Australian Super Netball sides not just plundering star Silver Ferns, but the tier underneath

Wednesday, 20 August 2025

Midcourter Whitney Souness is joining the exodus of Kiwi netballers heading to Australia’s Super Netball.

ANALYSIS: Australian Super Netball clubs haven’t just swooped for Silver Ferns stars, but also the layer underneath.

Whitney Souness’ move to the Sydney-based Giants Netball on Tuesday takes the exodus of New Zealand netballers to Australia to eight for 2026.

Souness’ departure is another crushing blow for the Central Pulse, who also lost their best two players, Kelly Jackson and Maddy Gordon, to the Queensland Firebirds, coached by New Zealander Kiri Wills.

There could be a silver lining for the Pulse with Silver Ferns veteran Ameliaranne Ekenasio, who announced on Tuesday she would not return to the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in 2026, potentially on their radar.

Ekenasio and her family are based in Wellington and a reunion with the Pulse would make sense for both parties.

Former Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio is leaving the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic. Will she end up in Australia or at the Pulse?

Former Ferns captain Ekenasio, who was raised in Queensland before joining the Pulse in 2014, could also be considering Super Netball. Only one roster spot remained with the Melbourne Mavericks as of Wednesday, though, with seven of the eight teams completing their 10-player squads.

Ekenasio, a 79-test stalwart, told The Post last month she was open to competing in Super Netball, but any move to Australia would depend on what was best for her family.

“Not closing the door at all. As a competitor you always want to go that one step more. In my mind I’d so, so love to. It would just be if it could work out for our family,” Ekenasio said.

Kiwi netball fans will struggle to recognise their respective ANZ Premiership teams next season with the sides severely drained of elite talent. The title-winning Tactix, who have lost three key starters to Australia and Ellie Bird (retirement), and the Pulse, have been the most hard hit. Tactix starting wing defence Paris Lokotui is also not returning.

Pulse midcourter Whitney Souness becomes the eighth Kiwi netballer to join Australia’s Super Netball next season.

The departure of leading Silver Ferns Grace Nweke (NSW Swifts), Jackson and Gordon (Firebirds), Kate Heffernan (Adelaide Thunderbirds), and Karin Burger (Sunshine Coast Lightning) is a sucker punch to the New Zealand competition, which moves from Sky to free-to-air TVNZ next year.

Super Netball clubs have also snapped up former Silver Ferns Jane Watson and Te Paea Selby-Rickit (both members of the Tactix grand final winning squad) and now Pulse midcourter Souness, a 44-test cap Fern, who debuted internationally in 2017.

Tactix title winners Karin Burger and Jane Watson will both feature in Australia’s Super Netball next year.

Watson, Selby-Rickit, and Souness are not nationally contracted Silver Ferns, so did not need to apply to Netball New Zealand for exemptions to play in Super Netball.

Some in the Australian netball community won’t be thrilled young, up-and-coming Australian talent have been bypassed for ex-Silver Ferns, some at the end of their careers like 35-year-old Watson. She may have retired if a Super Netball offer did not materialise.

Whether players like Watson, Selby-Rickit, and Souness are better than emerging Australian netballers is debatable and does not do much for the Diamonds’ pathway system. Super Netball coaches will argue experience is king in such a tough competition and the veteran presence of Watson, Selby-Rickit, and Souness and their international nous is an asset.

“I want to keep playing for a long time, but the age I am now for this type of opportunity, I wasn’t sure how much longer I’ve got. So, when it came along, I just had to do it,” Souness said.

“Obviously playing in [Super Netball], you get to play against some of the best-of-the-best and it’s a really great comp, so for me personally I just want to expand my skill set and grow my game with it. And I feel like with a fresh perspective on my netball, a fresh environment and getting exposed to the big Aussie comp is a really good place to be able to do that.’’

Whether a ninth New Zealand netballer in Ekenasio joins the spate of Kiwis in Super Netball remains the last domino to fall.

At a glance

Going, going, gone: Kiwi netballers in Super Netball for 2026:

Grace Nweke (NSW Swifts)

Kelly Jackson (Queensland Firebirds)

Maddy Gordon (Queensland Firebirds)

Kate Heffernan (Adelaide Thunderbirds)

Te Paea Selby-Rickit (Queensland Firebirds)

Karin Burger (Sunshine Coast Lightning)

Jane Watson (Giants Netball)

Whitney Souness (Giants Netball)