NSW Swift’s, Giants teams, player losses and history ahead of 2022 Super Netball
UPDATED: The NSW Swifts and Giants teams have taken shape for the 2022 Super Netball season. And there’s som interesting moves. Here’s what we know.
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There’s been plenty of big moves played at the NSW Swift’s and Giants in recent times and the teams have takeng shape ahead of the 2022 season of Super Netball.
Here’s what we know so far.
NSW SWIFTS 2022 SUPER NETBALL TEAM
2021 POSITION: Champions.
MOVEMENT
Sophie Garbin has signed with the Collingwood Magpies.
Natalie Haythornthwaite has returned to the UK.
Lauren Moore has moved to the Giants.
WHAT WE KNOW
SWIFTS SHOOTING DEPARTMENT
English player Helen Housby has signed on for two years.
Trindad & Tobago star Sam Wallace is also under contract for another two years.
Kelly Singleton will also be in the shooting cirecle in 2022
SWIFTS MIDCOURT
Local players Tayla Fraser and Paige Hadley have both signed on for two years.
South Australia and co-captain Maddy Proud has also extended with the Swifts with Allie Smith a new face in the midcourt.
SWIFTS DEFENCE
The Diamond duo of Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner have signed for another two years.
Former training partner Teigan O’Shannassay will also stay with the club.
GIANTS- 2022 SUPER NETBALL TEAM
2021 POSITION: Runners-up
MOVEMENT
Kristiana Manu’a will play in New Zeakand with Central Pulse.
Newcastle’s Sam Poolman retired
Kiera Austin has moved to the Melbourne Vixens after a long lay-off with injury.
Lauren Moore has moved over from the NSW Swifts.
GIANTS SHOOTING DEPARTMENT
Captain Jo Harten has re-committed to the club for a further two seaoson.
Teenager and rising star Sophie Dwyer has signed on for two years.
Matisse Leaderbarrow has been elevated.
GIANTS MIDCOURT
Diamonds gun Jamie-Lee Price is staying with the club for two years.
Maddy Hay has signed on for two seasons.
Amy Parmenter has signed on for two seasons.
Amy Sligar is part of the midcourt.
GIANTS DEFENCE
April Brandley is staying put with Matilda McDonnell also with the club for another two years.
Lauren Moore has moved across from the NSW Swifts.
SWIFTS CO-CAPTAINS PAIGE HADLEY, MADDY PROUD TO STAY PUT
A decade after she played for the Swifts for the first time, former NSW Junior Paige Hadley has confirmed she will be back on the court in the red next season.
Hadley and Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud are the latest players to be confirmed on the roster of the two-time Super Netball winning club.
The pair have been a formidable midcourt partnership and are both currently Australian squad members.
While Proud joined the Swifts in 2017, Hadley has been with them since 2012.
“2022 will be my 11th year with the Swifts and having been on the road for so much of the last two years I can’t wait to play at home again in front of my family, friends and of course our Swifts fans,’’ Hadley said.
Both Hadley and Proud have committed for two seasons.
Proud, originally from South Australia and who joined the Swifts in 2017, played her 100th elite club game in 2021 - and the grand final with rib damage.
“The Swifts have also given me the platform to make the Diamonds squad and now I want to take my game to the next level,’’ Proud said.
GIANT COUP AS JAMIE-LEE PRICE SIGNS UNTIL 2023
Price is just right at Giants Netball.
The Australian centre will stick with the Giants for another two seasons in a major coup for the club which finished runners up in the 2021 Super Netball competition.
The news follows on from Bec Bulley opting to retire from the sport and Kristiana Manu’a opting to play in New Zealand.
The tenacious Price has been one of the Giants leading players in 2021 and is now regarded as one of the best midcourters in the world netball.
The athletic Price finished the 2021 season with 366 feeds, 278 goal assists and 22 intercepts.
“I’m super excited for the next couple of years – 2021 was a great year for us as a group and I can’t wait to build on from the year that was,” she said.
ENGLISH ROSE NATALIE HAYTHORNTHWAITE HEADING HOME
She own two Super Netball titles with the NSW Swifts but the time has come for Natalie Haythornthwaite to return home to her family - and a wedding.
The 28-year-old takes flight after four seasons with the NSW Swifts to be married later this year.
The midcourter came to the team as a replacement player back in 2018 but leaves it as established star of the Swifts with 37 games under her belt - including time in the 2019 and 2021 season deciders.
“When I got the call to come in as a replacement player in 2018, I never thought that I would go on to have the experiences I’ve had with this club,” said the English player who won gold for her country at the Commonwealth Games.
“I have loved every moment of my time with the Swifts and playing with – and against – so many of the world’s best players in Suncorp Super Netball.
“This year was extra special to win the title in such testing circumstances, and to head home with two winners’ medals is something I didn’t even dare to dream of before arriving.
“After these past few years I am really excited to be going home, getting married, seeing my family and playing some more netball. But I also can’t wait to cheer on the Swifts late at night on the TV.
“I’ve loved the journey but now it’s time to head home.”
DIAMONDS SHOOTER SOPHIE GARBIN ON THE MOVE
Super shooter Sophie Garbin is on the move, looking for a club where she will get more time on the court.
Garbin was a victim of a strong shooting department at the NSW Swifts - where English gun and Trinidad & Tobago Star Helen Housby dominate - and played less time than she would have liked.
Garbin, 24, is considered one of the rising stars of international netball and will now look for a Super Netball contract with a rival team for the 2022 season.
“A lot of players don’t get the chance to win a premiership and I’ve been lucky enough to win two in my time at the Swifts,” said Garbin, whose sister Darcee is a basketball star and two-time WNBL champion.
“That wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my Swifts teammates, coaches, club staff and members and fans; all of whom I will be eternally thankful for.
“The decision to leave has been one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make but I would like to thank everyone at the club, its supporters and Netball NSW for an amazing four years.”
Garbin debuted in 2018 and played 49 games for the Swifts.
DEFENDER SAM POOLMAN MAKES GIANT DECISION
Netballer Sam Poolman has made a decision on her future netball career after the Giants made it to the grand final of Super Netball.
Years of travelling up and down the Pacific a Highway for age, sand training have finally ended for netballer Sam Poolman.
The 30-year-old has made the decision to call time on her career after helping the Giants into the grand final against the NSW Swifts this year.
In 2021 she was part of the Giants team which made the season decider of Super Netball but fell short against NSW rivals, the Swifts.
“I’m excited for what I can achieve in the next 10 years and to make up for all the time lost with my family and friends,” the Newcastle netballer said.
“They are the ones who have been there for me all these years and I can I’ll be there for them.”
Disappointing for Poolman, however, was the cancellation of community sport due to coronavirus in 2021.
Poolman was a specialist coach for the Giants Academy and was assistant coach for the side at the Australian netball championships which were cancelled due to the global pandemic.
The Giants defender represented Australia at under 17 under 19 and under 21 level and came through the ranks via Hunter Region netball competitions as well as the Netball NSW Waratahs.
“I’m so proud of my career – from aspiring netball of the Hunter Region the dreams of playing one year in the elite level to 10 years later,’’ she said.
“To start and finish my career in a grand final, play 100 elite games and finish performing well it’s certainly something I am proud of.’’
Poolman has also been an ambassador for Netball Australia’s Confident Girls foundation and was behind to fundraising events in her local Newcastle and Hunter Region.
“It’s certainly not goodbye. I look forward to continuing to work within the club in the Academy space, helping regional aspiring netballers to reach their dreams through Aspire Netball and any further involvement I can have within the sport,” she said.
Read more from AMANDA LULHAM HERE
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