The QBE Swifts Academy have returned from the 2023 Australian Netball Championships with Silver Medals after a fantastic week of action in Queensland.
Under the stewardship of head coach Lenore Blades, the Academy – which underpins the senior NSW Swifts side – put in a fine performance to make it to the Grand Final, falling just short 55-57 against the Collingwood Magpies in the decider.
The Championships were contested by feeder teams of 2023 Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) clubs, and State Bodies which do not hold an SSN license. In 2021 the ANC replaced the Australian Netball League as the feeder competition to SSN.
In 2023 the ANC took place from August 21-27 at Morayfield Sports and Events Centre north of Brisbane, with a mix of rising Super Netball players and pathway talent hitting the courts.
This year the Swifts were once again represented by the QBE Swifts Academy, which replaced the Club’s previous pathway program – the Netball NSW Waratahs – at the end of 2019.
In all the Swifts Academy contested four games in the group stages, registering impressive wins over the Victorian Fury, Territory Strom and Tasmania Wild and only dropping one game against the Future Firebirds.
In the Semi Finals they upset the odds to defeat pre-tournament favourites Adelaide Thunderbirds Futures, powering home for a 58-51 win to set up the Gold Medal decider with the Pies on Sunday.
Midway through the second half it looked like the Swifts side were on track to deliver more silverware to the Club’s trophy cabinet, however a spirited Magpies team – playing the last ever game of Collingwood’s abandoned netball program – rallied to take the spoils in a thrilling final quarter.
The Academy lost Swifts Training Partner and standout midcourter Chelsea Mann to injury in game one, but the leadership team of Ali Miller Teigan O’Shannassy and Lili Gorman-Brown turned the hurt of that into a driving force which spurred the team on.
The Swifts posted the following results in the competition:
- Game 1: QBE Swifts Academy 66, Victorian Fury 54
- Game 2: QBE Swifts Academy 78, Territory Storm 39
- Game 3: QBE Swifts Academy 54, Firebirds Futures 62
- Game 4: QBE Swifts Academy 76, Tasmania Wild 48
- Semi Final: QBE Swifts Academy 58, Thunderbirds Futures 51
- Grand Final: QBE Swifts Academy 55, Collingwood Magpies 57
2023 QBE Swifts Academy Team
- Jessica Conlan (Barellan & District/ERNA Hawks)
- Lili Gorman-Brown (Sutherland/Sutherland Stingrays)
- Sophie Fawns (Wagga Wagga/ERNA Hawks)
- Audrey Little (Manly Warringah/MW Sapphires)
- Chelsea Mann (Manly Warringah/MW Sapphires)
- Ali Miller (Eastwood Ryde/ERNA Hawks)
- Teigan O’Shannassy (Manly Warringah/MW Sapphires)
- Charlotte Raleigh (Armidale/North Shore United)
- Freddie Schneideman (Randwick/ERNA Hawks)
- Dakota Thomas (Newcastle/ERNA Hawks)
- Lauren Woods (Blacktown City/North Shore United)
- Grace Whyte (Tumut/MW Sapphires)
- Claire O’Brien – replacement player
Coaching Team
- Head Coach: Lenore Blades
- Assistant Coach: Sharyn Hill
- Team Manager: Mele Tiauli
- Strength & Conditioning Coach: Daniel Johnson
- Physio: Kandice Goodwin
The NSW Swifts would like to once again thank Netball NSW and QBE Insurance for their support of the QBE Swifts Academy Program.
