This Saturday will be a historic moment for not just Netball NSW but also our game’s wider community across the state.
To have both the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball going head-to-head in the Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final would be a special achievement in any season, but 2021 hasn’t been just any year.
However, despite countless relocations, isolations and family separations both the NSW Swifts and GIANTS are still standing. The Final Two at the end of the toughest-ever season since the National Netball League started in 1997.
At a time when our community has been forced into lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is our Netball NSW teams who continue to entertain with their inspiring displays of athleticism, skill and collective unity.
You want sporting role models? These athletes deliver time and time again.
Make no mistake, it breaks our heart that Netball NSW cannot host this weekend’s Grand Final - what an occasion it would have been at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney Olympic Park.
But there is still a Grand Final to played in 2021 and in the current environment both the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball – and legions of netball fans across the state – are grateful for that.
LET’S SHOW OUR COLOURS
We know we can’t be in the stands in Brisbane this Saturday but Netball NSW is calling on all fans state-wide and beyond to get behind their chosen team and make their voices heard.
Can’t choose between the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball? Cheer for both!
You can do this my showing your colour on social media and also tuning in to the Grand Final on Channel Nine this Saturday (2.30pm AET)
If you’re a NSW Swift get your Red on (or Yellow, if you’ve been a diehard since 1997). Share your images with using the hashtags #AlwaysASwift or #Swifts2021GF and tagging @NSWSwifts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If you’re a GIANT we want to see you in Orange making a Big Big Sound on social incorporating the hashtag #StandUnited or #Giants2021GF and tagging @GiantsNetball across Facebook and Instagram and @GIANTS_Netball on Twitter.
THE LOWDOWN
Two professional teams owned and operated by Netball NSW whose dressing rooms sit side-by-side at Netball Central. That’s how well the NSW Swifts and GIANTS know each other.
The NSW Swifts, who started life as the Sydney Swifts in 1997, are shooting for a record seventh Premiership in their 25th year and a second in three seasons. In fact, this will be their fourth Grand Final in seven years.
Under the tutelage of Briony Akle, they are looking to create a new legacy to match that set by the likes of club greats Liz Ellis and Cath Cox, among others.
The GIANTS, formed by Netball NSW in 2017 but quick to make a big impact under Julie Fitzgerald.
They reached the 2017 Grand Final and backed it up with a Minor Premiership the next year. After a disappointing 2020 they have bounced back in 2021 to claim another Minor Premiership and now have eyes on their first Premiership.
And here’s some real spice for the occasion: Fitzgerald was also the Foundation Coach of the Swifts – in fact she led them to five titles. Akle was even one of her on-court stars.
So much shared history, so much rivalry built in record time. The Derby has become The Decider.
How good is this going to be?!
