2019 New South Wales Swifts season

New South Wales Swifts
New South Wales Swifts
2019 season
Head coach	Briony Akle
Asst. coach	Anita Keelan
Manager	Dani Mace
Captain	Maddy Proud
Vice-captain	Paige Hadley
Main venue	QuayCentre; Qudos Bank Arena
Season results
Regular season	2nd
Finals placing	Champions
	Team colours
New South Wales Swifts seasons
	← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 New South Wales Swifts season saw New South Wales Swifts compete in the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball season. Briony Akle guided Swifts to their second premiership. Despite losing their new captain, Maddy Proud, Kate Eddy and Lauren Moore to season-ending injuries, Swifts finished the regular season in second place. In the major semi-final, they lost to Sunshine Coast Lightning. However, they then defeated Melbourne Vixens in the preliminary final to qualify for the grand final where they faced Lightning again. Lightning were the champions in both 2017 and 2018 and had finished the 2019 regular season as minor premiers. As a result, Lightning started the grand final as favorites. Meanwhile, Swifts had begun the season as underdogs. They were not expected to have a good season. However, in the grand final they defeated Lightning 64–47 to emerge as champions.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Players

Player movements

Summary of 2019 player movements
Gains	Losses
Elle Bennetts (NNSW Waratahs) Amorangi Malesala (NNSW Waratahs) Tayla Fraser (NNSW Waratahs) Kayla Johnson (Northern Stars) ^[7] Katrina Rore (Central Pulse) ^[8]^[9]	Claire O'Brien (NNSW Waratahs) Abbey McCulloch (NNSW Waratahs) ^[10]^[11]

Source:^[2]^[12]

2019 roster

2019 New South Wales Swifts roster

Players

Coaching staff

Name	Position(s)	DoB	Height
Elle Bennetts (TRP)	WA, C	(1989-09-06)6 September 1989 (aged 29)	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Kate Eddy	GD, WD, GK	(1996-12-28)28 December 1996 (aged 22)	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Tayla Fraser (TRP)	WA, C	(1999-06-13)13 June 1999 (aged 19)	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Sophie Garbin	GA, GS	(1997-04-06)6 April 1997 (aged 21)	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Paige Hadley (vc)	C, WA, WD	(1992-08-26)26 August 1992 (aged 26)	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Sophie Halpin	WD, C	(1993-05-16)16 May 1993 (aged 25)	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Natalie Haythornthwaite	WA, GA	(1992-12-09)9 December 1992 (aged 26)	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Helen Housby	GA, GS, WA	(1995-01-19)19 January 1995 (aged 24)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Kayla Johnson (TRP)	GD, WD, C	(1992-02-13)13 February 1992 (aged 27)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Sarah Klau	GK, GD	(1994-09-30)30 September 1994 (aged 24)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Amorangi Malesala (TRP)	GS, GA	(1998-07-19)19 July 1998 (aged 20)	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Lauren Moore	GK, GD	(1998-01-30)30 January 1998 (aged 21)	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Maddy Proud (c)	C, WA	(1993-12-04)4 December 1993 (aged 25)	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Katrina Rore (TRP)	GK, GD, WD	(1987-05-06)6 May 1987 (aged 31)	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Maddy Turner	GD, WD	(1995-12-17)17 December 1995 (aged 23)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Samantha Wallace	GS, GA	(1994-01-16)16 January 1994 (aged 25)	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)

Head coach

Briony Akle

Assistant coach

Anita Keelan

Manager: Dani Mace
Physiotherapist:
Steve Naylor
Strength and conditioning:
Lukas Cannan
Johann Ruys
Performance Analyst:
Bjorn Maddern

Notes

(c) – Captain
(cc) – Co-captain
(vc) – Vice-captain
– Injury / maternity leave
(TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Source:^[1]^[2]

Debutants

Amorangi Malesala made her Swifts debut in Round 6 against Collingwood Magpies.
Elle Bennetts made her Swifts debut in Round 7 against Giants Netball.
Tayla Fraser made her Swifts debut in Round 10 against West Coast Fever.
Kayla Johnson made her Swifts debut in Round 10 against West Coast Fever.^[7]
Katrina Rore made her Swifts debut in Round 11 against Sunshine Coast Lightning.

Source:^[12]^[13]

#TeamGirls Cup

In the 2019 #TeamGirls Cup, Swifts defeated Giants Netball, West Coast Fever and Queensland Firebirds and eventually finished fifth.^[2]

Pool B Fixtures

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Collingwood Magpies	3	2	1	128	103	+25	8	Final
2	Giants Netball	3	2	1	119	112	+7	8	Classification matches
3	New South Wales Swifts	3	2	1	105	108	−3	8
4	West Coast Fever	3	0	3	80	109	−29	0

Updated to match(es) played on 9 March 2019. Source: SSN

8 March 2019 18:00	Report Stats	New South Wales Swifts	47 – 33	Giants Netball		Queensland State Netball Centre
		Housby 20/23 (87%) Wallace 16/19 (84%) Garbin 11/14 (79%)		Harten 22/24 (92%) Marshall 6/8 (75%) Austin 5/8 (63%)

9 March 2019 11:00	Report Stats	New South Wales Swifts	29 – 51	Collingwood Magpies		Queensland State Netball Centre
		Wallace 17/21 (81%) Haythornthwaite 6/6 (100%) Garbin 6/8 (75%)		Nelson 33/35 (94%) Sinclair 10/12 (83%) Medhurst 8/10 (80%)

9 March 2019 17:00	Report Stats	West Coast Fever	24 – 29	New South Wales Swifts		Queensland State Netball Centre
		Stanton 17/23 (74%) Cosh 6/7 (86%) Teague-Neeld 1/5 (20%)		Garbin 13/15 (87%) Haythornthwaite 9/14 (64%) Samantha Wallace 7/8 (88%)

5th/6th play off

10 March 2019 10:30	Report Stats	Queensland Firebirds	41 – 42	New South Wales Swifts		Queensland State Netball Centre
		Aiken 24/30 (80%) Tippett 17/17 (100%)		Wallace 30/30 (100%) Garbin 12/16 (75%)

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Sun 28 Apr	Giants Netball	56 – 63	New South Wales Swifts	Qudos Bank Arena
1.00pm	Bassett 28/36 (78%) Harten 25/31 (81%) Austin 3/3 (100%)	Report Stats	Wallace 46/49 (94%) Housby 17/26 (65%)

Sun 5 May	New South Wales Swifts	61 – 43	Adelaide Thunderbirds	QuayCentre
3.00pm	Wallace 31/31 (100%) Housby 24/28 (86%) Garbin 6/6 (100%)	Report Stats	Glasgow 24/28 (86%) Folau 19/23 (83%) Lange 0/1 (0%)

Sun 12 May	New South Wales Swifts	80 – 66	West Coast Fever	QuayCentre
1.00pm	Wallace 62/66 (94%) Housby 18/18 (100%)	Report Stats	Fowler 48/50 (96%) Stanton 18/23 (78%)

Sat 18 May	New South Wales Swifts	57 – 59	Sunshine Coast Lightning	QuayCentre
1.00pm	Wallace 33/36 (92%) Housby 24/26 (92%)	Report Stats	Proscovia 27/29 (93%) Wood 14/19 (74%) Koenan 18/20 (90%)

Sun 26 May	Melbourne Vixens	50 – 60	New South Wales Swifts	Margaret Court Arena
1.00pm	Thwaites 28/32 (88%) Philip 18/22 (82%) Venter 4/4 (100%)	Report Stats	Wallace 45/47 (96%) Housby 15/18 (83%)

Sun 2 Jun	New South Wales Swifts	68 – 52	Collingwood Magpies	Qudos Bank Arena
1.00pm	Wallace 54/57 (95%) Housby 14/19 (74%)	Report Stats	Nelson 41/44 (93%) Medhurst 9/10 (90%) Sinclair 2/3 (67%)

Sun 9 Jun	Queensland Firebirds	46 – 68	New South Wales Swifts	Queensland State Netball Centre
1.00pm	Potgieter 24/24 (100%) Tippett 17/18 (94%) Latu-Meafou 5/7 (71%)	Report Stats	Wallace 41/44 (93%) Housby 27/31 (87%)

Sun 16 Jun	New South Wales Swifts	59 – 55	Giants Netball	Qudos Bank Arena
3.00pm	Wallace 48/50 (96%) Housby 11/12 (92%)	Report Stats	Bassett 34/36 (94%) Harten 21/24 (88%)

Sun 23 Jun	Adelaide Thunderbirds	51 – 51	New South Wales Swifts	Adelaide Entertainment Centre
12.30pm	Folau 26/36 (72%) Glasgow 23/25 (92%) Hodges 2/2 (100%)	Report Stats	Garbin 25/29 (86%) Housby 21/26 (81%) Wallace 5/7 (71%)

Sat 27 Jul	West Coast Fever	49 – 53	New South Wales Swifts	RAC Arena
6.00pm	Fowler 43/47 (91%) Teague-Neeld 6/12 (50%)	Report Stats	Wallace 24/29 (83%) Housby 22/28 (79%) Garbin 7/8 (88%)

Sat 3 Aug	Sunshine Coast Lightning	50 – 48	New South Wales Swifts	USC Stadium
7.00pm	Koenen 26/30 (87%) Wood 13/20 (65%) Proscovia 11/11 (100%)	Report Stats	Garbin 12/15 (80%) Wallace 36/37 (97%)

Sat 10 Aug	New South Wales Swifts	57 – 51	Melbourne Vixens	QuayCentre
7.00pm	Garbin 12/18 (67%) Wallace 45/49 (92%)	Report Stats	Philip 24/30 (80%) Thwaites 9/11 (82%) Kumwenda 18/20 (90%)

Sat 17 Aug	Collingwood Magpies	64 – 56	New South Wales Swifts	Silverdome
3.00pm	Nelson 52/54 (96%) Medhurst 12/14 (86%)	Report Stats	Wallace 39/43 (91%) Haythornthwaite 9/10 (90%) Garbin 8/10 (80%)

Sat 24 Aug	New South Wales Swifts	64 – 63	Queensland Firebirds	Qudos Bank Arena
5.00pm	Wallace 43/45 (96%) Housby 16/18 (89%) Garbin 5/5 (100%)	Report Stats	Tippett 33/35 (94%) Aiken 30/35 (86%)

Source:^[1]^[2]

Standings

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	%	BP	PTS
2019 Suncorp Super Netball ladder v t e
1	Sunshine Coast Lightning	14	12	0	2	855	759	112.65	33	81
2	New South Wales Swifts	14	10	1	3	845	755	111.92	36	78
3	Melbourne Vixens	14	8	1	5	836	775	107.87	29	63
4	Collingwood Magpies	14	7	2	5	788	771	102.20	27	59

5	Giants Netball	14	7	1	6	834	821	101.58	29	59
6	West Coast Fever	14	2	3	9	821	904	90.82	18	33
7	Adelaide Thunderbirds	14	3	2	9	708	803	88.17	14	30
8	Queensland Firebirds	14	1	2	11	815	914	89.17	18	26
Last updated: 25 August 2019 — Source

Play-offs

Major semi-final

Sat 31 Aug 3.00pm	Report Stats	Sunshine Coast Lightning	58–48	New South Wales Swifts	USC Stadium	Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 13–14, 14–11, 18–10, 13–13
		Koenen 30/32 (94%) Wood 22/29 (76%) Proscovia 6/7 (86%)		Housby 16/18 (89%) Garbin 16/18 (89%) Wallace 16/19 (84%)

Preliminary final

Sun 8 Sep 1.00pm	Report Stats	New South Wales Swifts	60–47	Melbourne Vixens	Quaycentre	Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 19–12, 14–10, 11–15, 16–10
		Wallace 40/42 (95%) Housby 19/21 (90%) Garbin 1/1 (100%)		Kumwenda 22/26 (85%) Philip 21/25 (84%) Thwaites 4/7 (57%)

Grand Final

Sun 15 Sep 1.00pm	Report Stats	Sunshine Coast Lightning	47–64	New South Wales Swifts	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 12–16, 11–15, 13–15, 11–18
		Koenen 23/27 (85%) Proscovia 16/18 (89%) Wood 8/14 (57%)		Wallace 40/44 (91%) Housby 18/22 (82%) Garbin 6/7 (86%)

Source:^[5]^[6]^[14]^[15]^[16]

Award winners

Award	Winner
Grand Final MVP^[14]	Samantha Wallace
Joyce Brown Coach of the Year^[17]	Briony Akle
QBE NSW Swifts MVP	Samantha Wallace
NSW Swifts Members' Player of the Year	Paige Hadley
NSW Swifts Players' Player of the Year	Sophie Garbin/Maddy Turner
NSW Swifts Coaches' Player Award	Paige Hadley

Source:^[1]^[2]^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "NSW Swifts - 2019 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^ "Suspected season-ending injury to Proud sours Swifts' big win". www.smh.com.au. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
^ "Proud Swifts need no excuses in 2019's Super Netball race". www.theguardian.com. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
^ ^a ^b "NSW Swifts stun Sunshine Coast Lighting to claim dominant Super Netball grand final victory". www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b "The NSW Swifts are the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball Champions". supernetball.com.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Out of favour Silver Fern Kayla Cullen to help out NSW Swifts". www.stuff.co.nz. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Silver Ferns star Katrina Rore ready to make her mark in Australia with NSW Swifts". www.stuff.co.nz. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Katrina Rore eyes shot at rare title treble as Swifts make Australian final". www.stuff.co.nz. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch to step away from Super Netball in 2019". www.news.com.au. 6 September 2018.
^ "Abbey McCulloch named in ANL Waratahs squad". www.southernhighlandnews.com.au. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b "NSW Swifts - Honour Roll". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
^ "Kayla Cullen joins the NSW Swifts as a temporary replacement player". www.nzsportswire.com. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Swifts thrash Lightning in Super Netball grand final". www.theguardian.com. 15 September 2019.
^ "NSW Swifts overcome adversity to score upset in Super Netball grand final". www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Analysis: How the Swifts claimed their maiden Super Netball premiership". thewomensgame.com. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Akle Named Joyce Brown Coach of the Year". supernetball.com.au. 30 November 2019.
^ "Awards". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

[nswswifts291119-1] "NSW Swifts - 2019 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

[nswnetball2019-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.

[smh090619-3] "Suspected season-ending injury to Proud sours Swifts' big win". www.smh.com.au. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.

[guardian170619-4] "Proud Swifts need no excuses in 2019's Super Netball race". www.theguardian.com. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.

[abc150919-5] "NSW Swifts stun Sunshine Coast Lighting to claim dominant Super Netball grand final victory". www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.

[supernetball150919-6] "The NSW Swifts are the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball Champions". supernetball.com.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

[stuff250719-7] "Out of favour Silver Fern Kayla Cullen to help out NSW Swifts". www.stuff.co.nz. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[stuff020819-8] "Silver Ferns star Katrina Rore ready to make her mark in Australia with NSW Swifts". www.stuff.co.nz. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[stuff080919-9] "Katrina Rore eyes shot at rare title treble as Swifts make Australian final". www.stuff.co.nz. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[newsau060918-10] "Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch to step away from Super Netball in 2019". www.news.com.au. 6 September 2018.

[shn121218-11] "Abbey McCulloch named in ANL Waratahs squad". www.southernhighlandnews.com.au. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

[nswswiftshonourroll-12] "NSW Swifts - Honour Roll". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

[nzsw260719-13] "Kayla Cullen joins the NSW Swifts as a temporary replacement player". www.nzsportswire.com. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[guardian150919-14] "Swifts thrash Lightning in Super Netball grand final". www.theguardian.com. 15 September 2019.

[abc150919b-15] "NSW Swifts overcome adversity to score upset in Super Netball grand final". www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[womensgame160919-16] "Analysis: How the Swifts claimed their maiden Super Netball premiership". thewomensgame.com. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[supernetball301119-17] "Akle Named Joyce Brown Coach of the Year". supernetball.com.au. 30 November 2019.

[swiftsawards-18] "Awards". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

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v t e New South Wales Swifts 2019 Suncorp Super Netball winners (2nd Premiership)
Players	Elle Bennetts Kate Eddy Tayla Fraser Sophie Garbin Paige Hadley (vc) Sophie Halpin Natalie Haythornthwaite Helen Housby Kayla Johnson Sarah Klau Amorangi Malesala Lauren Moore Maddy Proud (c) Katrina Rore Maddy Turner Samantha Wallace
Coaches	Briony Akle (head coach)