NSW Swifts - 2019 Season

When the NSW Swifts first met ahead of the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball competition, Head Coach Briony Akle had a simple message: prove them all wrong.

There were glimpses of what was to come when they contested the pre-season #TeamGirls Cup in Brisbane in March. Three solid wins against the Giants, Adelaide Thunderbirds and Queensland Firebirds was a good return for a group expected by most to be lion-hearted, but ultimately out of the equation come Super Netball Finals time.

Then Round 1 happened. The neighbours, the Giants, were expected to cut these Swifts down to size. They didn’t. Neither did the new-look Thunderbirds or 2018 runners-up West Coast Fever.

A stumble on the home-stretch at home against the defending champion Sunshine Coast Lightning in Round 4 would have been enough to derail a lesser group, but these young Swifts were more than smiles and skill.

Before long they’d sent the Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies packing, and when a cruel blow robbed them of captain Maddy Proud in Brisbane, they steered themselves home to secure a first competitive away win over Firebirds in almost a decade.

Perhaps 2019 was going to be a little different.

Proud wouldn’t be the first to fall. Both attackers and defenders would be lost in the battle too. In fact the Swifts lost three of their rostered 10 players to season-ending injuries, and others for lengthy periods.

Despite this, the injured remained an inspiration for a group that knew their place at the top of the table was more than luck. It was validation.

Up stepped club stalwart Paige Hadley and a host of others. Sarah Klau, like Hadley, would do enough to on court for the Swifts to gain World Cup selection for the Australian Diamonds. Helen Housby showed just why she’s a Commonwealth gold medallist, and Sam Wallace – in typically flamboyant fashion – shot the lights out.

No longer would the Swifts, the most decorated club in Australian netball, be lost in the wilderness. Eleven years was far too long to wait for another Premiership. The players, the coaches, the support staff, the club staff all began to row in unison.

The World Cup came and went, and the Swifts played a huge role. Despite the travails of travel, injury and huge mental pressure NSW returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, surviving trips out West and down South in the process.

Their top-two regular season finish earned them two bites to secure the cherry of a Grand Final, but still no pundits were backing them. When the Lightning won the Major Semi Final by 10 to secure a home decider, the Swifts were expected to be cannon-fodder for the Vixens in the Prelim Final in Sydney.

But then the belief came back. With everything against them,  the Vixens juggernaut was emphatically halted. The Swifts were back in the big dance.

Again the pundits expected the Lightning to secure a three-peat. Most people had the Premiers winning by 10. It didn’t bother Akle’s troops, it was simply status quo.

But what didn’t surprise Akle was the Grand Final performance. A 17-goal win, and a 27-goal turnaround against the Lightning since the last time they played.

“I told these players they were good enough,” she said afterwards. “All they had to do was believe. Now I want them to push on and do this again, and again.”

A sixth title in the trophy cabinet. These Swifts kids were pretty good after all. Together they did.

Final placings
Champions: NSW Swifts
Runners-Up: Coast Lightning
3. Melbourne Vixens
4. Collingwood Magpies
5. Giants Netball
6. West Coast Fever
7. Adelaide Thunderbirds
8. Queensland Firebirds

2019 Roster:
Kate Eddy, Sophie Garbin, Paige Hadley (Vice-Captain), Sophie Halpin (Permanent Replacement Player), Natalie Haythornthwaite , Helen Housby, Sarah Klau, Lauren Moore, Maddy Proud (Captain), Katrina Rore (Permanent Replacement Player) Maddy Turner, Sam Wallace.

Temporary Replacement Players:
Tayla Fraser, Elle Bennetts, Amorangi Malesala, Kayla Cullen

Training Partners:
Tayla Fraser, Matisse Letherbarrow, Claire O’Brien, Kelly Singleton,Tayla

Head Coach: Briony Akle
Assistant Coach: Anita Keelan
Team Manager: Dani Mace
Physiotherapist: Steve Naylor
Strength & Conditioning: Lukas Cannan
Performance Analyst: Bjorn Maddern

2019 Awards Winners
QBE Most Valued Player: Sam Wallace
Members’ Player of the Year: Paige Hadley
Coaches Player of the Year: Paige Hadley
Players’ Player of the Year: Sophie Garbin & Maddy Turner
Club Person of the Year: Jen Silva

Fixtures & Results

*Qudos Bank Arena
**Margaret Court Arena