Giants captain Jo Harten on her future with GWS, in Super Netball, and as a coach

Giants netball co-captain Jo Harten has opened up about her future and the ‘soul searching’ her team and coach Julie Fitzgerald have gone through after a season of torment.

Jo Harten has made no decision on her playing or coaching futures despite not being contracted beyond this Super Netball season.

Harten, who on Tuesday night was retained as co-captain of the Giants alongside Jamie-Lee Price, signed a two-year deal with the club in the last contracting window that takes her through to the end of 2025.

The former England Roses star turns 36 this month and is the second-oldest player in the league, just a few months younger than Jamaican veteran Romelda Aiken-George.

A foundation player with the Giants, Harten is arguably the most influential on court in their nine-year history and desperate to help the club climb from the canvas after claiming the wooden spoon last year.

Jo Harten is the second-oldest player in Super Netball but has made no call on her future. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images.

“I went into this year just hoping to have a really solid season and I’ll do all the (contract) talking and all that stuff at the end of the season,” she said.

“Right now my focus, as the captain of the Giants and as a Giants netball player, is to get this team off the bottom of the ladder and put my hand up for any contribution that I can give.”

That contribution includes plenty of direction of her team. So much so that Harten, who is already a specialist coach with England, is believed by some to be a Giants coach-in-waiting and almost a member of Julie Fitzgerald’s staff.

However, there have been no official talks about Harten taking on a coaching role with the Giants, either with or instead of Super Netball’s most experienced coach.

“If I look to the future I can see netball being a huge part of my future,” Harten said. “What that looks like at the moment, I’m not sure.

“But when I’ve coached for England previously, the passion for coaching is there and it’s something I’m trying to evolve in that part of my game now – not just the physical aspect (of playing) but also thinking more tactically around the game.”

Fitzgerald, a five-time premiership winner who last year racked up 400 games as a coach, came under enormous pressure last season when the Giants flailed and is the mentor under most scrutiny to start this season.

Jo Harten talks to coach Julie Fitzgerald head during the difficult 2024 season. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images.

Harten said that was all external noise.

“The longer you coach, and the more games you’re around for, almost the higher the expectation is on your head and on your performance and on the team that you coach,” she said.

“(Fitzgerald) feels pressure like every human on the planet but what I’ve seen in her this year is a will to (explore) every possible avenue and option for us as a team.

“There’s no one that takes a loss worse than Jules, she’s so passionate about the game.

“I think last year she was searching for answers, and potentially had a bit of a soul search, like the rest of us with the season that we had.

“But I’m quietly confident that she will be back smiling on the bench this year and be back to really enjoying how Giants perform for her.”

One of the purest shooters in the league, who racked up more than 100 caps for her country, individual accolades mean little to Harten in the twilight of her playing career. Team goals are now number one.

“Over, I would think the last three or four years, it’s about my teammates more than ever now,’’ she said.

“My ambition is to win a premiership with the Giants while being on court but I think second to that is to see those around me flourish.

“Everyone’s career does have an expiry on it and you want to make those people feel like they were valued and treasured in the team environment.

“What better way to do that than being in that captaincy role.”

Originally published as Giants captain Jo Harten on her future with GWS, in Super Netball, and as a coach