The NSW Swifts are delighted to announce that Australian international defenders Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner will remain with the club for the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season.
The pair, who’ve been with the Swifts since 2017 and 2016 respectively, are key members of a squad which has secured Finals netball for the past two seasons, including a Premiership in 2019.
Klau, who is currently in Queensland ahead of the upcoming Australian Diamonds camp, joined the Swifts just before the inaugural Super Netball season in 2017, having previously made her elite debut for the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Since that time the 26-year-old has grown to become one of the most respected defenders in the international game, winning a silver medal at the 2019 Netball World Cup in England and putting in a stellar performance in the Swifts’ 2019 Grand Final success against the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Turner, who despite being just 24 years of age, is a veteran of the club. She joined the Swifts in the final year of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship and went on to play in a thrilling Grand Final loss to the Queensland Firebirds in the same year.
Signing on with the Swifts for the advent of Super Netball and also winning a Premiership in 2019, Turner has been a member of the leadership team for the past two seasons and won the Constellation Cup with the Australian Diamonds. After an injury-interrupted 2020 she was last week named in the Diamonds Development Squad for 2021.
Head Coach Briony Akle said she was delighted to announce two Diamonds as the Swifts’ first signings for next season.
“I think when they are both fully fit and firing Sarah and Maddy form a formidable defensive combination which is pretty hard to match across the league,” she said.
“Both players are exceptionally driven to succeed and I know missing out on back-to-back titles this year will only spur them on.
“Sarah is one of the best in the world in what is perhaps the toughest position to play when you think of the players she’s up against every week.
“Every year I think she gets better and with a home crowd behind her in 2021 she’ll continue to grow.”
Akle said she hoped Turner would get an injury-free run into next season and backed her for a Diamonds return.
“Maddy is perhaps the most consistent and under-rated player in the whole competition.
“She was immense in our 2019 Premiership success and only injury hampered her from reaching those same heights in 2020.
“When you see how far she’s come since that young rookie first took the court in 2016 you know that Maddy’s best days are still ahead of her and she’s got a big future at both national and international level.
“At only 24 she’s a senior player in our ranks and key to our continued success.”
With the current Super Netball Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring at the end of 2021, competition clubs are not permitted to sign players beyond next season.
The Swifts will announce further signings for 2021 in the near future.
