By Stephanie Smarrelli
To begin, the GIANTS 2025 season was looking grim.
Starting the year in similar fashion to 2024 they were winless until Round 4.
When they finally got a win on the board, it was against the Thunderbirds who they edged out by two goals.
Unfortunately, they slipped back to the loss list the following week, and it seemed like business as usual for the struggling side.
But slowly they continued to build.
Then came Casey Kopua.
The former Silver Fern made headlines, coming out of retirement to help her former coach Julie Fitzgerald when defender Jodi-Ann Ward succumbed to an ACL injury.
Kopua’s arrival sparked a turnaround.
The GIANTS won another four games and ultimately finished the season in sixth place.
BEST WIN
Wins were hard to come by for the GIANTS in 2025.
The GIANTS were winless until Round 4.
But they ended the season with five.
Two against the finals-bound TBirds, one against the Mavericks, one against the Firebirds, and a standout 10-goal triumph over the Lightning in Round 10.
It was their Round 10 clash that will go down as their best for the season.
While not their largest winning margin, it was arguably their most complete performance.
Not only was it their first time recording back-to-back wins in two years, but they also hit 20+ goals in three quarters, the only time they managed that feat all season.
Jo Harten and Sophie Dwyer were firing on all cylinders with Harten putting up Suncorp Super Shots from the get-go to set the tone.
Hay was prolific in attack, racking up 54 feeds and consistently eluding Lightning’s Kristiana Manu’a and Mahalia Cassidy.
The GIANTS best win came against the Lightning.In defence, Erin O’Brien and Kopua combined for 12 gains with Amy Sligar chipping in four of her own.
And the cherry on top?
A perfect turnover-to-goal rate, the only time the GIANTS achieved this throughout the season.
MVP
Casey Kopua’s impact was undeniable.
And while Amy Sligar deservingly took home the choccies at the GIANTS awards night we’re going to give the most valuable player title to Kopua.
Reuniting with former teammates Jamie-Lee Price and Harten, she slotted back into elite netball as if she’d never left.
While her on court dominance was impressive, it was her work to empower young guns Sligar and O’Brien that really made a difference.
The duo took the game on and challenged their opposition in ways we haven’t seen before.
At the end of Round 7, before Kopua joined, Sligar and O’Brien were ranked 16th and 11th in the league for intercepts.
Kopua lifted the players around her.
By season's end, both had cracked the top five with Sligar jumping from 16th to third, only one intercept behind Swifts star Sarah Klau.
While Kopua’s stint may have been short, her legacy at the GIANTS is likely to last for years to come.
2026
Change is in the air for the GIANTS.
Only four players from the 2025 squad hold full-time contracts in 2026 excluding the injured Ward.
The oldest of them Dwyer who hasn’t even turned 24.
They’ll be aided by Tilly McDonell who returns to the side on a technicality, not offered a contract but signed by the club as a replacement player for the injured Ward.
Ward remains contracted but isn't certain to take the court next year with her ACL injury striking mid 2025.
The side also let go of Maddie Hay who spent nine seasons with the club as well as Gina Crampton who didn’t take the court in 2025 due to pregnancy.
The GIANTS lost both of their captains with Jo Harten putting away her bib and Jamie-Lee Price abandoning ship to play for the Mavericks and live in Melbourne with her partner.
On top of that, they bid farewell to head coach Julie Fitzgerald who stepped down and handed the reins to assistant coach Nerida Stewart.
The GIANTS will look very different in 2026, Hay one of multiple players not offered a new contract.While the list of departures is long, there’s reasons for optimism.
Stewart will bring a fresh outlook to the club; her coaching experience includes leading the Aussie Kelpies to multiple international trophies.
Then there’s Netball World Cup winner Jane Watson. At 35-years-old, the former Silver Fern brings plenty of experience to the table.
She’ll bolster their defence end and be a great mentor to O’Brien and Sligar.
Fellow New Zealander Whitney Souness is set to add her flair to the midcourt alongside first-time fully contracted athletes Casey Adamson and Hope White.
The GIANTS also picked up two-time premiership player Lucy Austin who struggled to get court time at the Thunderbirds in 2025.
Austin will add her skills to the shooting circle joining Dwyer and the re-signed Matisse Letherbarrow.
There’s a lot of areas the team will need to focus on to go further in 2026.
But the first cab off the rank will be developing connections on and off the court with each other.
New Zealand defender, Jane Watson was one of the club's new signings for 2026.Teams with lots of changes usually take a bit of time to find their rhythm but time will be of the essence with the season set to begin a month earlier in 2026.
The goalers will feel the heat in 2026 following a flat season in 2025.
The GIANTS were the lowest-scoring team in the competition averaging just 83.8 per cent shooting accuracy as well as the lowest conversion rate on missed shots.
Turnovers were another major concern, particularly from the attack end of the court.
The GIANTS averaged 24 turnovers per game, only a narrowly better number than the Firebirds who averaged 24.4 as the league’s most costly side.
2025 was a year of challenge, reflection, and unexpected sparks for the GIANTS.
With sweeping changes, 2026 offers a chance for the GIANTS to reset and rebuild.
