Grace Nweke’s Australian move a leap of faith

Saturday, 24 August 2024

Grace Nweke has known for years that the next step in her career would be a stint in the Australian netball league, but all the pieces seemed to fall into place now.

Nweke has signed with the NSW Swifts for next season’s Suncorp Super Netball, making her ineligible to play for the Silver Ferns in 2025, due to Netball New Zealand’s policies.

The 22-year-old insists it wasn’t an easy decision, and wearing the black dress will always be a huge privilege.

“I feel so honoured every time I get to play in the black dress,” Nweke says, gaining 31 test caps since her debut in 2021, but missing key games in last year’s Netball World Cup with a knee injury.

“I’ve really learned not to take that for granted and so this ineligibility for 2025 has only added to that level of gratitude and pride I have in that dress.”

Nweke has been selected for the Taini Jamison Trophy series next month, and knows that it won’t be the last time she wears the black dress.

Swifts coach Briony Akle will be a specialist coach with the Ferns for the series, having joined the coaching team in January, and Nweke says she’s excited to be coached by Akle next year.

“The fact that I had already met Briony and worked with her real closely, it was a really big factor in me feeling safe and supported in this move,” she says.

“I really enjoyed my time with her, she’s such a great person and a great coach. She’s quite stern but you can tell she coaches from her heart and really cares for her players. So I’m really excited to have a fresh set of eyes on my game.”

While being ineligible for the Ferns was a huge factor in Nweke’s decision, leaving the Northern Mystics was just as hard.

“I came to the Mystics when I was still at school, a 17-year-old nobody who could barely catch a ball and had so much to learn,” Nweke says.

“Helene [Wilson] gave me an opportunity to take the court at a time when I didn’t really believe in myself and eventually get a full contract in my first year as a training partner.

‘’From then till now, it’s been six years, the entirety of my professional career, and the success that I’ve had in that six years, I can massively attribute to the people, the staff, just everyone around me at that club.”

When Nweke decided she wanted to take the challenge of growing in a new environment, she couldn’t see herself at another Kiwi club.

“I owe all of my success to the Mystics, and I just wouldn’t be the person and player I am today without them.”

The Suncorp Super Netball league has an unlimited-import rule, meaning Nweke will be playing with and against not only Australian players, but various styles of international netball as well.

“I’m so ready for the challenge, I know playing against them is only going to grow my game, I’m going to get found out, and I hope that I do,” Nweke says.

“I want to see if I can hold my own against the world’s best and discover key areas of my game that I need to grow. I know that I’m going to have to really push myself and will be very out of my comfort zone, but I know it’s what I need right now.

“I’m just set to grow, and that’s why I want to make this move, I want to be better.”

Nweke is known for being a dominant goal shoot, often taking the bulk of her team’s shots, with her goal attacks having less volume but more work outside the circle. At the Swifts, she’s teaming up with English veteran Helen Housby.

“I’m so excited to play with Helen, she is just a legend of the game and one of the best goal attacks in the world,” Nweke says.

“I’m really excited to see what it’s like to play with another really, really dominant attacker and looking forward to what I can learn from her. She has years and years of international experience as well as winning premierships with the Swifts and to have that leadership and experience in my unit, I think we’re going to go so far.”

Nweke has been supported through her decision by many Kiwi netballers who have pursued opportunities overseas, including Elle Temu, Gina Crampton, Jamie Hume and Katrina Rore.

Temu was a training partner for the Swifts this year, and was excited to hear of Nweke’s move.

“She was so happy for me, and so supportive and super eager to lend a helping hand when I have to relocate. I feel really lucky to already have some awesome friends in Sydney,” Nweke says.

“While I was still deciding, I was talking to Katrina Rore quite a bit and she was just so encouraging of the move … having that support and encouragement from someone with so much experience and so entrenched now in both netball in New Zealand and Australia, it was really cool.”