THE 2022 Australian Netball Championship (ANC) is just around the corner, and after a Covid induced two year hiatus the redesigned national second tier competition is back. 10 teams from across the country will be facing off in Traralgon later this month for the title.

In preparation for the tournament, we are going to preview each of the 10 teams that will be competing at this year’s tournament.  Next up is the second of the two New South Wales sides, the Swifts Academy.

As their name may suggest, the Swifts are the side linked to the NSW Swifts in the Suncorp Super Netball. It will be the first national tournament for the Swifts Academy, after it was set up in 2019 and replaces the NSW Waratahs team, who just missed out on national honours in 2019.

Many faces in the Swifts’ ANC side will be familiar to those who know the Swifts’ SSN set up well.

Three members of the Swifts’ ANC side – Teigan O’Shannassy, Sophie Fawns and Lili Gorman-Brown – all made their SSN debuts this year, with the former two contracted members of the Swifts’ SSN side for 2022. Both O’Shannassy and Fawns will be looking to prove themselves at these ANCs for different reasons.

Fawns beat out Kelly Singleton for the final shooting spot on the Swifts’ roster so will be keen to further prove why the Swifts’ coaches made the correct decision. O’Shannassy did not get too much game time in 2022 so will be keen to show the Swifts’ SSN coaches why she deserves more court time in 2023.

There are also a number of current and former Swifts’ Training Partners in the Swifts’ ANC side. Among the current Training Partners are Audrey Little, Chelsea Mann, Dakota Thomas and Laura Towell, while former Training Partner Ali Miller was also selected. Charlotte Raeleigh, Jess Conlan and Lauren Woods complete the initial squad named, with one change coming after the first announcement. Former Training Partner Brooke Patterson was initially selected, injured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and has been replaced by Charlotte Smith. That came after Conlan replaced Courtney Castle, also to an ACL injury.

QBE Swifts Academy 2022 ANC Team

Ali Miller, Audrey Little, Charlotte Raeleigh, Chelsea Mann, Charlotte Smith, Chelsea Mann, Dakota Thomas, Jessica Conlan, Laura Towell, Lauren Woods, Lili Gorman-Brown, Sophie Fawns, Teigan O’Shannassy

QBE Swifts Academy’s Fixture

Monday August 22– Queensland Sapphires
Tuesday August 23 – West Coast Fever Reserves
Wednesday August 24 – Collingwood Magpies
Thursday August 25 – Capital Darters
Friday August 26 – Bye