Super Netball trades: Why Aiken-George, Fowler-Nembhard, and Nweke calls are key in the market
More than half the players in Super Netball, including several captains, imports and rising stars, are in negotiations with their clubs for new deals ahead of the free agency period from August 4. See every player’s status, and the key target for each club, here.
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Super Netball clubs are racing to lock up their stars, with club captains, seasoned internationals and rising stars among more than half the players in the league officially off contract and able to negotiate with any team in less than a fortnight.
While the competition remains a year away from the signing silly season - a period in which every player in the competition is off-contract at the same time, there are several big stars whose signatures their clubs are racing to secure ahead of free agency, which starts on August 4.
Teams are able to contract their own players at any stage, as the Mavericks did with defender Kim Brown and captain Amy Parmenter, before the end of the season, and remain eligible to lock them in at any stage ahead of free agency, which begins on the Monday following the grand final.
READ MORE: The coachkillers that sabotaged Super Netball’s bottom four
Again, it was the Mavs - who initially had none of their full-time list of 10 re-signed for 2026 - who made a signing announcement last week, confirming key goaler Shimona Jok was locked in for next season.
With players unable to be signed past the end of the current Collective Player Agreement and broadcast cycle, at the end of the 2026 season, only 12-month deals can currently be done.
But with more than half the club’s players off contract and five of the eight clubs now officially finished their playing duties, expect a flurry of announcements in the coming days.
Code Netball has highlighted five of the biggest names off contract.
West Coast Fever
Coach: Dan Ryan (2026)
Regular-season finish 2025: Minor premiers
Squad: Jess Anstiss (2026), Alice Teague-Neeld (2026), Sunday Aryang (2026), Fran Williams (2025), Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard (2025), Kadie-Ann Dehaney (2025), Shanice Beckford (2025), Jordan Cransberg (2026), Olivia Wilkinson (2026), Ruth Aryang (2025), Zoe Cransberg (temporary replacement player, 2025), Mwai Kumwenda (temporary replacement player 2025)
Comment: While they have several experienced hands, the Fever have also invested heavily in youth with the efforts of the Cransberg twins this season stellar. If Ruth Aryang is unable to recover from an achilles injury in time for the 2026 season, Zoe Cransberg could be in line for an extension.
BIG NAME
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard
The GOAT only signed a two-year contract when the last major signing period opened, taking her through to the end of the 2025 season. And it’s unknown at this stage whether she will play on in 2026. After missing the opening two games of the season, Fowler-Nembhard’s importance to the Fever has never been more stark. They won the next 12 games in a row when after she returned and her impact on the side and standing as the best holding shooter in the world is unchallenged. Has said on a number of occasions this year after returning she feels blessed to be playing the game she loves but whether she wants to step back or extend a career that is already one of the best in history, is unknown.
NSW Swifts
Coach: Briony Akle (2026)
Regular-season finish 2025: Second
Squad: Sarah Klau (2026), Sophie Fawns (2025), Maddy Turner (2026), Paige Hadley (2026), Helen Housby (2026), Teigan O’Shannassy (2025), Allie Smith (2025), Sharni Lambden (2025), Grace Nweke (2025), Verity Simmons (2025 - permanent replacement player), Maddy Proud (2026)*
Comment: The Swifts’ midcourt struggled in the back half of the season and whether contracted midcourter and co-captain Maddy Proud returns from maternity leave next season will have a big bearing on contracting.
BIG NAME
Grace Nweke
Signed only a one year deal with the Swifts given Netball New Zealand’s ruling that any of its athletes not playing in its domestic league remain ineligible for national selection. Nweke sacrificed the Silver Ferns dress that remains so sacred to her to improve her game playing Super Netball but a return was unlikely in a Commonwealth Games year. That was until Monday’s news from across the ditch that Netball New Zealand had reviewed its policy and will consider individual requests on a case-by-case basis. Her sacrifices this year may not only extend her own stay but open the floodgates for others.
Adelaide Thunderbirds
Coach: Tania Obst (2027)
Regular-season finish 2025: Third
Squad: Georgie Horjus (2026), Tayla Williams (2026), Lauren Frew (2025), Latanya Wilson (2026), Lucy Austin (2025), Matilda Garrett (2026), Hannah Petty (2025), Romelda Aiken George (2025), Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (2026)*, Kayla Graham (2025)
Comment: Romelda Aiken-George’s next steps are likely to determine what happens to Lucy Austin, while the club is yet to confirm whether contracted defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey plans to return from maternity leave after the birth of her first child.
BIG NAME
Romelda Aiken-George
There’s plenty of speculation Aiken-George is about to announce her retirement after incredible 18-season long stint in the ANZ Championship and Super Netball. It seemed the goaler’s stellar career could be over when she was cut by the Queensland Firebirds at the end of the 2022 season as she was set to return from maternity leave. But she reinvented herself, first at the NSW Swifts, then with the Thunderbirds and has played in the last two grand finals, earning MVP honours in the 2024 decider with the T-Birds before her incredible run came to a halt in the minor semi-final on Sunday.
Melbourne Vixens
Coach: Simone McKinnis (Resigned)
Regular-season finish 2025: Fourth
Squad: Jo Weston (2025), Kate Moloney (2025), Kate Eddy (2025), Hannah Mundy (2025), Kiera Austin (2026), Sophie Garbin (2025), Rudi Ellis (2025), Zara Walters (2025), Lily Graham (2025), Emily Mannix (2026)*, Maggie Caris (temporary replacement player 2025)
Outs: McKinnis
Comment: The Vixens will have fresh leadership with a new head coach next season, but only had two players locked in for 2026 entering this year’s campaign. Hard to see too many changes to one of the most stable teams in the competition. Key defender Emily Mannix’s plans after a season off following the birth of her first child will be one of the major points of interest.
BIG NAME
Kate Moloney
It seems laughable even putting the Vixens captain on this list, yet she’s off contract
and hasn’t yet been secured for 2026. The thought of Maloney playing for any other club though is almost unimaginable. She’ll be back at the Vixens next season and spurring them on to great heights in a new era after the resignation of coach Simone McKinnis - the only coach under whom she and most of the Vixens have ever played.
Sunshine Coast Lightning
Coach: Belinda Reynolds (2026)
Regular-season finish 2025: Fifth
Squad: Liz Watson (2026), Leesa Mi Mi (2025), Mahalia Cassidy (2025), Cara Koenen (2026), Steph Fretwell (2025), Courtney Bruce (2026), Reilley Batcheldor (2025), Tara Hinchliffe (2025), Ash Ervin (2025), Ava Black (2025 -long-term injury list), Kristiana Manu’a (2025 - temporary replacement player)
Comment: Veteran defender Courtney Bruce is locked in for next season, but the Lightning will want to shore up the rest of their powerful defensive unit with Tara Hinchliffe coming off a career-best season and Ash Ervin a Diamond-in-waiting. Midcourt speedster Leesa Mi Mi will also be a top priority.
BIG NAME
Steph Fretwell
The former Diamonds vice-captain has yo-yoed this season, showing glimpses of her absolute scheming best while at times looking slightly off the mark. Bitterly disappointed at the Lightning’s failure to make the finals, Fretwell has also spoken of her desire to play on, although she knows it might need to be in an altered role given the rise of the Lightning’s young star Reilley Batcheldor. Her leadership skills and playmaking nous though remain invaluable and it would surprise if she does not get a new deal.
Giants
Coach: Julie Fitzgerald (Resigned)
Regular-season finish 2025: Sixth
Squad: Jamie-Lee Price (2026), Sophie Dwyer (2026), Jo Harten (2025), Matisse Letherbarrow (2025), Amy Sligar (2025), Maddie Hay (2025), Tilly McDonell (2025), Jodi-Ann Ward (2026), Erin O’Brien (2026), Hope White (2025), Casey Kopua (2026 - temporary replacement player)
Outs: Julie Fitzgerald, Jo Harten (retired)
Comment: The retirement of Jo Harten and stepping down of veteran coach Julie Fitzgerald could lead to a real revamp of the playing roster, although the Giants have some great young talent they’ll be keen to keep hold of.
BIG NAME
Amy Sligar
The Giants should be out of the blocks quicker than Usain Bolt in a bid to lock down defensive midcourter Sligar, whose potential has long been known but showed this season just what a talent she is going to be, earning a position as a Diamonds training invitee last week when the squad was announced by coach Stacy Marinkovich. An asset to any club - get her signature on the page now.
Mavericks
Coach: Tracey Neville (2025)
Regular-season finish 2025: Seventh
Squad: Eleanor Cardwell (2025), Sasha Glasgow (2025), Maisie Nankivell (2025), Shimona Jok (2025), Kim Brown (2025), Liv Lewis (2025), Molly Jovic (2025), Amy Parmenter (2025), Lauren Parkinson (2025), Tayla Fraser (2025)
Ins: Kim Brown (2026), Amy Parmenter (2026), Shimona Jok (2026)
Comment: Had no players contracted at the start of the year and only two - Brown and Parmenter by the end of the season. Announced Jok’s re-signing last week, expect more to follow.
BIG NAME
Eleanor Cardwell
Cardwell did not play a game for Mavericks this season and after missing the end of the Mavericks inaugural year in 2024 has played just 11 games for the club over two years after switching from the Adelaide Thunderbirds. The England Roses representative has made no secret of the fact she struggles at times with homesickness and it’s debatable how long she sees her time in Australia. Her decision could hinge as much on whether the Mavs resign coach Tracy Neville as anything else but our feeling is she’s likely to stay on to make her mark as a Mavs foundation player.
Firebirds
Coach: Kiri Wills (2027)
Regular-season finish 2025: Eighth
Squad: Ruby Bakewell-Doran (2026), Macy Gardner (2026), Hulita Veve (2025), Tippah Dwan (2025), Lara Dunkley (2025), Isabelle Shearer (2025), Emily Moore (2025), Ashlee Barnett (2025), Imogen Allison (2026), Mary Cholhok (2026)
Comment: Just four players locked in for next season for the wooden spooners - significant change likely and needed if they are to become genuine challengers.
BIG NAME
Hulita Veve
The Firebirds co-captain is one of the best and yet, most hard luck stories in Super Netball. A premiership winner with the club in 2016 as a rising star, Veve became a young mother before returning to the sport and lingering on the training partner list for years before finally being handed a full-time contract last season and grabbing her opportunity with both hands. Turning 30 in September, Firebirds officials would have been carefully considering her role in a midcourt that has two of its four members already contracted for next season but needs an injection of some sort after failing to fire this year. But an ACL injury at training late in the season may mean her chances of returning are extremely tough.
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Originally published as Super Netball trades: Why Aiken-George, Fowler-Nembhard, and Nweke calls are key in the market
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