Star NSW Swifts attacker Helen Housby will miss Tuesday night’s Suncorp Super Netball Round 9 clash against the Collingwood Magpies in Brisbane with a calf injury.
The England international sustained a cork to her left calf during the Premiers’ narrow 63-60 loss to the Melbourne Vixens on Saturday and has not sufficiently recovered in time to face the Pies.
Housby could still feature for the Swifts later this week when they face the Queensland Firebirds – also in Brisbane - on Saturday.
The Swifts currently sit second on the competition ladder, one win behind the Vixens and four points clear of third-placed Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Head coach Briony Akle said injuries were be part and parcel of the condensed 2020 season in Queensland and wasn’t prepared to risk losing Housby for a longer period of time.
“Helen took a big knock in the Vixens game and has made good progress since then but we don’t want to push it,” she said.
“The shortened nature of the season means there is a huge amount of load on the players’ bodies and I don’t think any team will get through these few months unscathed.
“It’s never ideal losing a player of Helen’s ability for any period of time but we have good options in the circle.
“Sophie Garbin is a Premiership winner and did a great job when Helen missed some of our campaign last year, and we’ve also got Nat Haythornthwaite who can play goal attack as well as Kelly Singleton who debuted for us against the Thunderbirds a few weeks back.
“Every campaign is a squad effort and we know we’ve got the players who can come in and step up.”
Akle knows the Magpies are wounded at the moment, but their last outing against the Swifts showed they are very capable of beating anyone.
“The Magpies will be hurting after a few recent losses and they came within a whisker of knocking us over recently so it’s another dangerous game,” Akle added.
“The margins are so fine in this game and sometimes it’s only a few balls that bounce the wrong way which can make a world of difference.
“The Vixens showed they are deserved favourites in 2020 by hanging tough at the death against us on Saturday and we need to start riding the waves as well as them to keep pace.
“Tomorrow night is a good chance to do that because we know Collingwood can test us everywhere.”
The NSW Swifts’ clash with the Magpies will be broadcast live on Telstra TV and Telstra’s Netball Live App tomorrow night from 7.30pm AET.
