Once again in 2023, Netball Scoop has chosen our MVP for the Suncorp Super Netball regular season. After each game during the home and away rounds, two Netball Scoop writers gave their votes for best players on court. After a tight finish, we can announce that the winner is Thunderbirds’ defender Shamera Sterling who finished just ahead of Swifts’ shooter Helen Housby.
Sterling had an amazing start to the season, picking up votes in each of the first nine rounds. Meanwhile, Housby had a much slower start. In fact, at the halfway mark, she wasn’t even really in the picture for MVP honours. But she then had a string of six brilliant games in a row between round eight and thirteen where she received 30 votes to take a one vote lead into the last round.
Coincidentally, in the decisive round 14, their teams played each other, and thanks to a fine performance in a Thunderbirds win, it was Sterling who picked up four votes to edge ahead of Housby by three. Finishing eight votes further behind in equal third place were West Coast Fever wing attack Alice Teague-Neeld, and Lightning shooter and captain Steph Wood.
Already considered by many to be the world’s best defender, Sterling took her game to a whole new level this season. She finished the regular season with the most possession gains (101), most deflections (89), most defensive rebounds (33) and finished equal first for intercepts (40) and fourth for pickups (29). She did all that while being only the 20th most penalised player in the league.
It was a big year for Jamaica in Super Netball. They dominated right from the start with Jamaican players scoring the maximum 6 votes in each of the four first round matches. As a sign of just how scary the Jamaican team will be at the World Cup, Sterling is just one of four Sunshine Girls in the MVP top ten, to go with five Australians and an Englishwoman in Housby.
Here are the top 25 players in our voting. And please scroll down to look at our MVP voting for each of the eight Super Netball clubs…
2023 Netball Scoop MVP Top 25
42 . SHAMERA STERLING (Thunderbirds)
39 . Helen Housby (Swifts)
31 . Alice Teague-Neeld (Fever)
31 . Steph Wood (Lightning)
26 . Donnell Wallam (Firebirds)
26 . Jodi-Ann Ward (Magpies)
24 . Latanya Wilson (Thunderbirds)
22 . Jamie-Lee Price (Giants)
22 . Jhaniele Fowler (Fever)
20 . Maddy Proud (Swifts)
19 . Courtney Bruce (Fever)
19 . Kiera Austin (Vixens)
18 . Ruby Bakewell-Doran (Firebirds)
16 . Amy Parmenter (Giants)
16 . Liz Watson (Vixens)
13 . Paige Hadley (Swifts)
12 . Cara Koenen (Lightning)
12 . Sasha Glasgow (Fever)
12 . Shimona Nelson (Magpies)
11 . Maddie Hay (Giants)
11 . Sarah Klau (Swifts)
10 . Emily Mannix (Vixens)
10 . Geva Mentor (Magpies)
10 . Lauren Moore (Giants)
10 . Remi Kamo (Firebirds)
Just incredible. Image: Hannah Howard | On the Ball Media
Helen Housby. Image: Simon Leonard
SWIFTS MVP
39 . HELEN HOUSBY
20 . Maddy Proud
13 . Paige Hadley
11 . Sarah Klau
5 . Tayla Fraser
4 . Maddy Turner
4 . Teigan O’Shannassy
3 . Romelda Aiken-George
1 . Allie Smith
Helen Housby won the Swifts MVP comfortably from Maddy Proud, thanks to a wonderful string of games in the second half of the regular season. Housby had a run of six straight games scoring over 100 Nissan Net Points. By the conclusion of round 14, she had scored 286 goals, including a league-leading 78 super shots at an astonishing 67%. She’s also had 190 goal assists, 306 circle feeds and 230 centre-pass receives. She will no doubt play a big part if Swifts win the title.
Shamera Sterling. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball Media
THUNDERBIRDS MVP
42 . SHAMERA STERLING
24 . Latanya Wilson
8 . Eleanor Cardwell
5 . Georgie Horjus
5 . Matilda Garrett
5 . Tayla Williams
5 . Tippah Dwan
1 . Hannah Petty
As the overall winner, of course Shamera Sterling also takes out the club award for Thunderbirds, and she is bound to have a huge say if they are to win their first title in 10 years. But Latanya Wilson deserves a special mention. She finished second with 24 votes, a big tally considering that being in the same team as Sterling made it tougher for her to pick up the votes she perhaps deserved. The two Jamaican defenders combined, received a whopping 66 votes from our writers.
Alice Teague-Neeld. Image: Martin Poole/SpeedLite Photo
FEVER MVP
31 . ALICE TEAGUE-NEELD
22 . Jhaniele Fowler
19 . Courtney Bruce
12 . Sasha Glasgow
6 . Jess Anstiss
6 . Verity Simmons
5 . Sunday Aryang
2 . Jordan Cransberg
Finishing equal third overall, Alice Teague-Neeld takes out the Fever MVP after a terrific start to the year where she picked up votes in seven of the first eight rounds. Her finish to the regular season was less impressive, but she still beat two big names in Jhaniele Fowler and Courtney Bruce to take out the award. Teague-Neeld has a league-leading 342 goal assists and 381 centre-pass receives, as well as 504 circle feeds, and will be an important part of Fever’s finals push.
Kiera Austin. Image: Kirsten Daley
VIXENS MVP
19 . KIERA AUSTIN
16 . Liz Watson
10 . Emily Mannix
8 . Hannah Mundy
8 . Kate Eddy
8 . Olivia Lewis
7 . Jo Weston
4 . Kate Moloney
3 . Mwai Kumwenda
It is perhaps surprising that no Vixens player made it into the top ten overall, but that just shows how even the team has been this year. Kiera Austin performed consistently throughout to take out this award just ahead of Liz Watson. Austin finished the home and away season with 266 goals, 154 assists, 305 centre-pass receives and an impressive 22 possession gains, by far the most of any shooter. If Vixens can win from fourth spot, you can bet Austin will be a big part of it.
Steph Wood. Image: Simon Leonard
LIGHTNING MVP
31 . STEPH WOOD
12 . Cara Koenen
8 . Ash Ervin
8 . Laura Scherian
7 . Kadie-Ann Dehaney
7 . Karla Pretorius
5 . Annie Miller
5 . Mahalia Cassidy
Steph Wood finished comfortably ahead of her Diamonds shooting partner to take out the Lightning award. She polled votes in 10 rounds (just one less than Shamera Sterling) and finished the regular season in style, collecting the maximum 6 votes against Firebirds last week. Wood ended the year with 241 goals, including 54 super shots, 260 goal assists and 244 centre-pass receives.
Jamie-Lee Price. Image: Danny Dalton/Tah Dah
GIANTS MVP
22 . JAMIE-LEE PRICE
16 . Amy Parmenter
11 . Maddie Hay
10 . Lauren Moore
8 . Sophie Dwyer
4 . April Brandley
2 . Jo Harten
1 . Matisse Letherbarrow
Jamie-Lee Price capped off a tremendous season by winning a spot in the Diamonds for the World Cup. Given they finished 2nd and 3rd in the previous two seasons, Giants’ 6th placed finish this year was underwhelming. But Price is one who can hold her head high with consistent performances. She finished with 234 goal assists, 216 second-phase receives, and 31 possession gains.
Donnell Wallam. Image: Simon Leonard
FIREBIRDS MVP
26 . DONNELL WALLAM
18 . Ruby Bakewell-Doran
10 . Remi Kamo
3 . Emily Moore
3 . Hulita Veve
3 . Lara Dunkley
2 . Kim Ravaillion
1 . Leesa Mi Mi
Three players stood out for Firebirds in 2023, defenders Ruby Bakewell-Doran and Remi Kamo, and goal shooter Donnell Wallam. And it was Wallam who finished on top, collecting votes in six games, including the maximum 6 votes twice. She finished the regular season with 669 goals, showed her versatility by landing 50 super shots, and was a major factor in Firebirds’ four victories.
Jodi-Ann Ward. Image: Shaun Sharp | Moments by Shaun
MAGPIES MVP
26 . JODI-ANN WARD
12 . Shimona Nelson
10 . Geva Mentor
8 . Kelsey Browne
6 . Sophie Garbin
4 . Molly Jovic
2 . Ash Brazill
In a mostly disappointing season for the Magpies, defender Jodi-Ann Ward was a shining light. Consistently among their best, she polled in seven matches and picked up the maximum 6 votes twice. She finished the year with 66 possession gains, and with Shamera Sterling dominating most defensive categories, the effort of Ward to tie with her on 40 intercepts was amazing.
