Uneeq Palavi among five Super Netball capped training partners signed by Melbourne Mavericks

A roster that underlines the depth of Super Netball and the difficulty of snaring a full-time contract, or a nervy move by a club unprepared to back new talent? The verdict on the Mavericks’ stacked training roster.

The Melbourne Mavericks will again boast one of the deepest shooting compliments in Super Netball after retaining Uneeq Palavi as a training partner for next season.

The outstanding shooting talent has again linked with the Mavericks despite being initially overlooked by the club for a roster spot last season.

The Mavs recruited South African goaler Rolene Streutker last year after Sasha Glasgow’s season-ending leg injury, bypassing both Palavi and fellow training partner Shimona Jok, who was eventually named the team’s nominated athlete under the new 11th player rules.

Uneeq Palavi in action for the NSW Swifts during the 2024 Super Netball season. Picture: Getty Images

Jok eventually played 12 games for the Mavericks, with her strong holding ability under the post ultimately preferred to Streutker.

But Palavi also eventually made her debut, heading north to link with the NSW Swifts after the mid-season axing of Sam Wallace.

Uneeq by name and nature, Palavi is a dynamic and creative shooter who showed she was up to the task in the world’s best competition in her four games for the Swifts.

But the Swifts have since signed Silver Ferns star Grace Nweke to their 2025 roster and with the Adelaide Thunderbirds retaining Romelda Aiken-George and Queensland Firebirds signing Ugandan star Mary Cholhok, Palavi was left without a starting contract for 2025.

However, she has been picked up again by the Mavericks, whose training partner cohort underlines the depth of the Super Netball competition.

Every one of the five players named on Friday boasts Super Netball experience, with Palavi, Kristiana Manu’a, Montana Holmes, Jessie Grenvold and Nyah Allen all having games in the world’s best competition under their belts.

Former Diamonds defender Kristiana Manu’a in action for the Mavericks earlier this year after being drafted into the team as a training partner. Picture: Getty Images

Manu’a and Palavi are also internationals, with former Giants and Central Pulse defender Manu’a having played two games for the Diamonds in 2016, while Palavi starred for Tonga at last year’s World Cup.

Holmes and Grenvold made their Super Netball debuts for the Mavericks last year, while former Collingwood Magpies goaler Allen returns to Victoria after a stint with the Thunderbirds in her home state.

The vast experience of the Mavericks’ training partners underlines both Super Netball’s position as the best competition in the world but also the drastic need for expansion - at least of squad sizes.

Coaching staff in particular would like to see full-time squads return to 12 players, as they were briefly during the Covid era.

The fact that training partner cohorts now include such experience gives clubs an insurance policy but also highlights the limited opportunities that exist for emerging players in the Australian system.

Former Collingwood Magpies goaler Nyah Allen will join the Mavs as a training partner next season. Picture: Getty Images

Several fringe Super Netballers have headed to either England’s Super League or New Zealand’s ANZ Championships and it’s a situation Netball Australia needs to address to ensure it keeps fostering its best talent and allows the next generation an opportunity to flourish in the best competition in the world.

NA unveiled its Super Netball Reserves competition earlier this year, an event that is expected to run in an expanded capacity in 2025.

Adelaide Thunderbirds have also unveiled their training partners this week, adding three new training partners but have taken a different tack to the Mavericks, banking again on their youth - and a rising Tasmanian star - to back up their back-to-back premiership team.