‘Only if I’m right for the job’: Humble Swifts’ record-breaker plays down fairytale Netball World Cup in Sydney
Record-breaking Swift Paige Hadley says she has the drive and desire to play on until the next World Cup - but there remains one big caveat.
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Record-breaking Swift Paige Hadley says she has the drive and desire to play on until the next World Cup – but only if she is holding her Diamonds place on merit.
Lost in their win against the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday was the fact that Hadley overtook former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis to become the second-most capped Swifts player in the history of the club.
Hadley lined up for her 174th match for the now NSW Swifts, playing a crucial role in the club’s victory over the back-to-back premiers in the top-of-the-table Super Netball clash.
While their Silver Ferns shooter Grace Nweke finished with 48 goals and defender Teigan O’Shannassy had six intercepts in an MVP performance, Hadley was outstanding in the midcourt, finishing with just one turnover in a game during which the Swifts were guilty early of too many simple errors.
The Diamonds vice-captain though has a new lease of life, thanks in part to the injection of infectious enthusiasm of newcomers like Nweke and Sharni Lambden, something she hopes will keep her on her toes as she pushes to play a part in a home World Cup in 2027.
Hadley is the only current Diamond who was a part of Australia’s World Cup win in Sydney in 2015.
Ten years on from that victory, she’s the Diamonds vice-captain and has played at another two World Cups – an agonising loss to New Zealand in the 2019 final and a dominant win against England in 2023.
Few players get to write their own fairytale finish but there could be one on the cards for Hadley if she pushes on to the next edition of the World Cup – a full-circle moment in Sydney in 2027.
“Obviously, I would love to be there but there’s a lot of netball to be played between now and then,” she said.
And ever the team player, Hadley doesn’t want to be a passenger.
“I’ve always said to Stace (coach Stacey Marinkovich) and the Diamonds that if I’m there, I want it to be because I am the best midcourter for that job.
“It gets harder every year but … honestly, I feel like my body is loving it.
“It’s (World Cup) two-and-a-half years away and I’ve said to Stace I (would) want to be picked, because I am the best player to be in that position to win that gold medal.”
The Diamonds drafted young midcourt guns Georgie Horjus and Hannah Mundy into their extended squad last year, with Horjus making her debut against New Zealand.
With captain Liz Watson (31), Hadley (32), Kate Moloney (32) and Jamie-Lee Price (29) all now veterans of the sport, whether all of them carry on through the next cycle to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next year and Sydney World Cup, is debatable.
And all want their place in any team to be on merit.
“I think this cycle with Comm Games and World Cup is going to be the tightest it’s ever been,” Hadley said.
“It’s going to be the hardest, it’s going to be the most contested, it’s going to be the best.
“So we need to have the best 12 players to be able to be able to play day in, day out, game after game under the most immense pressure.
“But I’d be lying to say it wouldn’t be amazing to be there.”
Hadley is contracted with the Swifts until the end of next season, when every player in Super Netball will again come off contract.
And she said for now, her head was solely in club land as she works towards a strong 2025 and 2026 season – where she is likely to become the most capped Swifts player in history – in a bid to win a third premiership with the club and sign another contract.
“I’d be lying to everybody if I said I didn’t dream – signing another contract there (at the Swifts) and being out there (with the Diamonds) for 12 years – that would be unreal.
“So if I’m the right person, I’d love to be there, but if I’m not, obviously cheering them all the way.”
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