By Sophie Taylor
Priceline Pharmacy Women’s Health Round had it all.
We run through the main talking points from Round 9.
HADLEY’S RETURN
Ten and a half weeks.
That’s how old Paige Hadley’s newborn son Tully is.
And yet, Hadley took the court on the weekend in a triumphant return to netball as a new mum, the day before her first Mother’s Day.
While clearly a bid for her spot in the upcoming Australian Diamonds squad for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, it’s also a testament to Hadley’s athleticism and strength to get her body into a high-performance position so soon.
Slated to play up to 30 minutes, Hadley took the court during the second quarter and had six second phase receives and one feed.
While not particularly high-impact stats, that’s not what her return was about.
It was about professionalism and maturity, helping to steady the ship in what has been a challenging start to the Swifts’ season.
While she only played 11 minutes, her time on court proved the Paige Hadley we all know and love isn’t going anywhere.
BLOWOUTS ALL ROUND
While some rounds have tested teams’ maturity in the dying minutes to get wins on the board, this was not one of them.
Round 9 featured blowouts galore, with the closest margin 14 goals between the Swifts and Lightning.
Paige Hadley made a remarkable SSN return this week.
Bolstered by a home crowd and Hadley’s return, the Swifts ran away with an excellent win credit to a mammoth 36-23 second half.
While the Lightning came to play, the Swifts came out firing in the second half, with credit going to Grace Whyte (30 assists from 41 feeds) and Grace Nweke (61 goals from 65 attempts) in attack.
The Thunderbirds and Mavericks also got comprehensive wins on the board, with margins of 20 and 19 goals respectively.
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey was excellent with five gains against compatriot Romelda Aiken-George, as both players marked huge milestones.
Tbirds goal shooter Elmeré van der Berg put up 58 goals, while Georgie Horjus (22 assists, 20 centre pass receives) and Kate Heffernan (21 assists, two pickups) were unstoppable.
The GIANTS had no answers for the Mavericks’ midcourt, with the former GIANTS trio of Jamie-Lee Price, Amy Parmenter and Maddie Hay running rampant.
Parmenter had four gains to go with Hay’s 21 assists and Price’s 34 feeds, while Jessie Grenvold (nine gains) and Kim Brown (six gains) continue to find their feet in the defensive end.
The Vixens were in blistering form against the Firebirds, running away with a 23-goal victory off the back of a 20-8 final quarter.
Rudi Ellis’s long reach was critical up against Mary Cholhok, coming away with eight gains (five rebounds) against the tallest shooter in the competition.
Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin piled on the offensive pressure with 44 and 21 goals respectively, while Zara Walters continues to find form, racking up 17 assists from 31 feeds.
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey was among four players to hit milestones this week.
MILESTONES EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK
There were five official milestones marked in Round 9, with a 200, 150, 100, and two 50s celebrated.
The Vixens were in blistering form to celebrate Kate Moloney’s 200th match, picking off 18 gains in a full-court defensive effort.
Sarah Klau was excellent in game 150 (six gains) against the Lightning, while Sterling-Humphrey got a triumphant win in her 100th game with a whopping 11 deflections to her names.
Unfortunately, the Lightning had no answers to help turn the tides in Donnell Wallam’s 50th match. Umpire Rachael Stebbings also marked her 50th national league game.
Meanwhile Aiken-George took the court for an Australian National League record-equalling 254th time.
Expect a huge performance in Round 10 when the Fever host the Swifts to celebrate a record-breaking moment in Australian netball history.
ON THE STATS SHEET
Whyte has rocketed to the top of the goal assists leaderboard this week with her 30 assists taking her overall tally to 191 and taking top spot from Georgie Horjus (186) in the process. Maddie Hay remains top of the tables for centre pass receives (197).
Teammate Nweke and South African star van der Berg are equal-top for goals scored after big wins on the weekend (448 apiece), while Matisse Letherbarrow leads the charge for Suncorp Super Shots (34 from 60).
Grenvold and Latanya Wilson share top spot for intercepts (23), marginally ahead of Kelly Jackson (20), while Sterling-Humphrey holds top spot for deflections (62) and rebounds (19).
