GIANTS Netball Head Coach Julie Fitzgerald had nothing but praise for the four players who will be training alongside the GIANTS in 2019.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Georgia, Latika, Maddie and Toni to the 2019 GIANTS as training partners. They are four young players who have proven their skills in NSW and Australian representative teams and in the semi-elite DUANL competition.”
After making her elite netball debut in the 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, Toni Anderson will be back with the GIANTS Netball family in 2019. The talented NSW native, who plays across GD, GK and WD, came up through the Netball NSW pathways after making her representative debut with the NSW 17/U team in 2013. She continued to represent her home state in the 19/U and 21/U competitions in 2014 and 2016. Anderson also represented Australia in the 17/U squad in 2013 and the 19/U squad in 2014-15 and made the Australian World Youth Cup Squad in 2017. And, according to Fitzgerald, her time spent playing in the UK Superleague competition in 2018 should prove vital in her development as a key player for the GIANTS.
“We are excited to have Toni re-join us at GIANTS Netball as a training partner in 2019. She returns to us with vital experience from her time playing in the Superleague competition and we are so pleased to welcome her back to the GIANTS family.”
Midcourter Maddie Hay is also returning to the GIANTS Netball as a training partner after signing with the team for their inaugural season in 2017. Hay represented her home state of NSW at the 17/U, 19/U and 21/U levels and was a member of the NSW Blues team in 2012/13. She played in the DUANL from 2014-18, the last two years as a member of the GIANTS Netball affiliate Canberra GIANTS. She made her debut at the elite level in 2014 and has represented Australia in the 17/U and 19/U squads in 2012 and 2013.
Georgia Marshall also returns to the GIANTS Netball family after spending the 2018 season with the GIANTS and as member of the silver medal winning Canberra GIANTS in the DUANL. Marshall developed her skills as an attacker and shooter in the Netball NSW pathways, representing NSW as part of the 17/U squad in 2012-13, the Netball NSW Blues in 2012-14 and the NSW 21/U team in 2016. She was part of the NSWIS team (a joint endeavour between Netball NSW and New South Wales Institute of Sport) that played in the Super Club events in 2017 and 2018. Marshall also represented Australia in the 17/U and 19/U squads in 2013 and 2014.
Latika Tombs is a true midcourt talent on the rise and a player to watch for the future. Tombs was a member of the Manly Warringah Sapphires in the Netball NSW Premier League in 2018 and represented NSW at state level in the 19/U and was selected to the 17/U in 2018 and 2017. The recipient of the Marj Groves AM Scholarship at this year’s NSW State Dinner, Tombs was part of the NSWIS team that played in the Super Club event in New Zealand in 2018 and served as a temporary replacement player for GIANTS Netball in the round 9 game against the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
“Maddie, Latika and Georgia are also familiar faces for the GIANTS, after training with the team in the past.” Fitzgerald said. “I have seen all three take huge strides in their development as players during that time and I cannot wait to see how they continue to progress in the future.”
This is a wonderful opportunity for these four athletes to advance their skills and prepare themselves for playing at the elite level, as they not only play in the Canberra GIANTS team in the DUANL, they will also train under the guidance of the GIANTS Netball coaching staff alongside the professional athletes in the GIANTS Netball team.
Three previous GIANTS Netball training partners – Kiera Austin, Amy Parmenter and Teigan O’Shannassy – have all to been offered positions in the GIANTS Netball playing ten, with Austin making her debut in 2018 and Parmenter and O’Shannassy set to debut in 2019.
“All four are wonderful examples of the talent that is evident in the NSW pathways and we are committed to continuing to support their development, along with the development of other up-and-coming players in the state.”
