By Matt Fotia
The Suncorp Super Netball League has long been regarded as the world’s best netball league.
And the world’s best netball league has always been home to the world’s best netball players, with stars from Jamaica, England, South Africa and the rest of the world making their mark on netball in this country.
But who are the SSN’s best ever imports?
Here’s part two of our top ten SSN overseas talents.
SHAMERA STERLING-HUMPHREY
It’s been six remarkable seasons of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey in the SSN.
Arguably the best player in the world right now, the enigmatic goalkeeper is a born match winner and crowd favourite.
Sterling-Humphrey left the University of West Indies in 2018 to join English outfit, Loughborough Lightning and never looked back. She collected 101 intercepts in her only season with Loughborough and won both the Player’s Player of the Year and the League Player of the Year awards, before joining the Thunderbirds for the 2019 campaign.
An enigmatic human highlights reel with an insane level of athleticism and underrated netball IQ, Sterling-Humphrey has taken all before her in the world’s best league, consistently topping the defensive charts.
She’s made the SSN Team of the Year every season, took out the 2023 SSN Player of the Year, played a major role in the Thunderbirds back-to-back titles and this season became the first player in SSN history to go past 300 intercepts.
No SSN team has ever won back-to-back-to-back premierships, but with Shamera Sterling-Humphrey there’s no reason the Thunderbirds can’t become the first.
LATANYA WILSON
Latanya Wilson is making wing-defence cool again.
Despite having shown she can dominate in any of the three defensive positions, Wilson has gone from strength to strength as the Thunderbirds wing-defence in the past few seasons and has cemented herself as the best WD in the world right now.
Like her Thunderbirds teammate Sterling-Humphrey, Wilson was signed by the Thunderbirds after impressing in the English system with the Celtic Dragons. Wilson played just two games with the Dragons before Covid-19 struck, but her 14 intercepts in those two fixtures were enough to win the Thunderbirds hierarchy over.
There is plenty more to come from Latanya Wilson on Australian shores.Since joining in 2021 Wilson has been part of intimidating Thunderbirds back three alongside Sterling-Humphrey and Matilda Garrett.
A spectacular athlete, Wilson has already played more than 50 games for the Thunderbirds, won two SSN titles, made the last three SSN Team of the Year’s and was named the 2024 Thunderbirds MVP.
With a freakish ability to go for any misplaced ball, Wilson has become one of the most feared opponents in the league and at the tender age of just 24, she has plenty of incredible netball left in her.
SERENA GUTHRIE
Serena Guthrie was here for a good time, not a long time.
To be fair to the England legend, she had been playing elite netball since her teenage years with the likes of Team Bath in the NSL and the Northern Mystics before crossing the Tasman to join the GIANTS in the new look SSN.
An incredible role model who seemingly never ran out of energy, Guthrie was one of the game’s best ball winning midcourters during her two seasons with the GIANTS.
An affable character who was respected on and off the court, Guthrie led the GIANTS to the 2017 Grand Final and the 2018 Preliminary Final before returning to the UK.
Guthrie made both the 2017 and 2018 SSN Teams of the Year and was named the GIANTS inaugural MVP in 2017, highlighting her importance to Julie Fitzgerald’s side.
A dynamic midcourter, who was the dictionary definition of work rate and loved the contest, Guthrie will always hold a special place in the hearts of SSN and GIANTS fans.
Serena Guthrie was a huge part of the GIANTS early success.GEVA MENTOR
One of the defenders of her generation, Geva Mentor is an easy choice for this illustrious list.
Mentor had been a part of the Australian netball community long before the birth of the SSN. The English defender spent time with the Thunderbirds from 2008 to 2010, before switching allegiances to line up for the Melbourne Vixens from 2011 through to the end of the ANZ era.
Named as the inaugural captain of the Sunshine Coast Lightning, Mentor had an incredible 2017, leading the Lightning to the SSN crown and winning the SSN Player of the Year as well.
She backed it up in 2018 with another SSN premiership and another appearance in the SSN Team of the Year, before packing her bags once again and returning to Victoria, this time with Collingwood.
Mentor won two Collingwood MVP’s and led the side with aplomb throughout the club’s existence, finishing her time in Australia in 2023 with more than 200 national league appearances.
Geva Mentor's love for netball knows no bounds.Incredibly Mentor is still winning ball at the elite level with the Leeds Rhinos and her love for the game shines on, as she readies herself for the 2025 campaign.
KARLA PRETOURIS
From one great Lightning defender to another.
Blessed with outstanding vision and the footwork required to always be in the right position, Pretorius joined the Sunshine Coast Lightning after success with Free State Crinums in South Africa and Team Bath in the UK, and immediately made her presence felt.
The circle defender was the first ever Grand Final MVP in 2017 helping kickstart the Lightning’s twin triumphs and in 2019 she went to another level grabbing 69 intercepts, an SSN record even Shamera Sterling-Humphrey hasn’t been able to break.
Pretouris was a scary proposition for any defender.Pretorius missed the 2022 season due to the birth of her daughter but returned to the Lightning in 2023 for one final season.
Still playing in South Africa with the Crinums, Pretorius finished her SSN career with two premierships, three SSN Team of the Year appearances, three Lightning MVP’s and an enormous amount of respect.
