Having entered the Suncorp Super Netball season on the back of winning the pre-season Team Girls Cup in Sydney, the Swifts looked well placed to reach a fourth Grand Final in five years and deliver Premiership No.8 in the process.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite pan out that way and despite sitting in the competition top four for the first half of the regular season, a difficult second half proved to be the Swifts’ undoing in 2024.
To miss out on a Finals Series is never easy. Throughout the Swifts’ history they have played more Finals Series than any other Club and contested an unprecedent 13 Grand Finals with seven Premierships to their name – the most of any National League Club playing today.
To say that the standard the Swifts set for themselves is high would be an understatement. They will always aim for the ultimate success and will never settle for anything less.
In 2024 the team also had to overcome certain unprecedented challenges. In June the Swifts parted ways with long-time shooter Samantha Wallace-Joseph, however, that was not used as excuse and the team stayed in Finals contention right up until Round 13, while fans still came in their thousands to watch the Swifts play both home and away.
It may not have been a Premiership year, but there were a host of milestones and achievements to be celebrated:
- Helen Housby and Maddy Proud joined a list of past and present greats in the Swifts Centurion Club
- The Swifts welcomed four new athletes into their Alumni with Elle Temu, Grace Whyte, Jemma Donoghue and Uneeq Palavi becoming Swifts numbers 106, 107, 108 and 109 respectively
- Allie Smith played her 50th elite club game.
- Briony Akle, who has already led the Club to three Grand Finals and two Premierships in her time as head coach, coached her 100th elite game.
- The Club had the biggest membership base of its 28-year history, with over 5,200 Members signing up, the vast majority of whom were ticketed members.
- As part of a wider trend across the Super Netball League where crowd averages were up over 25%, the Swifts continued to have record numbers at Ken Roseall Arena, including a number of strong sellouts
- One of the world’s biggest Whoop Towel parties in Round 6.
With the support of hard-working high-performance and club staff, commercial partners and fans, the Swifts once against certainly did their part to inspire the NSW netball community to dream big. Perhaps nothing illustrated this better than when over 200 fans turned up just to watch the team train ahead of their final game of the year.
To quote head coach Briony Akle:
“It is always fantastic when you are winning because a winning team is something everyone wants to jump onboard with. The real test comes when things aren’t going your way.
“We cannot tell you how much it meant to run out at a full Ken Rosewall Arena, especially when the chips were against us.
“Standing together through thick and thin is the definition of what it means to be a Swift, because a Swift always does more.
“Our players are proven winners who have given our Swifts Family many wonderful days and I know they will do so in again in the near future.
“We will continue to be Inspired By History, Driven By Legacy, and cannot wait to go again!”
2024 NSW Swifts Roster
Sophie Fawns, Lili Gorman-Brown, Paige Hadley (co-captain), Helen Housby, Sarah Klau, Teigan O’Shannassy, Maddy Proud (co-captain), Allie Smith, Maddy Turner, Samantha Wallace-Joseph, Grace Whyte (rookie athlete).
2024 Training Partners
Audrey Little, Dakota Thomas, Elle Temu, Frederika Schneideman, Jemma Donoghue, Jess Conlan.
Temporary Replacement Players
Elle Temu, Jemma Donohue, Uneeq Palavi
High Performance Staff
Head Coach: Briony Akle
Assistant Coach: Natalie Avellino
High Performance Manager: Dani Mace
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Lachlan Wilmot
Performance Analyst: Natalia Waterson
Physio: Kenny Michalopoulos
Sports Psychologist: Dr. Mike Martin
Doctor: Dr. Ben Webber
Player Welfare Officer: Sarah Gorman
Sports Scientist: Adam Wylie
Administration Staff
Executive General Manager: Kath Tetley
Events Manager: Maddy Tatham
Events Coordinator: Ashleigh Tench
Communications Manager: Shane de Barra
Video & Social Producer: Lauren Jones
Consumer Business Manager: Sarah Wheeler
Membership and Ticketing Coordinator: Casey Reynolds
Fan Engagement Coordinator: Francesca Caush
New Products Development: Rebecca Pollard
Corporate Partnerships Manger: Jen Silva
Shared service with Netball NSW
GM Commercial: Yael Reed
Marketing: Kayte Joass
Graphic Design: Kylie Hyde
