2019 New South Wales Swifts season explained

The 2019 New South Wales Swifts season saw New South Wales Swifts compete in the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball season. Briony Akle guided Swifts to their second premiership. Despite losing their new captain, Maddy Proud, Kate Eddy and Lauren Moore to season-ending injuries, Swifts finished the regular season in second place. In the major semi-final, they lost to Sunshine Coast Lightning. However, they then defeated Melbourne Vixens in the preliminary final to qualify for the grand final where they faced Lightning again. Lightning were the champions in both 2017 and 2018 and had finished the 2019 regular season as minor premiers. As a result, Lightning started the grand final as favorites. Meanwhile, Swifts had begun the season as underdogs. They were not expected to have a good season. However, in the grand final they defeated Lightning 64–47 to emerge as champions.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Players

Player movements

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Losses
Elle Bennetts (NNSW Waratahs) Amorangi Malesala (NNSW Waratahs) Tayla Fraser (NNSW Waratahs) Kayla Johnson (Northern Stars) [7] Katrina Rore (Central Pulse) [8] [9]	Claire O'Brien (NNSW Waratahs) Abbey McCulloch (NNSW Waratahs) [10] [11]

Debutants

• Amorangi Malesala made her Swifts debut in Round 6 against Collingwood Magpies.
• Elle Bennetts made her Swifts debut in Round 7 against Giants Netball.
• Tayla Fraser made her Swifts debut in Round 10 against West Coast Fever.
• Kayla Johnson made her Swifts debut in Round 10 against West Coast Fever.^[7]
• Katrina Rore made her Swifts debut in Round 11 against Sunshine Coast Lightning.

1. TeamGirls Cup

In the 2019 #TeamGirls Cup, Swifts defeated Giants Netball, West Coast Fever and Queensland Firebirds and eventually finished fifth.^[2]

5th/6th play off

Regular season

Standings

Play-offs

Grand Final

Award winners

Award	Winner
Grand Final MVP
Joyce Brown Coach of the Year[12]	Briony Akle
QBE NSW Swifts MVP
NSW Swifts Members' Player of the Year	Paige Hadley
NSW Swifts Players' Player of the Year	Sophie Garbin/Maddy Turner
NSW Swifts Coaches' Player Award	Paige Hadley

Notes and References

1. Web site: NSW Swifts - 2019 Season. nswswifts.com.au. 15 December 2020. 29 November 2019.
2. Web site: Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report. nsw.netball.com.au. 1 September 2020.
3. Web site: Suspected season-ending injury to Proud sours Swifts' big win. www.smh.com.au. 9 June 2019. 28 November 2020.
4. Web site: Proud Swifts need no excuses in 2019's Super Netball race. www.theguardian.com. 17 June 2019. 28 November 2020.
5. Web site: NSW Swifts stun Sunshine Coast Lighting to claim dominant Super Netball grand final victory. www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. 8 August 2020.
6. Web site: The NSW Swifts are the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball Champions. supernetball.com.au. 15 September 2019. 2 December 2020.
7. Web site: Out of favour Silver Fern Kayla Cullen to help out NSW Swifts. www.stuff.co.nz. 25 July 2019. 30 December 2020.
8. Web site: Silver Ferns star Katrina Rore ready to make her mark in Australia with NSW Swifts. www.stuff.co.nz. 2 August 2019. 30 December 2020.
9. Web site: Katrina Rore eyes shot at rare title treble as Swifts make Australian final. www.stuff.co.nz. 8 September 2019. 30 December 2020.
10. Web site: Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch to step away from Super Netball in 2019. www.news.com.au. 6 September 2018.
11. Web site: Abbey McCulloch named in ANL Waratahs squad . www.southernhighlandnews.com.au. 12 December 2018. 1 January 2021.
12. Web site: Akle Named Joyce Brown Coach of the Year. supernetball.com.au. 30 November 2019.