Cover image by Mia Mammoliti
It’s time to reveal Netball Scoop’s MVP and Team of the Year for Suncorp Super Netball in 2024. This is based on performances during the 14 home and away rounds. The following people gave their opinions.
Georgia Doyle
Ian Harkin
Michael Hutchinson
Andrew Kennedy
Elly McNerney
Katrina Nissen
Jenny Sinclair
Most positions in our Team of the Year were quite clear cut, with the greatest conjecture being over the goal defence position. We’ve finally settled on a team of 12, with five players on the bench. The strength of the team can be seen by the calibre of players who got mentions but unfortunately missed out… Steph Fretwell, Cara Koenen, Tayla Williams, Alice Teague-Neeld, Paige Hadley, Jo Weston, and Sunday Aryang. Here is our Team of the Year for 2024…
NETBALL SCOOP TEAM OF THE YEAR
GOAL SHOOTER
JHANIELE FOWLER-NEMBHARD (FEVER)
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard on her way to breaking her own goal scoring record. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Once again, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard dominated the Fever goal circle in 2024. She is clearly the leading shooter in the competition, scoring with 813 of 846 attempts at 96%, which is 257 goals ahead of the next shooter on the list. Of these, she’s landed 20 super shots from 39 attempts. It must be the ultimate demoralisation for defenders, to see someone who’s so very strong under the post, but still able to score two-pointers when required at just above 50% accuracy. But her strength is still as a holding shooter, and there’s simply no one better. In round 10, she beat her own scoring record, ending with 75/76 against the Swifts including one super shot, so 76 points in all. In 2024 so far, she has missed only 14 one-point attempts. That is just one a week!
Total goals: 813/846 (96.1%)
Regular goals: 793/807 (98.3%)
Super shots: 20/39 (51.3%)
Rebounds: 42
GOAL ATTACK
KIERA AUSTIN (VIXENS)
Kiera Austin cuts into the shooting circle. Image Aliesha Vicars
For Kiera Austin, teaming up with her partner in crime Sophie Garbin from the World Cup Final has been both good for her, and for the Vixens. She has shone in the goal attack role this season. One of her notable performances came in round two against Thunderbirds, when after not having a great first three quarters, she lifted and totally dominated the last quarter to get Vixens over the line. This has been a theme of the year. Whenever Austin plays well, Vixens play well. If she’s not setting up Garbin, she’s scoring crucial goals herself, including super shots. She is fourth on the list for two-pointers so far this year. Another factor in Austin’s play is her defensive capability which is very high for a goal attack. She has had 18 possession gains so far this season.
Total goals: 293/372 (78.8%)
Regular goals: 238/276 (86.2%)
Super shots: 55/96 (57.3%)
Goal Assists: 192
Centre-pass receives: 273
WING ATTACK
LIZ WATSON (LIGHTNING)
Liz Watson is all focus. Image Marcela Massey
Moving to a new team certainly hasn’t slowed Liz Watson down or lessened her impact. Quite the opposite. The Australian captain has been a total ball magnet for Sunshine Coast Lightning in season 2024, dominating the attacking categories. She has finished the regular season with the most centre-pass receives, the most circle feeds, the most feeds with an attempt, and the most goal assists in the league. After playing for so long with Kate Moloney, naturally, it has taken time to adjust to another centre in Leesa Mi Mi, but that combination is coming along well. Of the four teams in the finals, there’s no doubt Lightning are the underdogs, but any team with Liz Watson in it, has to be given a chance.
Circle Feeds: 642
Feeds with an attempt: 428
Goal Assists: 365
Centre-pass receives: 371
Pickups: 24
CENTRE
KATE MOLONEY (VIXENS)
Kate Moloney marshalling the Vixens midcourt. Image Shaun Sharp/Sporting Moments by Shaun
Just as Liz Watson has moved on without her long time midcourt partner, so has Kate Moloney. She has had a terrific season at the Vixens. Moloney has combined with younger wing attacks in Hannah Mundy and Zara Walters, and led the way with her experience, helping Vixens to ten wins from their first eleven games. There have been a couple of stumbles since, but Vixens are still looking in good shape for finals and a lot of that is down to Kate Moloney. Her leadership of course is well known, as are all the little one percenters that she does out on court. If there’s a loose ball, there’s every chance that Moloney will be the first one there. Once again this year, she is currently sitting top of the league in pickups.
Circle Feeds: 431
Feeds with an attempt: 263
Goal Assists: 200
Second-phase receives: 120
Pickups: 31
WING DEFENCE
LATANYA WILSON (THUNDERBIRDS)
Latanya Wilson once again showcasing her skills in wing defence. Image – Hannah Howard/On the Ball
There is something that sets Latanya Wilson apart from other wing defences. That is her ability to shut down opponents relentlessly, but also win ball (and lots of it) for her team. She has had the better of many top wing attacks in the competition in recent times, neutralising their effectiveness. But then at the same time, she will pop up out of nowhere to take a spectacular intercept or a match winning deflection. It’s extraordinary to see someone with the stats that she has, with most of them coming while playing wing defence. And wing defence is where she is in our team, but in reality, she has shown this year that she can play any of the back three defensive positions brilliantly. As she did in round 11 against Mavericks, when she played wing defence, goal defence and goal keeper well, all in the one game.
Possession Gains: 73
Intercepts: 42
Deflections: 82
Pickups: 22
GOAL DEFENCE
EMILY MANNIX (VIXENS)
Emily Mannix passes off against Thunderbirds. Image Shaun Sharp/Moments By Shaun
This was by far the toughest position to decide on. In the end, Emily Mannix just got the nod in a very close contest with Matilda Garrett. With injuries playing such a part in Vixens’ season, versatility has been important for them. And Mannix has been the perfect example of that versatility. She has predominantly played goal keeper in previous seasons, but with the injury to Kate Eddy forcing a defensive reshuffle, Rudi Ellis has taken the goal keeper spot, and Mannix has spent much of 2024 at goal defence. And she’s consistently done an amazing job there, week after week, so she is well worthy of a spot in our team of the year.
Possession Gains: 58
Intercepts: 28
Rebounds: 16
Deflections: 49
Pickups: 21
GOAL KEEPER
SHAMERA STERLING-HUMPHREY (THUNDERBIRDS)
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey comes through for the flying intercept. Image: Hannah Howard.
What more needs to be said about Shamera Sterling-Humphrey? She has excelled in the goal keeper position in recent years and is so remarkably consistent. She’s had another tremendous season in 2024, leading the competition in intercepts, rebounds, deflections, and overall possession gains. She has averaged 7.7 gains per match this season against all types of opponents. Perhaps one example of her greatness that gets overlooked, is that she is the only defender who can regularly keep countrywoman Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard relatively quiet. And she did that in round nine when Thunderbirds defeated Fever convincingly. She then starred against Sophie Garbin and the Vixens in round 12 as Thunderbirds recorded another decisive win heading into finals.
Possession Gains: 108
Intercepts: 44
Rebounds: 36
Deflections: 96
Pickups: 20
RESERVES
ROMELDA AIKEN-GEORGE (THUNDERBIRDS)
Officially, Romelda Aiken-George is 35 years old. But she seems ageless. She has been playing at this level since 2008, and just when people think her form might be on the wane, she proves everyone wrong. She has been as solid as a rock in the goal shooter position this year for Thunderbirds, and seemingly has a new lease on life in this, her third National League team. She finished the regular season with 517 goals.
SOPHIE GARBIN (VIXENS)
Finally! Finally, we’ve had the pleasure of watching Sophie Garbin consistently killing it in the goal shooter position this season. That is definitely her position. However, it must be said that the years at goal attack have almost certainly improved her all round attacking game. Garbin’s combination with Kiera Austin is a joy to watch when they’re at their best. Coincidentally, she has also scored 517 goals to share third place on the goal scorers’ list with Aiken-George.
GEORGIE HORJUS (THUNDERBIRDS)
Georgie Horjus has had a phenomenal season and was perhaps unlucky to miss out on a spot in the starting seven in our Team of the Year. Since debuting at the age of 18, Horjus has shown great promise, but 2024 seems to be the year when she puts it all together and goes to the next level. An example of her importance to Thunderbirds was when she missed the round eight match against Firebirds through injury and the team put in clearly their worst performance of the year.
MATILDA GARRETT (THUNDERBIRDS)
Matilda Garrett only narrowly lost out to Emily Mannix for the goal defence position, so she certainly deserves her spot on the bench. She sometimes gets overlooked in discussions about Thunderbirds’ great defence, but she is a big part of their success. A lot of the hard work in the circle is done by her, even though her stats don’t usually look as exciting as those of her two more high profile defensive teammates.
ASH ERVIN (LIGHTNING)
It’s been a break out year for Ash Ervin who has shone in Lightning’s defence, particularly in the absence of Courtney Bruce. Her reflexes in the circle are extraordinary for a player of her height. For much of the season, she was keeping pace with Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson statistically. She finished the season with 67 possession gains to place her third behind those two. And to think she’s only 21 years of age. There’s so much more to come.
COACH
TANIA OBST (THUNDERBIRDS)
Tracey Neville was a big part of Thunderbirds’ successful coaching team in 2023, so when she left to take up the head coach role at the Mavericks, many people thought this was a big negative for Tania Obst and her team in 2024. But Obst hasn’t missed a beat as she has taken the Thunderbirds all the way to the minor premiership. After a poor loss to the Firebirds in round eight, she quickly got their form going in the right direction again as they have won their last six matches by an average of almost 15 goals. Along the way, Obst has had a very obvious plan to rotate certain players and try to give all 10 players as much court time as possible. This could prove a masterstroke in the finals.
So, that is our Team of the Year. Now, to find out which one of those players took out our MVP for this season. For this, our seven judges chose their top five players of the year and voted on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. There were several worthy candidates, but one player came out ahead of the rest after an incredible season. Here is our Season MVP for 2024…
NETBALL SCOOP MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Latanya Wilson celebrated her 50th SSN match with a win. Image: Hannah Howard/On the Ball media.
LATANYA WILSON (THUNDERBIRDS)
Latanya Wilson is Netball Scoop’s MVP for the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball season. She has taken the wing defence position to a whole new level in recent seasons, and she seems to get better with each and every year. The scary thing for opponents is that she’s still only 23! There are many more years of struggle for attacking players everywhere.
“Quite possibly the best wing defence we’ll see this era, with the ability to both shut down players and peel off to take intercepts. She’s managed to match Shamera Sterling-Humphrey in key stats, and in fact, the ball often doesn’t get to her fellow Jamaican defender as Wilson gets her hands to it first. Her aerial work around the circle at wing defence, and over the shot at goal defence is something to be marvelled and puts the leagues best attackers on notice.” – Georgia Doyle
“One of the best players in the World right now. Her ability to cause utter chaos for the opposition attack line is something special.” – Elly McNerney
“It is hard to shine when you are sitting in Shamera Sterling-Humphrey’s shadow, but Latty is definitely doing it. She has been consistent across both wing defence and goal defence. She is elusive and unassuming but then pulls out these amazing gains. And, almost more importantly, Latty has maintained a low error rate when transitioning into attack. She is an absolute pleasure to watch.” – Katrina Nissen
In an incredible year for Jamaican netball, Wilson is joined by countrywomen Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, as well as Australian captain Liz Watson, in a star-studded top four. All of these players had terrific years in their own right. It’s a tribute to the form Latanya Wilson is in, that her Thunderbirds teammate Sterling-Humphrey has “only” managed to finish second in our MVP award. Because, she has had an extraordinary year as well.
“Taller. Shorter. Moving. Holding. Regardless of opponent, Sterling-Humphrey continues to elevate her game to new heights. Carefully etching her name into a great of all time, not just her time.” – Michael Hutchinson
MVP VOTE TALLY
30 – LATANYA WILSON
19 – Shamera Sterling-Humphrey
15 – Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard
15 – Liz Watson
8 – Kate Moloney
5 – Georgie Horjus
4 – Romelda Aiken-George
4 – Kiera Austin
3 – Cara Koenen
1 – Ash Ervin
1 – Sophie Garbin
