Super Netball trades: Queensland Firebirds star Gretel Bueta makes it clear she is not retired

Netball star Gretel Bueta says she’s still as in love with the sport as she ever has been revealing her plans for next season after giving birth to her second child seven weeks ago.

Gretel Bueta wants to make it clear she’s not retiring.

But she won’t be lining up in next year’s Super Netball competition either.

The Queensland Firebirds star, who gave birth to a second son, Toby, seven weeks ago, will take a sabbatical from the game next season to spend time with her young family.

Plenty of speculation has swirled around the 30-year-old and her future in the game after she spent last season on the sidelines on maternity leave and missed the World Cup.

And while she’s keen to slow down momentarily, investing time in her growing business venture Spring Nutrition as well her family, Bueta is not ready to call time on her career.

“I still absolutely love the game,” Bueta said.

“I’m just taking this time to be with my boys and family and take it a bit slow for a little bit.

Bueta made her Super Netball return just four months after the birth of eldest son Bobby, in 2021 but said that same urge had not been present after she had Toby.

Diamonds netball star Gretel Bueta with new baby Toby, husband Niko and son Bobby, 2, will take a year out from netball to concentrate on her family.

“I know that after I had Bobby, I had this real sense of motivation and really had this urge to come back and was really determined,” she said.

“I was wondering whether that would be similar with Toby but it’s been more of a different feeling.

“With two (children), it’s a game changer. You can’t really stop when you’ve got a toddler as well.

“It was a different feeling. I didn’t get that real motivation or determination to get back, so I just decided to have this year of just being in my slow era and with my boys.

“But every game of netball, I watch, and still have that deep love for the game and I know if that will ever go away.”

Toby is now seven weeks old. When Bobby was just a week older, Bueta completed her first yoyo run test ahead of a miraculous Super Netball return that led ultimately to Commonwealth Games gold in 2022, with the Diamonds shooter arguably the best player in the world.

“I think it was all I’d ever known,” she said.

“That was what kept me going but it’s pretty incredible looking back now for sure.”

Certainly, Bueta has felt supported in her decision.

Both the Firebirds and the Diamonds have given Bueta time and space to make her decision and made clear they would support that choice regardless of what it was.

Firebirds coach Bec Bulley – who returned to play as a mother herself and whose children are now regulars at Firebirds games and training sessions – certainly made her best pitch to have Bueta involved in next year’s campaign but has been understanding and supportive, as has Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich, who visited Bueta after Toby’s birth recently along with national assistant Nicole Richardson.

Bueta missed the Diamonds’ World Cup win. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

“Netball Australia and Netball Queensland have been so amazing around it all,” Bueta said.

“Bec (Bulley) and Kate (CEO Kate Davies) have allowed me plenty of time and space which I’m extremely grateful for.

“At the end of the day, it has been a big decision but one that I’m really content with and excited for.

“I’m not retiring, I’m just taking a year off.”

Davies said NQ had been “proud to have been able to support Gretel this year as she grew her beautiful family”.

“We fully support Gretel’s call to sit out the 2024 SSN (Super Netball) season,” Davies said.

“Whilst we are sure her many fans are pleased to hear she is not retiring, we know they will also be very supportive, alongside the Firebirds club, with her decision to spend more time with her beautiful family.

“Gretel will always be a part of our Purple Family and we look forward to seeing her along with Niko, Bobby and Toby in the stands at Nissan Arena in 2024.”

While it’s a decision the Firebirds knew could be coming, they’ll turn their attention swiftly to recruitment ahead of next season – even with players remaining in contract limbo with the Collective Players Agreement remaining unsigned just a day from its expiration.

The Firebirds formally announced on Thursday that goal attack Mia Stower, elevated to the full-time contract list last season with Bueta on the sidelines, would not be returning.

Bueta says she is not retired. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The spotlight will now be on former Firebird Tippah Dwan, who had a breakout season in 2020 when Bueta was on maternity leave while pregnant with Bobby.

Dwan has spent the past two seasons in Adelaide, where she won a premiership with the Thunderbirds earlier this year, but the pull to return to Brisbane is strong given it’s where her partner and Brisbane Lions footballer Josh Dunkley lives.

Bueta, a trained nutritionist, will have time to devote more attention to both her physical and business babies over the next year before a return to the sport, with a home World Cup in 2027 a tantalising lure.

“It excites me that the World Cup’s going to be back on home soil,” she said.

“You can’t beat a home World Cup.

“To be out there on court would be amazing.”

Originally published as Super Netball trades: Queensland Firebirds star Gretel Bueta makes it clear she is not retired