Super Netball 2023: Magpies star Jodi-Ann Ward brings up 50 games four years after pitching for contract
A Collingwood standout will celebrate 50 games in the Magpies’ clash on Saturday – but it wouldn’t have happened without her bold approach to the club.
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Looking back, Jodi-Ann Ward can hardly believe the audacity of her pitch.
The Jamaican defender will play her 50th Super Netball match on Saturday when her Collingwood Magpies head to Brisbane to take on the Queensland Firebirds at Nissan Arena in their annual Pride clash.
But the milestone will only come about because of an approach made by Ward to then-Magpies coach Rob Wright in 2019, suggesting herself as an option for his depleted defensive ranks.
Ward included clips of herself playing for Severn Stars in the English Super League and shot off a letter to the Magpies’ recruitment committee and the videos to Wright, suggesting she was the woman to fill the club’s void at goal defence.
Outwardly, a bold and confident approach.
“That was a leap of faith,” Ward said.
“Jamaica doesn’t really have a lot of Test series and internationals (outside of the benchmark Commonwealth Games and World Cup tournaments), so there weren’t a lot of opportunities for people out there to actually see Jamaican players.
“And the England league is not as big and there’s not a lot of exposure for the player there compared to New Zealand and Australia, so sometimes it’s just you putting in that extra effort and making that first step because not every coach is going to see every player.
“Sometimes you just have to make that leap – a leap of faith.”
On the inside though, Ward felt she may not actually be ready for the step up to the world’s best league.
“At first I wanted to go back to England because I thought that I wasn’t ready.
“But I just talked myself into it: ‘Yes, you’re ready. You’re good enough. You can do this.’,” said Ward, who was so elated when Wright responded positively to her email that she couldn’t breathe.
“I was just really excited given that they didn’t approach me, I just took the initiative and said that I’m going to take the next step in my career.”
That bravado didn’t last long though.
“I can remember my first training session to this day and how nervous I was,” Ward said.
“And even my first game.”
That first game had to wait though.
The arrival of the global pandemic put a halt on Ward’s plans for some time and she was forced to wait out the months-long delay to the season start with Sunshine Girls teammates Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Shamera Sterling in Western Australia, where the trio stayed with Jamaican captain and Fever stalwart Jhaniele Fowler.
There was a silver lining though. When the competition restarted after what seemed like an endless pre-season, Ward was ready.
The 2020 hub season in Queensland was not a happy one for the Magpies, who finished with the wooden spoon, with Wright axed at the end of the year.
But Ward thrived and is now in a fourth season of excellence, leading the league in intercepts while also being in the top five for deflections.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself, about my game and this season, definitely I’ve definitely pushed myself to the limit,” Ward said.
“I’ve definitely started the season well with that, and hopefully I can continue on that path.”
The Magpies made the finals last season, for just the third time in Super Netball history but again stumbled at the first hurdle.
They’d love to rectify that but getting there is the first challenge after a poor opening round where they sit in seventh place on the competition ladder at the halfway point.
“The team is very positive at the moment – we know what we are capable of and we know that we can put out a full performance,” Ward said.
“We just need all hands on deck to do it and I think we’ve identified the areas that we need to work on in order to get those wins on the board.
“We’re so close at times but it’s just keeping the full intensity and being more consistent.
“We definitely have the squad to do it. We can match up against any team on any day.”
Originally published as Super Netball 2023: Magpies star Jodi-Ann Ward brings up 50 games four years after pitching for contract
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