NSW Swifts: Little sisters, AFLW gun Taylah Davies and new mum Ali Miller in netball Academy

A former AFL gun and two daughters of a Wallabies star are among 30 players named as part of the 2022 Swifts Academy. But not all the netballers are rising stars!

A young mother and a cross-code athlete who has already played elite netball with both the Swifts and the Giants are part of the new Swifts Academy intake.

All five of the Swifts training partners for the 2022 Super Netball competition have been named along with a very familiar face.

Taylah Davies, who played for the Swifts in 2015 and then Giants in 2017, is in the squad after time away playing AFLW with the Giants.

Taylah Davies played AFLW but is now returning to netball. Pic: Michael Klein

The 27-year-old cross-coder has returned to netball after two years in AFLW.

Also in the side is new mother Ali Miller, returning to the court after the birth of her son earlier this year.

Audrey Little, elevated to training partner for next season, is joined in the Academy squad by her younger sister Eugenie.

The pair are the daughters of former Wallaby Jason Little.

Audrey Little and her father, former Wallaby Jason Little, when she first made the Academy back in 2019. She is now completing her final year of school.

Players accepted into the Academy are from across the state with the majority from Sydney.

However a number original athletes including Zoe Peden from Newcastle, Grace Wyatt from Tumut and Sophie Fawns from Wagga.

The Swifts Academy provides a daily training environment for homegrown NSW athletes who have the potential to play for the club in the future.

Taylah Davies in action for the Giants in Super Netball.

Only 10 athletes are rostered to the NSW swifts for Super Netball with another six named as training partners.

In 2022 the Academy will again be led by Head Coach Lenore Blades, who will be assisted by NSW State Team coach Jen Wright and former NSW Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch.

2022 QBE SWIFTS ACADEMY ATHLETES AND NETBALL CLUBS

• Aimee Landrigan (Camden District)

• Alisha Cairns (Eastwood Ryde)

• Alison Miller (Eastwood Ryde)

• Amelia Kirgan (Bankstown City)

• Audrey Little (Manly Warringah)*

• Brooke Paterson (Randwick)

• Charlotte Raleigh (Armidale)

• Charlotte Smith (Sutherland Shire)

• Chelsea Mann (Manly Warringah)*

• Claire Kowald (Singleton)

• Courtney Castle (Liverpool City)

• Dakota Thomas (Newcastle)*

• Eloise Egan (Hills District)

Helen Housby celebrates after the Swifts defeated the Giants during the 2021 Super Netball grand final.

• Emma Keane (Shoalhaven)

• Emma Smith (Sutherland Shire)

• Eugenie Little (Manly Warringah)

• Frederika Schneideman (Randwick)

• Grace Whyte (Tumut)

• Jess Conlan (Barellan & District)

• Kiara Bloor (Camden District)

• Laura Towell (Sutherland Shire)*

• Lauren Woods (Blacktown City)

• Lili Gorman-Brown (Sutherland Shire)*

New members of the Swifts Netball Academy.

• Madeline Eaton (Illawarra District)

• (Liverpool City)

• Samantha Bondietti (South Canberra)

• Sophie Fawns (Wagga Wagga)*

• Taylah Davies (Illawarra District)

• Veronika Jukic (Eastwood Ryde)

• Zoe Peden (Newcastle)

*2022 NSW Swifts Training Partner

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