Super Netball grand final 2023: Thunderbird’s captain Hannah Petty’s packed Wudinna pilgrimage
A little farming town on the Eyre Peninsula has been left almost deserted as its residents hit the road to cheer on their hometown hero.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
When Simon and Karen Petty jumped on the plane to Melbourne this morning they took a fair chunk of their hometown with them.
About 45 family members and close friends from the Eyre Peninsula farming town of Wudinna joined them on the pilgrimage, hoping to cheer hometown hero – Thunderbirds captain Hannah Petty – to victory in the Super Netball grand final against the Swifts.
Leading the T-Birds, who haven’t finished top for a decade, to victory in netball’s big dance would be an incredible achievement for the EP-born and raised Petty. And it would also give her some silverware to match that of her brother’s, Demon defender Harrison who in 2021 helped guide his team to its first VFL/AFL premiership since 1964.
Hannah and Harrison’s dad Simon, a teacher at the 80-student Karcultaby Area School, has once again been forced to choose which of his talented offspring to watch, with the netball grand final and the Dees’ match against St Kilda clashing. This time, though, it was a fairly easy decision. The premiership match wins out.
GRAND FINAL PREVIEW: Thunderbirds out to stop Swifts’ legacy attempt
“I actually thought that Harry was playing at the MCG, so I thought I might be able to sneak across after the netball and catch some of that game too but it turns out he’s actually playing at Marvel Stadium – so Hannah will have my undivided attention,” Simon joked.
“But it’s going to be a very exciting weekend. It should get the old blood pressure up.”
For him and wife Karen the trip started with a six-and-a-half hour drive from Wudinna to Adelaide followed by a 6am flight to Melbourne with the Hannah cheer squad.
“I think there are about 45 of us going over,” Simon said.
“It’s basically the whole family but for two cousins, as well as really close friends who have been to lots of Hannah’s games and supported her through her journey. My wife’s been in charge of organising all the tickets, and I know that’s caused a few headaches.”
Tonight’s Super Netball grand final is just the latest chapter in an incredible sporting story that began when the Petty siblings were just little kids.
Both showed promise early on in their sports-mad community, with netball, footy, tennis, cricket and gymnastics dominating every weekend. However, Simon said, it was Hannah who was the first family superstar.
“Hannah, as a junior kid, was always making representative teams and made state for both athletics and netball,” he said.
She showed a lot quite early in life and then got the opportunity to go away for school and be recognised at a higher level. She was playing A-grade netball over here at 13 or 14.
“Harry was bit different. He was playing senior football over here at a young age, but he didn’t get selected in a rep team and I think that was a kick in the butt. He realised that if we wanted to be good he was going to have to work bloody hard.
“But he had a couple of good years in Year 11 and Year 12 at Rostrevor and for Norwood so that’s when we knew things were happening.”
Harrison admitted there was quite a sporting rivalry between himself and his big sister growing up, a rivalry that intensified when Hannah pulled on the boots to fill in for a junior game of footy in Elliston and found herself in the best players while he missed out.
“I wanted to beat her at everything,” he said.
“I was probably a bit too young in the early years, but once I got a bit bigger it got easier.”
The Melbourne defender said he was “incredibly proud” of his big sister.
“She’s worked so hard to get to where she is,” he said.
And if she manages to lift that premiership trophy aloft tonight?
“Well then I’ll have nothing left to hold over her,” he laughed.
Harrison said that sport was far more than recreation growing up in Wudinna.
“Sport in Wudinna is pretty much everything,” he said.
“It where you go see your mates, it’s where you make new friends and it’s where you go show what you’ve got.”
He said that his and Hannah’s careers would never have happened without the support of Simon and Karen.
“We couldn’t have asked for better parents,” he said.
It’s something Hannah and Harrison agree upon.
“I’d hate to think how many thousands of kilometres they’ve driven over the years,” the Thunderbirds captain said.
“But it’s not just me and the family on this journey, it’s been the whole town of Wudinna. That town has played a big role in getting Harry and I to where we’re at.
“It’s just such a lovely touch to hear of things like the pub being packed out with people drinking pink beer to support me.”
And the fact that a good percentage of the town is going to be in the crowd tonight fills Hannah with joy.
“I wasn’t expecting that many people to make the trip, but I’m glad they’re all going to be there,” she said.
“And I know I’m not the only one with friends and family coming over, so the Pink Army will be out in force. We want to have the louder fans and get that ‘home ground advantage’, even though it’s not our home ground.”
Hannah said that growing up on the Eyre Peninsula both her and her brother dreamed of playing at the highest levels of their chosen sports, but never thought those dream would actually come true.
“So to be able to captain the Thunderbirds and take them to a grand final for the first time in ten years is a pinch myself moment,” she said.
And as for advice on handling the pressure of playing in a premiership?
“Harry and I have had a few messages here and there, but we haven’t really talked about it in person,” Hannah said.
“But that’s because I don’t really want to think about that until game time. I try not to overthink things. But he’s always there for support, and he knows that I always have his back.”
Meanwhile, at the pub where the pink beer flowed for the preliminary final, manager Daryl Howe is actually expecting things to be a little quieter tonight.
“There would have been 80 odd people in the front bar,” Mr Howe said.
“But the read on the town is that this weekend is going to be pretty quiet because all the family and friends are going to Melbourne to watch the game.”
Mr Howe said the Petty story had been great for Wudinna, and that the whole town was invested in the siblings’ success.
“Young Harry winning the grand final a couple of years ago, and now Hannah not only making the grand final but captaining the side. For a small country town it’s a pretty good effort.”
The Adelaide Thunderbirds have won four premierships since the team’s inception in 1997, but are yet to finish top in the Suncorp Super Netball League.
Captain Hannah Petty is hoping the 2023 is the year that all changes.
The Wudinna-born skipper’s family is bringing a huge entourage to the John Cain Arena for tonight’s premiership clash with the NSW Swifts.But you don’t have to be there to lend your support.The official watch party will be at Sporty’s Bar and Arena at The Arkaba on Glen Osmond Road. Call 8338 100 to make a booking.
The Casino and The Rosey on Hindley Street will also screen the game, which can be watched at home on Foxtel and Kayo. And, of course, it will be playing at the Wudinna pub.
A number of Adelaide landmarks, including UniSA Bradley Building, Adelaide Railway Station, Eos/SkyCity and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, will be lit up in pink this weekend to show support for the team.
Cornes: It’s been a horrific week for the AFL world
With the grief reaching overwhelming levels, it’s been an awful week for football with the sudden deaths of several players, now all we have... is the memories, writes Graham Cornes.
How the West can win: Footy club‘s plan to bounce back
SANFL club West Adelaide is at the crossroads, but there’s promising signs for development in the future, writes Andrew Capel.