Super Netball will look very different in 2024 with retirements and major team changes set to make the competition more unpredictable than ever.
Players are still facing an uncertain future heading into Christmas as the ongoing pay dispute between Netball Australia and the Australian Netball Players Association over a new agreement drags on.
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It’s meant the country’s best netballers are without a contract and forced to commit verbally to teams in a chaotic offseason.
Diamonds captain Liz Watson has announced she will leave the Melbourne Vixens and head to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in a huge switch.
The Lightning have also been linked with Diamonds goal keeper Courtney Bruce, who has confirmed she will depart the West Coast Fever after winning the 2022 premiership.
Sunshine Coast could have a super team on their hands if Watson and Bruce link up with one of the best shooting combinations in the league — Cara Koenen and Steph Wood.
The Fever have had a mass exodus of players in the offseason, with Bruce, Sasha Glasgow, Rudi Ellis, Emma Cosh, Kim Jenner and Verity Simmons all set to leave the club.
Simmons, 32, announced on Friday she was retiring from professional netball with 159 national league games and a premiership to her name.
“I’ve made this decision because my heart isn’t in it 100 per cent anymore,” she said.
“At the top level, you need to be all in, at all times. Personally, I think it would be selfish of me to continue my netball journey with West Coast Fever, when there will no doubt be someone else itching to take my place.
“I will miss this great club, this amazing team and the incredible Green Army more than I can put into words, but I know this is the right decision.
“I’m looking at it as not retired, more like 11 years not out.”
Fever still boast powerhouse Jamaican goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler but the slew of departures is a huge blow heading into next season.
Kelsey Browne, another veteran midcourter, has also called time on her netball career after Collingwood’s Super Netball team was disbanded earlier this year.
The 31-year-old wrote on social media: “I am incredibly grateful. Truly proud of the career and fond of the memories that have been created through you.
“I’m not sure if this is goodbye for good. Maybe just a ‘see ya later’.”
Collingwood will be replaced in the eight-team competition by newcomers the Melbourne Mavericks, coached by England’s Tracey Neville and owned by media mogul Craig Hutchison.
Eleanor Cardwell is set to join the Mavericks after leading the Adelaide Thunderbirds to the premiership in her first Super Netball season.
She is expected to be joined at the Mavericks by Super Shot specialist Glasgow, ex-Magpie Molly Jovic, former NSW Swift Tayla Fraser, Vixen defender Liv Lewis and highly touted wing defence Amy Parmenter.
