Super Netball: Maddy Turner steps into NSW Swifts co-captaincy while Maddy Proud on mat leave
She’s stood tall through some of the darkest days for her club and sport but Maddy Turner hopes there are calmer waters ahead when she steps into a captaincy role with the Swifts.
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Maddy Turner would have preferred to be able to show her leadership qualities without the substantial hurdles that have beset the Swifts and netball in Australia over the past 18 months.
But her ability to navigate even the darkest times with poise and power made Turner the perfect candidate to lead her Super Netball side.
Turner has been named co-captain of the NSW Swifts alongside Paige Hadley for season 2025 in the absence of Maddy Proud, who is expecting her first baby later this year.
A double premiership winner and centurion for the club who has played with the Swifts since 2016, the last season of the ANZ Championship era, Turner has long been a member of the club’s leadership team but steps into the co-captaincy after a vote by her peers.
A key advocate for players during the protracted pay battle with Netball Australia in 2023 and a pillar of strength last year in a difficult season for the club, Turner’s ability to perform under pressure off the court – as much as on it – and collective-first mentality have been recognised by the club and her teammates.
“I guess without challenges you don’t have a chance to grow,” Turner said.
“I would have much preferred not to have those hurdles to overcome ... but I think it has given me a chance to show (my) true colours, how I can stand up in moments that aren’t the greatest and how I can also support others in that as well.
“And I feel like that’s probably where my sense of leadership (is strongest). I can show genuine care to others and (be) a bit of a barometer, can keep calmness when it gets testing out there and the waters get a bit rough.”
She had to do that last season when the Swifts, who headed into last season among the premiership favourites, experienced a year of turmoil, parting ways with international goaler Sam Wallace and eventually finishing outside the top four.
The club has welcomed three new faces in 2025 – New Zealand shooter Grace Nweke, ex Vixens defensive midcourter Sharni Lambden and veteran former Diamond Verity Simmons, who comes in for Proud – the trio having made significant moves to join the Swifts.
Having made her own move from South Australia as a fresh-faced 20-year-old, Turner is in the perfect position to help lead their transition to a club with which she is about to enter her 10th national league season.
“When I look back and reflect, I think (if I had taken) the opportunity to stay in Adelaide and just keep going how I was going, I would definitely not be here,” she said.
“I’m so grateful that one, I got the opportunity to come here; and two, that I backed myself to just do it.
“I’m very lucky to have pretty cool teammates, we are literally like family, and it almost works better that everyone’s from different places because you make that effort to be with each other and you make the effort to support each other when you know that family is not around the corner.”
That’s what she wants for Nweke, Lambden and Simmons as well.
“I hope that people coming in feel nurtured and don’t feel like it’s too much of a daunting experience or environment that you feel you can’t be yourself,” she said.
“I want to keep being a bit of a steady force out there on court and I also want to be an ear for people to come to as well – I want them to feel safe around me.
“I know I’m not Maddy Proud, so I’m not going to try to be someone I’m not. I think I was selected as me, so that’s probably my biggest thing going forward, is making sure I don’t change who I am as a person.”
Hadley, who, like Turner, joined the Swifts in 2016, certainly believes in her co-captain’s ability.
“Maddy has always been in the leadership group and is a very considerate and kind person - she has a really nice way of bringing the group together,” Hadley said.
“I’m very passionate on game day, very passionate for this group. I bring that rev up while Turner is very calm on court. She is the yin to my yang.”
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