‘Big part of where I am now’: The personal heartache driving Melbourne Mavericks’ midcourt star Molly Jovic
Molly Jovic had all but given up on her dream of playing netball at the top level after personal heartbreak led her to reassess the sport’s place in her life. This is her inspiring story.
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Mavericks midcourt star Molly Jovic has opened up on the heartbreak providing “perspective” in her netball career, revealing how she almost walked away from her pursuit of playing at the top level while her mum battled serious illness.
A key plank of the Melbourne Mavericks’ midcourt, Jovic said the memory of her late mum, Anne, was an inspiration for her every time she stepped out on court as the one who kept pushing her to continue chasing her netball dreams when she had felt like giving up.
Jovic’s mum lost her 18-month battle with brain cancer in early 2019 with the former Magpie thankful she took time away from netball during her illness to spend more time at home.
Now in her sixth season in Super Netball, Jovic said her personal loss had shaped her as a person and player and given her clarity about the sport’s role in her life.
“She is a big part of where I am now,” Jovic, 29, said.
“I think if it wasn’t for her believing in me and keep telling me to keep putting myself out there at trials I wouldn’t have kept going as many times.
“I didn’t want to trial for (Victorian) Fury after being let down for a number of years.
“It also gives perspective. You can have a couple of bad games, but at the end of the day this is my job and it’s a pretty awesome job.
“You want to win obviously but some things in life are a bit deeper than winning and losing a netball game.”
“I didn’t want to trial for (Victorian) Fury after being let down for a number of years.
“It also gives perspective. You can have a couple of bad games, but at the end of the day this is my job and it’s a pretty awesome job.
“You want to win obviously but some things in life are a bit deeper than winning and losing a netball game.”
Jovic was playing for Victorian Fury in the Australian Netball Championships (formerly ANL) chasing her Super Netball goals when her mum received her diagnosis.
After two seasons with the Fury – and being overlooked for training partner positions – Jovic made the decision to step back in her third season to spend more time with her mum.
Netball was no longer a priority in her life and Jovic was all but ready to give up on her dreams of playing at the highest level as she focused on family.
“I had basically given up on professional netball,” Jovic said.
“I played for Fury for two years and then my mum got really sick and it’s hard being in the reserves or ANC because you don’t get paid. Yet at the time we were training every night and I was working full-time.
“So I was working full-time and going to ANL training every single night and I just wanted to be at home. My mum was really sick, so in my third year I was like ‘I’m not doing this, I would rather spend time with my family’.
“Netball was not really important for me at that point in time. I was playing for Fury and not getting a (Super Netball) look-in, not even a training partner spot at Vixens.
“I kind of thought, ‘This is the level that I have achieved and I’m OK with that and I’m going to go and play local’.
“I played down in Geelong with some of my best friends, who are still my best friends, and had fun with my netball and got to spend more time at home.
“I’m really glad that I did take some time away from netball as well because I would not have got that time with her at home.
“She had brain cancer so she battled with that for I think it was 18 months in the end. It wasn’t a good time.”
THE UNEXPECTED CALL-UP
Jovic, who hails from Williamstown in Melbourne’s south-west, was comfortable playing with her mates “for fun” when she got a call out of the blue later in the season to fill in as a replacement player for Collingwood’s ANL team.
That opportunity then led to a call-up at the end of the year as an injury replacement player for the Magpies for the 2020 Super Netball season.
“It’s weird how it happens,” the Mavs’ centre said.
“I had basically said that I’m just going to play netball for fun and that’s when I got my opportunity.
“I was 23 when I got a phone call about being a replacement player, so I would have been 24 by the time that I hit the court (in Super Netball) so I was a bit older than most people.”
Jovic went on to spend four years on the Magpies’ list before the team’s demise at the end of 2023.
While Jovic said the end of the Magpies was a “hard time” for everyone involved, she had relished the fresh opportunity it had created at the Mavericks where she is a co-vice captain this year.
“It’s a strange one. I’m not even disappointed with the way it ended. It obviously was a hard time for all of us, no one knew what was going to happen next,” Jovic said.
“But I feel like I am very lucky and I’m grateful for how it has turned out for me.
“Mavs and SEN have been incredible and I think SEN is going to be amazing for netball going forward. So, I think for the good of netball it is a really good thing.
“I still look back at Collingwood though and I had some really good times with some of my best friends there as well.
“It is something I look back on fondly and kind of understand that what happened was a business decision and it is what it is.”
MAVS MARK
After an interrupted pre-season with a calf injury, Jovic is hitting her straps on the court with the Mavericks, who she is backing to feature in finals despite a bumpy start.
Jovic, also a talented junior basketballer who represented her state in the sport before she chose to focus on netball in Year 12, was the Mavs’ top performer in last round’s loss to the Fever.
The Mavs’ narrowly missed out on a place in the finals in their maiden season last year, but only have one win from their opening five games in 2025.
But Jovic was confident of a bounce back.
“If you look at the past with teams as well, you only have to win 50 per cent or even less to make finals because the competition is so close,” Jovic, who also works as a chartered accountant in the off-season, said.
“You never know who is going to win on any day … if we can pull some strong performances for 60 minutes in the back half of the season, I have no doubt that we will be able to sneak into the top four.
“Our whole midcourt group is firing at the moment and we’re in a luxury position where we can rotate anyone on the court and everyone can play multiple positions.
“I missed a chunk of the pre-season …. so I am just happy to be back out there with them and hopefully we can pull out some stronger performances in the back half of the season.
“I would love to win a premiership and I would love to win a premiership with Mavs and I just want to enjoy my career and help other people in my team get that success as well.”
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