premierships and they’re going to try and go for three championships, so you definitely want to be able to stop them from getting that,” Hadley said.
With the league’s talent spread across various teams, Co Captain Maddy Turner highlighted some of the players to watch.
“The Jamaicans, the English players, the Aussie Diamonds, they’re spread out over numerous teams. The Vixens have got a very Aussie Diamond style in their team, and then you look at the Adelaide Thunderbirds and they’re a very Jamaican style—everyone’s got their key threats.”
New recruits have certainly added a fresh dimension to the team and Turner is particularly excited about the newcomers.
“We’ve got some awesome new recruits, some fresh faces in the group - Victorian Sharni Lambden – is absolutely killing this preseason—she came in stronger than anyone. I’m glad she’s found her home here,” she said.
“Then there’s Verity Simmons, who obviously brings a lot of experience having played at the Firebirds and West Coast Fever. It’s nice to have her home where she started her junior netball in NSW. It’s nice to be able to rekindle that kind of relationship out on court together. She brings a lot of speed through the court and is so used to feeding the circle.”
The Swifts also have an incredibly strong presence in training with the powerful Grace "GG" Nweke.
“GG is a force to be reckoned with. I’m very glad that she is training in this team and we are not playing against her,” Turner said.
“We are practicing a lot of resilience at training with her. She is amazing and I look forward to feeding her from halfway down the court.”
The Swifts' season kicks off with a tough away game in Perth, against Verity Simmons' former team, West Coast Fever and their passionate supporters.
“Playing in Perth is always a hard game. Their fans are amazing, their members are amazing, they broke records last year so it’s always a hard ground to go to but I’m actually really looking forward to kicking off the season there,” she said.
Finally, after a long preseason that began in October 2024, the Swifts will play in front of their home crowd on April 12.
“Obviously we love playing in front of a home crowd, it’s just unreal. It’s been a long time coming as we started preseason in October, so that will be a real highlight for us.”
NSW Swifts
