How Fowler-Nembhard became queen of the league

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 

How lucky are we to be witnessing the greatness that is Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard? 

2025 marked her sixth Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year accolade, a massive achievement given most players dream of winning it just once. 

But Fowler-Nembhard has cemented her place in the history books time and time again. 

It’s been a huge year for the Jamaican superstar.  
 
After sadly missing the first two rounds of the season due to pregnancy loss, she came back stronger than ever. 

At 36 years old, she's showing no signs of slowing down, still at the top of her game and the top of the league. 

In 2025, she became the first player to score 9,000 National League goals, reaching the milestone in Round 7. 

Despite the late start she also finished with the most goals in the league this season with 841. 

And the number of minutes she spent on the court? 

840. 

Averaging a goal a minute, there’s no doubt Fever relied heavily on their bookend this season. 

And if you’re impressed by her volume, wait until you hear about her accuracy.  
 
Fowler-Nembhard shot at a sensational 98 per cent across the season, second only to GIANTS young gun Monika ‘Otai, who went 6/6 in a short cameo. 

Fowler-Nembhard's shooting accuracy and volume were the envy of goalers around the world as she put out her best performance in an SSN season.  

The 36-year-old's sharpshooting also catapulted her to the top of the Net Points chart, finishing with 1575.5.  

One of her standout performances came in Round 13 against the GIANTS.   

She finished the match with 135 Net Points, 63 goals at 96 per cent, eight rebounds and five feeds. 

But to really appreciate what she’s achieved, we're going to rewind the clock and look back at how she got here. 

Fowler-Nembhard first hit Aussie fans’ radars in the ANZ Championship having caught the eye of team selectors while representing Jamaica on the international stage.  
 
Joining the competition in 2013, she spent five years with New Zealand’s Southern Steel before making the move to SSN for the 2018 season. 

And once she landed in Perth, her game went up another notch. 

She won five straight Player of the Year awards from 2018 to 2022 putting up monster numbers. 

In her debut season alone, she scored 884 goals at 93 per cent accuracy. 

Her standout performance in 2018 was on Grand Final Day. Despite Fever losing their first SSN Grand Final appearance to Lightning by three goals, Fowler-Nembhard was a force to be reckoned with. 

She slotted 53 goals at 96 per cent accuracy, only missing two attempts throughout the match to finish the game with 122 Net Points up. 
 
In 2019 she was again unstoppable, 709 goals at 94 per cent, including a perfect 51-from 51 performance against the Thunderbirds in Round 1. 

Away in the hub, Fowler-Nembhard was integral to Fever’s second Grand Final appearance. 

They narrowly went down to the Vixens, but Fowler-Nembhard stood tall throughout the match only missing one goal attempt on the league’s biggest day. 

She finished 2020 with 965 goals at 94 per cent accuracy. 

Then came 2021, 883 goals at 96 per cent accuracy, as Fowler-Nembhard continued to rule the goal circle. 

She was unstoppable in Round 13 against the Magpies, with 138.5 Net Points in the side’s 20-goal win.  
 
Fowler-Nembhard shot 62 goals from 65 attempts and even added a couple of deflections to her stats sheet.  

Then 2022, the year she finally got her hands on that long-awaited SSN Premiership medal. 

She was composed under pressure on Grand Final Day, scoring 58 goals from 59 attempts. 

Ninety-eight per cent accuracy in the heat of a Grand Final up against the side that robbed her of a premiership medal two years earlier.  

She took four rebounds working hand in hand with her partner in the goal circle Sasha Glasgow. 

A premiership-winning combination that Fever fans will be delighted to see reunited in 2026. 

While she didn’t take home the league’s top honour in 2023 or 2024, she stayed right at the top of her game.  

And in 2025, even without another premiership, she did everything she could to drag her team over the line in the Grand Final. 

The Vixens were just better on the day. 

Fowler-Nembhard's 2025 Grand Final performance included a shooting accuracy of 100 per cent, a Suncorp Super Shot and a roar that ignited her teammates and Fever fans alike.  

Whether you’re part of the Green Army or not, there’s no denying it; Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard is one of the greatest the game has ever seen.  

And somehow, she’s still getting better.