At the end of 2023, dual premiership player Verity Simmons decided to hang up her netball bib, replacing it with a pair of footy boots.
Simmons joined the AFLW and the West Coast Eagles, but that stint was short-lived and she was delisted at the end of the 2024 season.
But in her heart, Simmons knew she still had more to give to sport.
While she longed for an opportunity to play Suncorp Super Netball again, it wasn’t something the 33-year-old initially considered as her next move until she heard the NSW Swifts needed a midcourter.
Swifts’ stalwart Maddy Proud’s pregnancy opening the door to an opportunity Simmons thought she’d slammed shut.
Relaxing in WA’s Margaret River, Simmons was a world away from sport when her phone started ringing but it wasn’t the Swifts head coach Briony Akle on the other end.
“I had a couple of phone calls from people asking, ‘hey, are you playing for the Swifts?’,” Simmons said.
“Netball hadn’t even crossed my mind. I forgot Mads was pregnant, but it reminded me there was a spot.
“I don't know where these people were hearing rumours I was playing for the Swifts because I had no idea.”
Having known Akle for a long time, Simmons sent her a text message to ask how everything was going.
Akle called her immediately and Simmons jumped on the next plane out of Perth.
Reflecting on her year away from netball, Simmons confessed she struggled with footy to begin with.
“I'd bitten off more than I can chew, not knowing AFL, not growing up around it and having to learn a whole game with all these different skills all at once and with the best there is, was full on,” she said.
While she may have felt like a fish out of water, the experience taught Simmons some valuable lessons.
“I really loved the challenge of it, I learnt I thrive in those environments being challenged with my back against the wall,” she said.
“I learnt how adaptable I can be as an athlete; I went back to rookie mode. Netball I know and understand the sport like the back of my hand, going to a different sport I was learning everything on the fly.
“I enjoyed, the physicality of it, the skill component and being with girls who are incredible athletes, they work hard.
"It was exciting. Every day was like being a kid again.”
Verity Simmons celebrates scoring in the AFLW, a game she never played before trying it out in 2024. Picture: Getty Images.Having captured the joy of sport once more, Simmons is thrilled to return to netball with a new outlook.
“I've always been the athlete in netball that’s put a lot of pressure on myself to perform,” she said.
“Being in a sport for so long you've got eyes on you, the expectations are you know the game, you’ll perform, and you'll go out there and do the job.
“In footy everything was new, I had nothing to lose and coming into netball again there's pressure, but I've really taken that off and I’m enjoying sport for what it is.”
When she left West Coast Fever, Simmons told her former teammates her spark for netball was gone.
But now it’s back and she can recall the moment it returned.
"I noticed it as soon as I came to trial with the Swifts,” Simmons said.
“I jumped on the court, laced the shoes up, was back out with the girls and I knew I've missed it.”
Although, the 33-year-old doesn’t know if her spark would’ve returned if she hadn’t gone and tried her hand at footy.
“I was really grateful I did footy, the year away from netball made me appreciate the sport and love the sport again,” she said.
“I really do love netball, I've grown up on it, it’s in my blood and it's a sport I never want to give away or not enjoy.
“I found it difficult to watch last year because I still felt capable, but I also had enough of it at the same time.”
Returning home to NSW has been a long time coming for Simmons who grew up in Grafton, a town in the state’s Northern Rivers district putting her closer to the Gold Coast than Sydney.
The midcourter first joined West Coast Fever in 2012 before heading to the Queensland Firebirds for two seasons in 2014 where she won her first premiership. From there she returned west and cemented her name in Fever green.
Having called WA home for a long time, it’s a strange feeling for Simmons to be back in NSW but there's one reason she’s excited to be back.
“Coming back here I'm surrounded family and friends which makes the transition easier,” she said.
"It's almost a full circle moment; it's taken me back to all the travelling mum and I did.
“Every weekend mum would drive me 10 hours down, 10 hours back or we would jump on the train which was 13 down and 13 back to play and train for New South.
“To be back here feels like all the work has paid off, even though I've achieved what I’ve achieved with Fever and Firebirds it feels special to come back to play on New South turf and be home.”
While excited to be lining up in the Swifts kit this season, Simmons confessed she still has a lot to learn about her new teammates.
"All the girls bring something different, I'm getting to know how the girls work and what their strengths are,” she said.
“Having the year off, I really switched into football mode, I didn't watch a lot of netty, I'm catching up a bit.
"I'm really enjoying working with Briony and Dylan, they've got a really good outlook, they're very down to earth and keep things really equal and fair in the team, which I'm really loving."
Verity Simmons is relishing the trip to face her old side, the Fever. Picture: Getty Images.
As Simmons gets back into the swing of things, there’s been one key message from Akle.
“We’re chipping at the basics, I’m trying to get the rust out at the moment,” Simmons said. “Skill is king, do the basics right and things will flow.
“We look at it like a plane taking off, you can't jump in the sky straight away, you've got to build the takeoff.”
Once the plane takes off Simmons is most excited to go head-to-head with one team.
“The first match, we kick off in WA against Fever,” she said. "I'm really excited, I love those girls, I love that club, and I love that arena.
“To get back out there in front of the Green Army, to be with the Swifts girls I'm pumped. Having a netball back in my hand being on these floorboards is a great feeling.”
Elated to be returning, Simmons hasn’t allowed herself to dwell on where she might be in 2026.
"It's always tough, to set goals when you're on a one-year contract,” she said.
“The other day, I was really struggling to find goals, then I got asked 'How do you want to feel at the end of the season?’ and that switched things around for me.
“At the end of the season, I want to feel like we're premiers, we win this, we hold the trophy up loud and proud, we've got a medal around our necks, my friends and family are happy and I'm proud of the efforts I've put in.
“Hopefully I can work hard and make a difference for these girls and if we're doing that, we're cheering, that's success to me.”
Article: Netball Australia
