Giants Netball
Founded2016
Based inGreater Western Sydney
RegionsNew South Wales
Home venueKen Rosewall Arena
Head coachJulie Fitzgerald
CaptainJoanne Harten
Vice-captainJamie-Lee Price, Maddie Hay
LeagueSuncorp Super Netball
2023 placing6th
Websitewww.giantsnetball.com.au

Uniform

GWS Giants departments

Australian rules football
(men's)
Australian rules football
(women's)
Netball
(women's)

Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian professional netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Netball New South Wales and Greater Western Sydney Giants. Giants have played in two grand finals (2017, 2021) and have won two minor premierships (2018, 2021).[1][2][3]

History

New franchise

In May 2016, Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand announced that the ANZ Championship would be discontinued after the 2016 season. In Australia it was replaced by Suncorp Super Netball. The founding members of Suncorp Super Netball included the five former Australian ANZ Championship teams – Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Vixens, New South Wales Swifts, Queensland Firebirds and West Coast Fever; plus three brand new franchises: Collingwood Magpies, Sunshine Coast Lightning and Giants Netball.[4][5][6][7] Giants were formed as a joint venture or "strategic alliance" between Netball New South Wales and Greater Western Sydney Giants and were officially launched in September 2016.[3][7][8]

Julie Fitzgerald era

In August 2016, Julie Fitzgerald was announced as the inaugural head coach of Netball New South Wales's new franchise.[9][10][11][12] Two veteran New South Wales Swifts players, Kimberlee Green and Susan Pettitt, subsequently switched to the Giants.[13] Green was named the inaugural Giants captain.[14] Giants went onto finish the 2017 season as runners-up after losing 65–48 to Sunshine Coast Lightning in the grand final.[15][16][17][18][19]

In 2018, Fitzgerald guided Giants to the minor premiership. However, in the final series they lost out to both West Coast Fever and Sunshine Coast Lightning.[20][21] In 2021, Fitzgerald guided Giants to a both a second minor premiership and a second grand final.[22][23][24] However, in the grand final they lost out to New South Wales Swifts.[25][26][27][28]

Regular season statistics

Season Position Won Drawn Lost
2017[15][16][29] 3rd 10 0 4
2018[20][21] 1st 10 1 3
2019[30][31] 5th 7 1 6
2020[32][33] 6th 5 2 7
2021[34] 1st 9 0 5
2022[35] 3rd 8 0 6
2023 6th 5 0 9

  Grand finalists
  Minor Premierships
  Minor Premierships and Grand finalists

Grand finals

Season Winners Score Runners Up Venue Attendance
2017[17][18][19] Sunshine Coast Lightning 65–48 Giants Netball Brisbane Entertainment Centre 8,999
2021[25][26][27][28] New South Wales Swifts 63–59 Giants Netball Nissan Arena 3,650

Home venues

Giants made their Suncorp Super Netball on 18 February 2017 against New South Wales Swifts at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. Between 2017 and 2019, Giants played their home matches at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Qudos Bank Arena and the AIS Arena.[36][37][38]

In 2020, together with Swifts, Giants were due to start to playing their home games at the Ken Rosewall Arena.[39] However these plans were put on hold until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[40][41][42]

Years
Ken Rosewall Arena[2] 2021–
AIS Arena[42][38] 2017–2019
Qudos Bank Arena (Note 1) 2017–2019
Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre (Note 2) [36] 2017–2019
International Convention Centre Sydney[37] 2018
Notes

Notable players

2024 squad

Giants Netball 2024 playing roster
Nat Name Position(s) DoB Height Notes
ENG Jo Harten GS/GA 21/03/1989 1.83m (6ft) Head Coach: Julie Fitzgerald
AUS Matisse Letherbarrow GS/GA 07/01/2002 1.88m (6ft 2in) Assistant Coach:
AUS Sophie Dwyer GA/GS 05/12/2001 1.83m (6ft) -(C)= Captain
ENG Chelsea Pitman (TRP) WA/GA 08/06/1988 1.81m (5ft 11.5in) -(CC)= Co-Captain
AUS Maddie Hay (IN) WA/C/WD 11/04/1995 1.74m (5ft 9in) -(VC)= Vice-Captain
AUS Jamie-Lee Price C/WD 10/01/1996 1.79m (5ft 10in) -(TP)=Training Partner
AUS Amy Sligar C/WD/WA 13/03/2002 1.75m (5ft 9in) -(RP)= Replacement Player
NZL Sam Winders WD/C/WA 05/06/1995 1.78m (5ft 10in) -(TRP)= Temporary Replacement Player
JAM Jodi-Ann Ward GD/WD/GK 01/09/1994 1.78m (5ft 10in) -(IN)= Injury
AUS Erin O'Brien GD/GK - 1.89m (6ft 2in) -(MAT)= Maternity Leave
AUS Matilda McDonnell GK/GD 22/06/2000 1.84m (6ft)



Internationals

 Australia
 Australia Fast5
 England

Captains

Years
2016–2019 Kimberlee Green[14][43]
2019– Joanne Harten[44][45][46]

Award winners

Suncorp Super Netball

Young Star Award
Season Player
2019[47] Amy Parmenter
2021[48] Sophie Dwyer
SSN Team of the Year
Season Players
2017[29] Reserves: Serena Guthrie, Rebecca Bulley
2018[49] C: Serena Guthrie, Reserves: Joanne Harten, Kimberlee Green
2020[50] GA: Kiera Austin
2021[48] GA: Joanne Harten, WA: Maddie Hay, Reserve: Jamie-Lee Price

Giants awards

HCF Giants Most Valued Player
Season Player
2017[15][16] Serena Guthrie
2018[20][21] Joanne Harten
2019[30] Joanne Harten
2020[32] Kiera Austin
2021[51][52] Joanne Harten

Source:[53]

Giants Players' Player award
Season Player
2017[15][16] Rebecca Bulley
2018[20][21] Joanne Harten
2019[30] Samantha Poolman
2020[32] Kiera Austin
2021[51][52] April Brandley

Source:[54]

Giants Members' Player of the Year
Season Player
2017[15][16] Joanne Harten
Samantha Poolman
2018[20][21] Joanne Harten
2019[30] Amy Parmenter
2020[32] Amy Parmenter
2021[51][52] Sophie Dwyer

Source:[55]

Head coaches

Coach Years
Julie Fitzgerald[12][15][20][30][24] 2016–

Giants Netball Academy

Main article: Giants Netball Academy

Giants Netball Academy are the reserve team of Giants Netball. They originally played as Canberra Giants.[56][57]

Premierships

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Giants Netball.

References

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  4. ^ "Eight team Australian national league to begin in 2017". www.abc.net.au. 11 May 2016.
  5. ^ "New netball League a breakthrough for women's sport". www.abc.net.au. 16 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Netball Australia confirms new eight-team division and bumper broadcasting deal". www.abc.net.au. 19 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Netball Australia – Annual Report 2016" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Netball NSW – 2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Julie Fitzgerald leaves Waikato-BOP Magic to head up new franchise in Sydney". stuff.co.nz. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Julie Fitzgerald returns to Netball NSW as head coach of new team". www.smh.com.au. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Former Swifts coach Julie Fitzgerald to helm new netball team backed by AFL Giants". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Fitzgerald excited by new team venture". giantsnetball.com.au. 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  13. ^ "NSW Swifts departures continue as crosstown rivals announce team". www.theguardian.com. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Green appointed inaugural captain". giantsnetball.com.au. 17 December 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "2017 (GIANTS Netball)". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
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  30. ^ a b c d e "2019 (GIANTS Netball)". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  31. ^ "Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  32. ^ a b c d "2020 (GIANTS Netball)". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Ladder 2020". supernetball.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  34. ^ "Ladder 2021". supernetball.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  35. ^ "Suncorp Super Netball 2022 Ladder". Livesport.com.
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  45. ^ "Suncorp Super Netball: Jo Harten proud to be named GIANTS' captain". www.skysports.com. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  46. ^ "Giants name new leader for Super Netball season". westernweekender.com.au. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
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  50. ^ "Fowler wins third Player of the Year Award". supernetball.com.au. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021.
  51. ^ a b c "Harten Claims Third MVP". giantsnetball.com.au. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  52. ^ a b c "Harten, Dwyer and Brandley take home GIANTS honours". supernetball.com.au. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  53. ^ "HCF Most Valuable Player". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  54. ^ "Players' Player". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  55. ^ "Members' Player of the Year". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  56. ^ "GIANTS Netball Launch New Academy". giantsnetball.com.au. 9 September 2019.
  57. ^ "GIANTS Netball Academy". giantsnetball.com.au. Retrieved 31 August 2020.

External links

Giants Netball
Suncorp Super Netball
Netball in Australia
Netball in New South Wales
Sports teams based in Sydney
Categories