YOU would think being 5’10 would be tall. In general yes, but this day in the age of netball, that is seen as being on the shorter side, especially as a shooter.

Nowadays you see 6 ‘5 shooters like Grace Nweke, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and Caitlin Bassett.

Jess Tetley has figured out how to turn her height into an advantage. The fast and nimble shooter plays a moving circle and utilises her front holds and athleticism to create space for herself to shoot from distance and under the post either back in shooter or in her more familiar position of goal attack. 

“This is also a whole different game, especially because I’m not as tall as your normal shooter,” Tetley told Rookie Me Central.

“You have to play smarter because the defenders, you can’t hold. So you’re just running them around the ring and — you can’t play cat and mouse.

“Defence is a really hard job and shooters have to take that control almost as soon as they get to the circle to reward those defenders and I just loved that.”

Tetley’s idol growing up was Tegan Philip who was the key goal attack for the Melbourne Vixens over 10 years and wasn’t as tall compared to other shooters in the league.

“I’m pretty tall, but not as tall as some of those defenders, so it was nice to see her be so mobile in the ring and she was so accurate,” Tetley said.

“I remember when I was younger, I used to follow her goaling program every night. I would go outside and just shoot and shoot and shoot.”

The 20-year-old grew up in an extremely sporty family. Tetley was raised playing tennis, soccer, dancing, the lot.

Tetley started playing netball at Chelsea Heights then moved to Chelsea District as she got older while also playing at Seaford on the weekends.

She signed with the Peninsula Waves in their Under 17s development side and was quickly elevated to their Under 19s VNL squad the following year. She was the youngest you could possibly be in the VNL at 15-years-old

“It’s all the best girls in the state that you’re playing on and then jump from playing rep where there’s so many teams and so many tournaments to this one pathway where everyone’s isolated is crazy,” Tetley said.

After a few years at the Waves, Tetley began to dominate and took home the Hot Shot Award in 2022 with 429 goals.

“I actually had no idea that it was even a thing. I was in year 12, so I guess I didn’t really think of it. I was loving netball, but it wasn’t really on my radar,” she said. “I would just turn and shoot and it just worked.”

It was no surprise that she would be taking the leap up to champ the following year. During her year stint with the Waves champ side, Tetley would ply her trade in wind attack with Olivia Wilkinson claiming the goal attack position.

“The level and the girls in champ aren’t just fast and skilled, they’re also really smart,” Tetley said. “It just becomes a whole different game. You’re not just focusing on speed.”

“You see that now in the under 23s, the games are really fast and some of the girls are smart as well, but most of them are very fast players where when I moved up to champ you’re just thinking about the game more and you’ve got bigger bodies on you as well so you have to adjust to that.

“That was the biggest thing I had to get into the gym and actually start moving some weights because I was just going to get thrown around out there.”

Wanting to grow as a player, Tetley signed with the Hawks for the 2024 season.

When speaking to head coach AJ Ballantyne, he remembered Tetley’s hot shot award and had no clue she had played goal attack the whole season. If he wasn’t already impressed with her performance, he sure was now.

Tetley spent five years a part of the Waves family and felt like she needed a change of environment after not having a great 2023 season according to her standards.

“I needed a change from that environment as I’d been there for five years already,” Tetley said.

“I just needed something new and fresh. I was looking around at different clubs and Hawks just seemed like a really professional club.”

Initially signed in their Under 23s team, Tetley was elevated into their champ side midway through the season and never looked back. At this time, Tetley was leading the goal scoring in the Under 23s division.

“It was nice having that experience before, I knew what I was coming up against. It wasn’t such a shock to the system,” she said.

Now having established herself as a confident champ player, Tetley has eyes on SSN reserves with the Vixens or Mavericks. At the rate she’s developing, she’ll achieve that goal some time soon.