The Collingwood Magpies will be without goal attack Nyah Allen for the first half of the Super Netball season after she underwent surgery on a chest condition.
It’s a big blow for the 20-year-old, who had worked her way into her first full-time contract with the Magpies for 2023 after spending years as a training partner.
With Allen sidelined, former Swift Kelly Singleton will be unveiled as a Magpie in Thursday night’s practice match against the Queensland Firebirds in Tasmania.
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Singleton has been training with the club post-Christmas, after missing out on a full-time contract with NSW this season, and will get her chance to put her best foot forward as Allen’s replacement.
It could also be Singleton’s chance for an audition for the Firebirds who are yet to announce if Gretel Bueta will take part in the 2023 season after taking personal leave from the game.
As it stands, Collingwood is yet to make a final call on who will take Allen’s spot during her injury lay-off.
“Our absolute priority remains Nyah’s health and welfare as she recovers from surgery,” Magpies acting GM of netball Chris Howley said.
“Nyah is an extremely resilient person and talented netballer and while this delays Nyah’s 2023 campaign, we look forward to welcoming her back on the court when she is ready later this season.”
There is no time frame placed on Allen’s return to play, after she went under the knife last late year “to correct a musculoskeletal chest condition”.
The Magpies say they expect the 20-year-old to be available for selection for the second half of the 2023 season.
Allen has played 16 games for Collingwood after joining as a training partner back in December 2019.
The Magpies will also be without midcourters Ash Brazill (rested) and Molly Jovic (calf) for the pre-season trip to Tasmania.
The Magpies and Firebirds will clash on Thursday and Friday nights in Launceston for two pre-season matches.
SWIFTS SLAMMED BY COVID OUTBREAK
The NSW Swifts will take a severely depleted outfit across the ditch to take on ANZ Premiership sides the Southern Steel and Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse (formerly Central Pulse) in Invercargill this week.
The club says the “majority” of their rostered athletes will remain in Australia after a Covid outbreak in the team, revealing only Sophie Fawns heads to New Zealand from the 12-player main squad.
It’s a disappointing outcome for netball fans in New Zealand who had hoped to see some trans-Tasman action, given the ANZ Championship ended in 2016.
But Swifts executive general manager Kath Tetley said player health and wellbeing had to be priority.
“All of our senior players who’ve been ruled out are gutted that we have had to make this call but with a significant COVID-19 outbreak in our senior setup we cannot, in good conscience, travel and put other teams at risk,” she said.
“Luckily we have been able to elevate some training partners and academy players to ensure the club can still travel for what will be a fantastic festival of netball in the deep south of NZ.”
A number of Swifts have only recently returned from the Quad Series in Cape Town, including Sarah Klau, Helen Housby and Paige Hadley.
The Swifts will take a travelling party of just seven players to New Zealand, with top up talent to come from local Invercargill clubs.
“Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we are still not completely immune to the impact of COVID on our events and we certainly feel for the Swifts having to face this challenge,” Steel CEO Sonya Fleming said.
“To their credit, they have remained steadfast in their determination to continue with these pre-season games and provide the Steel with a strong opponent for our players to test their mettle against.”
The Swifts will depart for New Zealand on Friday ahead of scheduled games on Sunday and Tuesday.
