T&T netballer and goal shooter Samantha Wallace-Joseph will be aiming for a winning start after two years out through injury when the New South Swifts jump off their 2024 Suncorp Netball Season with a Round One clash against Sunshine Coast Lightning at the Unisc Arena on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, from 2 am (TT time) on Sunday.
The Swifts fresh off their Suncorp Team Girls Cup pre-season tournament win last month will be aiming to put last year’s Grand Final loss behind them as they aim to go one step further in 2024.
And with Wallace-Joseph back to lead the attack alongside England's Helen Housby, they will be among the favourites to go all the way.
Back on March 28, 2022, the Toco-born Wallace-Joseph suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, when her Swifts began defense of their 2021 title in the opening round of the Suncorp Australian Super Netball against local rivals Giants.
A three-time NSW Swifts “Most Valuable Player’ award recipient Wallace who was also a 2019 Grand Final MVP and played a starring role in two Swifts Premiership-winning campaigns (2019 & 2021), was also forced to miss the 2023 season in which her team was beaten in the final by Thunderbirds, 60-59 in overtime after a 54-all score line at the end of the four quarters of regulation time.
However, the T&T netballer, a former 'MVP' in the England Super Netball League with Mavericks made a winning return to the court last in leading the Swifts to their first team Girls Cup triumph and will be anxious to get back on court in the opener.
Before getting injured in 2022, Wallace amassed 77 appearances for the Swifts over five seasons and so far scored 2,720 goals inclusive of 75 super shots (two points per shot) for the Swifts.
This after, the ‘MVP’ award winner in the England Vitality Netball League as a member of the Hertfordshire Mavericks scored 438 goals from 491 attempts in her lone season, second only to Storm’s England international Rachel Dunn’s 474 goals from 560 attempts.
With the heartbreak of last year's grand final behind them and a stable signing period, the NSW Swifts showed that the minimal changes have kept them at the top of their game at the conclusion of the Team Cup.
Returning to the court following a long battle with a knee injury, goal shooter Wallace-Joseph returned in style with 91 per cent accuracy during her team's four matches in the competition.
The dominant performance from the Swifts highlighted that the stability in their team enabled their connections to flourish while other teams were still piecing together the puzzle.
Having cemented their place as serious contenders once again, the Swifts will look to build momentum once the season begins to win it all.
On the opposite side of the court Belinda Reynold’s Sunshine Coast Lightning will be out to prove they can match it with one of the best with their new recruits including Liz Watson and Courtney Bruce expected to have a strong impact on game day.
First in action in the eight-team competition will be Giants Netball and West Coast Fever today as well as Adelaide Thunderbirds and Queensland Firebirds while Melbourne Mavericks and Melbourne Vixen clash in the first derby encounter.