IT has been an action packed first year of Netball Draft Central filled with plenty of excitement and growth. The team here at Draft Central have worked exceptionally hard throughout the year to produce high quality content and cover a range of leagues across the world.
The 2019 netball calendar was full to the brim with the Netball World Cup the highlight of the year. The Silver Ferns broke their World Cup drought clenching victory over world number one Australia, while in the Suncorp Super Netball the Sunshine Coast Lightning looked to make history with a three-peat but fell short against a quality New South Wales Swift team.
We attended the Suncorp Super Netball, Australian Netball League (ANL) and M-League Premier Mixed and Men’s grand finals while we also covered the Victorian Netball League (VNL) throughout the year. We proved that we are not afraid to discuss all things netball related even diving into the intricacies of umpiring and look forward to consistently growing our name, repertoire and coverage with further coverage of the aforementioned league. In 2020 Netball Draft Central is aiming to cover the Queensland Sapphire Series in an endeavour to diversify our content and broaden our horizons.
Our coverage was not just restricted to Australia though, with the team covering the premier leagues in New Zealand and England such as the ANZ Premiership and Vitality Netball Super League (VNSL) respectively. Looking ahead to 2020 we are hoping to expand our international coverage and provide more in-depth wraps, reviews and articles along with a host more features.
We were lucky enough to interview fan favourite and cross-coder Ash Brazill, along with young guns Tara Hinchliffe and Jess Anstiss. We also managed to secure an interview with Silver Ferns and Lightning coach Noeline Taurua while Ameliaranne Ekenasio provided plenty of insight into her life both on the netball court and off-court. We also took our podcast to another level in 2019 and will be aiming to go even bigger and better next year.
In our first year, we also created two magazines one specified for the Netball World Cup and the other dedicated to SSSN. Both were filled with a wealth of content detailing player profiles, positions and team previews. Each magazine had player features retelling their journey to the top with the likes of injured Malawi and Melbourne Vixens shooter Mwai Kumwenda featuring in the World Cup magazine.
Fonua has strong eyes on the international prize
SPORT was never on Lupe Fonua’s radar. Now it’s her whole life. Only picking up a netball at eight years-old, Fonua has taken big strides in the game. “I wasn’t raised on sport, but I found love for it,” she told Rookie Me Central. “My friends were actually playing when I was younger. So I […]
England January/February Squads Revealed
ENGLAND Netball have revealed their first two squads for 2025, with the squads for both the Netball Nations Cup and the England A Series released. 12 members of the squad that battled Jamaica last month will feature in the Netball Nations Cup, alongside three of the Fast5 members in Zara Everitt, Paige Reed and Alicia […]
2025 VNL fixture revealed
IT MAY not even be the end of the 2024 calendar year yet, but Netball Victoria is already looking towards next season after releasing the 2025 Victorian Netball League (VNL) fixture yesterday. The 2025 campaign will host an 18-round home and away season before a four-week finals series. Round 1 is scheduled to begin on […]
Bethune’s bad luck breaks after triple knee burden
IT TOOK six years of hard work, determination and passion for April Bethune to even get a taste of the Victorian Netball League (VNL). At just 16-years-old, Bethune encountered her first obstacle. She was in the middle of tryouts for state and was preparing for VNL tryouts while playing A-grade. Bethune had ruptured her left […]
New position means new learnings for Sligar
A HEAD knock was the burden of all evil that sent shockwaves through the Australian Fast5 camp. Kim Jenner was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament leaving just two defenders for the reigning champs. But someone saved the day. Amy Sligar was popped in the relatively unfamiliar position of goal defence for the […]
Fauonuku overcomes illness to nail nationals
IN A cruel twist of fate, illness came at the worst possible time for Amalani Fauonuku ahead of a national tournament. In what was nearly a nationals campaign to forget, Fauonuku persevered and overcame the illness to thrive across the event. The Saturday night before leaving for Frankston earlier this year, the 16-year-old was struck […]
Sophie Garbin shines bright winning Liz Ellis Diamond
MELBOURNE Vixens goaler Sophie Garbin had a night to remember at the Australian Netball Awards, taking home the top Australian netball honour of the Liz Ellis award as well as International Player of the Year. Garbin becomes the 12th individual to win the award which focuses across both the international and domestic seasons, and the […]
Broken leg didn’t break Hoey’s dreams
FLYING to another state to represent your state to win a title. Getting to wear the navy blue dress of Victoria. Charli Hoey went half way through the tournament dominating the competition, until a leg injury caused a strenuous amount of harm. Hoey was diagnosed with bone bruising during the tournament which ended her nationals […]
Inaugural Rhone Hornsby Trophy awarded to Jamaica
JAMAICA has taken out the inaugural Rhone Hornsby Trophy after defeating England by eight goals in the fourth Test of the series. There was no Helen Housby for the Roses due to being in concussion protocols after a head knock early in the previous game. Early slick shooting from Olivia Tchine gave England a handy […]
