Latest news with #JoHarten
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Emotions ran high as the Giants farewelled legend with inspirational Super Netball win
Emotions ran high as Giants Netball farewelled their retiring skipper Jo Harten in style, celebrating a 15 point win over the Melbourne Mavericks in Sydney. One of her club's foundation players, Harten announced this week that she was calling time on a decorated 20 year playing career. With her long term coach, Julie Fitzgerald, in tears on the sidelines before the match even started, the former English Rose played a pivotal role in the win, using her game smarts to outfox opponents in the 74 to 59 point Super Netball victory. Harten went on to finish the match with 33 points, including seven from range, with a buzzer beater as her last ever touch of the ball. Speaking post match, Fitzgerald said, 'Watching her grow into the person she's become is probably more important to me than the netball. 'It's going to continue. She might take her bib off but she'll still have a big impact on netball in the world.' Giants started slowly without youngster Erin O'Brien, who'd been named at goal defence but was missing when the opening whistle blew. One of her side's most consistent performers, O'Brien appeared halfway through the first quarter with a heavily strapped shoulder, after tweaking it in their warmup. With her return, the Giants upped their tempo after a poor start, to bring the scores back to almost level at quarter time. O'Brien went on to have a huge influence on the game, picking off five gains, as she underscored her credentials for a possible Diamonds' callup. With both sides ramping up their defensive pressure, while also making a range of attacking errors, there were multiple changes of possession in the second quarter. Centre Molly Jovic ran a marathon for the Mavericks as the ball pinged from end to end, finishing with 42 feeds and two valuable pickups. With the game locked on level terms at half time, Giant Jamie-Lee Price told commentary that the game was 'messy'. She said, 'We're getting plenty of ball, but we're just not scoring off it.' 'It's so simple, just score goals. I feel like we should be ahead by way more, but we're just making errors.' Despite most Mavericks playing for contracts, a blistering Giants second half saw them take the eventual win. Eight spaces still remain on the Melbourne based side's roster, and they could snaffle Jamie-Lee Price. Commentator Kim Green potentially let the cat out of the bag, letting slip that she has played her last game for the Giants. While the co-captain has a year left to run on her contract, there's been plenty of speculation that she will be released to head south and join her AFL-playing partner in Melbourne. closing things out in style ðŸ�� Watch every game live on Kayo Sports, Foxtel and Binge. — Suncorp Super Netball (@SuperNetball) July 12, 2025 HARTEN HANGS UP HER DRESS Jo Harten retires as one of netball's greats, having played 202 National League games and 117 tests for England. Among those was the Roses' historic Commonwealth Games medal in 2018, where they upset Australia on home soil. Known for her leadership, court craft and accuracy under the post, Harten has coaching experience with the Roses already under her belt, as she views a possible career in that space. MAVERICKS ON A MISSION As the Super Netball season comes to a close, Mavericks will be on a mission to bolster their ranks. Currently, captain Amy Parmenter and defender Kim Brown are the only two players contracted for 2026, with even the future of coach Tracey Neville up in the air. If the injury plagued side is hoping to climb the ladder next year, they will need a mixture of better luck and stronger roster in several areas of the court. With teams unable to talk to players from other clubs until the season has ended, it could explain why they still have a number of contracts waiting to be filled.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Giants send retiring legend Harten out a winner
Jo Harten's legendary 19-year career has ended in fairytale fashion as the Giants concluded their 2025 Super Netball campaign by steamrolling the Melbourne Mavericks 74-59 at a full-voiced Ken Rosewall Arena. Four-time club MVP Harten racked up 33 goals, including seven two-pointers, and eight assists on Saturday as the Giants (5-9) finished the season strongly with four wins from their last six games to leapfrog the Mavericks (4-10) into sixth place. Harten, 36, announced her retirement during the week, drawing the curtain on a glittering career that featured 117 Tests for England - including Commonwealth Games gold - 202 national league games and an MBE for services to netball. Hot hands Harten 🔥Watch every game live on Kayo Sports, Foxtel and Binge. — Suncorp Super Netball (@SuperNetball) July 12, 2025 The Giants rode an unstoppable wave of emotion to the finish line, swamping Melbourne 25-14 in the fourth quarter. With only seconds remaining, Sophie Dwyer gave up a wide-open super-shot to spot up Harten, who, fittingly, finished the job with a long-range bomb on the fulltime bell before being swarmed by teammates and teary coach Julie Fitzgerald. "For my sins, I'm just a born winner and I was getting a bit touchy at three-quarter time when we were neck and neck in a really competitive game," Harten said, holding baby daughter Eddie, after receiving a bouquet of flowers from Netball NSW. "It was an awesome game to finish on. "I was once one of those little girls dreaming of making it to the big time. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be here today." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Suncorp Super Netball (@supernetball) The Giants started sluggishly, falling behind 8-3, before tidying up their penalty count and closing the gap to 18-17 at quarter-time. Molly Jovic was prolific through the middle for the Mavs but with Erin O'Brien subbing on and subduing Sasha Glasgow, the Giants were able to square the scores at halftime. Hope White was injected at wing attack for the hosts and did a fine job on Melbourne captain Amy Parmenter, while some late cough-ups from the Mavericks' frontcourt saw the Giants finish the quarter on a 6-0 run, turning a deficit into a 49-45 advantage. From that point, the Giants - and the great Harten - were simply unstoppable.
ABC News
30-06-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Super Netball Round-Up: Anonymous survey reveals majority of players don't trust national sporting body as Jo Harten joins 200 club
We blinked and suddenly there are just two weeks left to play before the Super Netball finals. Round 12 saw a change at the top of the ladder as the West Coast Fever tallied their 10th consecutive victory and moved into the number one spot by beating the Sunshine Coast Lightning 69-54. The NSW Swifts suffered a shock upset to the Melbourne Mavericks, 68-64. They've now dropped to second place after losing three of their last four matches. Both of these teams managed to win eight straight at different points throughout this season. The Swifts started with an undefeated run before round nine, while the Fever lost their first two without Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and hit their stride once the Jamaican target returned to the line-up (600 goals in 10 games). So did the Swifts peak too early? They've done enough to lock in a semifinals spot, but they've now well and truly had their premiership favourites tag pinched by the team in green. The Adelaide Thunderbirds forced their way back into the top four with their first Super Netball win over the Melbourne Vixens at John Cain Arena, 56-53. The Giants celebrated the 200-game milestone of co-captain Jo Harten by beating the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane, 68-63, but it appears we can put a line through both their and the Mavericks' trophy chances. Although both teams got the desired result on the weekend, the Thunderbirds and Lightning are tied on 24 points, and because they will meet in the last round, a win or draw for either side would put finals out of reach. If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up. One of the biggest stories of the week happened off the court, as the Australian Netball Players' Association (ANPA) released the findings of its anonymous survey. The first of its kind, this will now be conducted annually and will guide ANPA's support strategies, give every player a voice and drive accountability across the sport. It was completed by almost every athlete in the Super Netball system. ANPA saw it as a positive that more than half of the playing group accessed mental health support services in the past year, while 81 per cent were likely to seek help if needed — indicating a strong engagement with resources and a growing awareness of the importance of looking after your mental health. However, 67 per cent of players felt mentally or emotionally drained due to the demands of elite netball and 56 per cent said balancing training, travel, games, work, study and personal life continued to be difficult — indicating that the workload of these players needed to be reassessed. Financial security and fair pay was another hot topic, as 69 per cent of athletes cited their concerns about salary equity, job stability, cost-of-living pressures and the need for supplemental income through work outside of netball. The biggest challenge, though, seems to be repairing the relationship between the playing group and sporting body as just 12 per cent said they felt comfortable raising concerns with Netball Australia and 32 per cent who had done so before said no action had been taken or they felt dismissed. This follows on from the investigation into Remi Kamo's experience at the Queensland Firebirds, as well as the league's bitter pay dispute of late 2023 under different administrative leadership. "The results staring us in the face are real and … I think you learn more from those that aren't at the level you'd hoped, because they're the areas you can address and hopefully see improvements in," ANPA chief executive Kathryn Harby-Williams told ABC Sport. "We've got to remember that the Diamonds are the ones that deal more so with Netball Australia and the others deal more directly with their clubs, so that has some impact. "But we also can't dismiss the very difficult period we had with Netball Australia 18 months ago, where players weren't paid for three months and Diamonds were being threatened they'd be sued if they didn't turn up to their annual awards dinner. "It takes a while to build that trust back up again … we are working to improve that relationship because we all need each other to grow in a highly competitive women's sports market." ANPA is pushing for longer playing contracts, allowing athletes to sign beyond the collective player agreement (CPA) for up to five years in order to lock in better financial stability; especially when weighing up the difficult decision to switch teams or move interstate. The current CPA expires on September 30. Goal shooter Jo Harten joined the prestigious 200 club in round 12, tallying her appearances across the Tactix, Magic and Giants during the trans-Tasman and Super Netball eras. Harten won gold while representing the Roses at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and two years later received an MBE for her services to English netball. But we've enjoyed watching her play for more than a decade now down under, so she almost feels like one of our own. No doubt, her proudest work has been helping to establish the Giants Super Netball club alongside head coach Julie Fitzgerald, after signing as a foundation player in 2017 when Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand went their separate ways and launched individual competitions. Taking over as captain in 2020, she has given the Giants her all, leading them from the front to two minor premierships and two grand final appearances. Her ability to guide the next generation of players at the Netball NSW-owned franchise has been invaluable for the players in the state. Speaking with the media, Harten reflected on her very first national netball league game back in 2012 and how excited she was to join the likes of two-time world champion and Diamonds legend Sharelle McMahon in the 200 club. "Sharelle was my idol growing up," Harten said. "I used to get a VHS video shipped over from Australia to England so I could just copy everything that she does, so to be named alongside someone like her, it's really special. "I was 22 when I signed with the Tactix, a New Zealand team, and I'd flown out from the other side of the world, left all my network and my first game was actually in Perth, 8 hours from where I was based, so it was a crazy experience. "Sometimes I can't believe it, when I wake up and find myself living in Sydney, having made it my home, all because of netball, it's such a privilege." It's a huge milestone and one that reminds us to cherish Harten's moments on court while we can. As we near the end of the regular rounds, with the Giants ruled out of finals, the next fortnight could be the swan song of her career. Over the past few years, the 36-year-old has battled an ongoing knee injury that has limited her movement on court and forced her international retirement ahead of the 2023 Netball World Cup. Instead, she worked as an assistant under Jess Thirlby as the team clinched silver. Wins have also been hard to come by at the Giants over the past two years. They finished with the wooden spoon in 2024. "I think I'm just going to play this season and then see what happens," Harten said. "At the moment I'm just trying to enjoy as much of the good netball that I can put out as I can. "Obviously I am an aging, experienced player, so I'm getting closer to the end of my career, but I'm going to leave those decisions for the end of the season. "I've been super lucky that Giants have allowed me to explore coaching alongside my professional netball career, so I'd be stupid to say I don't want to coach in the future, it's definitely on my agenda … I'm looking forward to the next stage." Harten has a little more than a month to make her decision. Clubs can re-sign their own players at any time, but the official contracting window for 2025 opens after the Super Netball Grand Final on August 2.
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
NSW derby highlights Swifts dominance for season 2025
Their last clash was a battle to avoid the wooden spoon but the NSW derby has underlined the dominance of the NSW Swifts in season 2025. The Swifts poured in a season-high 82 points in a 13-point victory over the Giants that maintained their unbeaten record this season and helped them retain the Carol Sykes Memorial Trophy. A runaway 22-13 third quarter gave them an 82-69 win, with the final scoreline no real indication of how close the unrelenting physical battle was. The Swifts won every quarter but their edge for the first, second and fourth terms combined was only four points, with only the disastrous third term - when the Giants committed six of their 16 turnovers for the match and had a previously firing Jo Harten subbed out and head up the tunnel before taking no further part in the match - turning the game. While 16 of their 18 previous derby matches had been decided by single digits - and the last game by a solitary goal - the Swifts showed why they're already considered premiership favourites this season with a dominant performance. The Giants came into the match on the bottom of the ladder but belied their position with an outstanding effort in the first half. The match started at a frenetic pace, with the teams going goal for goal in the opening 10 minutes, even when there was turnover ball - the Giants winning the ball back before the Swifts could capitalise - until Jo Harten finally missed an attempt during the super shot period at 12-12. Just one point separated the teams at the opening break and three at halftime, with the Swifts in the lead but the Giants clinging on desperately after arguably their best half of netball this season. But the Swifts took the match away from their rivals with a 22-13 term, Grace Nweke scoring 18 goals in the third quarter alone and Helen Housby putting a couple of nails in the coffin with a pair of super shots. MIDCOURT BATTLE The Swifts started Verity Simmons and Maddie Hay with Paige Hadley in the midcourt after battling with their full court transition against the Vixens a week earlier. But it was the battle in the middle between Hadley and her Diamonds teammate Jamie-Lee Price that dominated proceedings. In a physical encounter, the pair went hammer and tongs at each other, with Price taking points in an opening half during which both wore the centre bib. Hadley said it was a battle she loved. 'I'm never going to beat her physically, she loves being on the body, she loves to push and shove but for me it's about bringing my skill set really well,' Hadley said. 'But you always love the battle coming up against a Diamond.' Hadley was switched to wing attack in the second half and dominated, creating outstanding opportunities and angles for her shooters, with Price switched to wing defence in a bid to shut her down again. The Giants' middies were exceptional at times but their lack of depth and experience told at times, with Hope White's injection in the third term in place of Maddie Hay not paying dividends, while for the Swifts, Allie Smith and Sharni Lambden entered the game seamlessly for Verity Simmons and Maddy Turner. SWIFTS DEFENCE ON SONG Just as they rotated their midcourt, the Swifts' depth in defence was on full show, with Teigan O'Shannassy switched to goalkeeper just before halftime and snaring MVP honours with five gains, including four intercepts. Sarah Klau, who snared player of the match honours the previous week against the Vixens, started in the GK bib against Harten but with the former England Roses shooter leading by example and keeping her team in the game, the switch was made, with the taller O'Shannassy pushed back to 'keeper, allowing Klau to hunt out in front, with Turner also used at goal defence. The injection of Aussie Kelpies men's captain Dylan Nexhip as an assistant focusing on defence has been an overlooked component of the Swifts' dominance this season and his input was again pivotal in Sunday's derby. WHERE TO FOR GIANTS Things get no easier for the Giants, who host the West Coast Fever on Saturday to finish the opening round of fixtures. With just one win under their belts, pressure is mounting on players and coaching staff, with questions over the future of veterans Julie Fitzgerald and Harten, who are both off contract at the end of the season. Harten's co-captain Jamie-Lee Price is contracted until the end of 2026 but her recent comments that 'It's just a matter of when I go to Melbourne' to join long-term partner and Collingwood AFL player Harry Perryman could also be destabilising. Price though was outstanding for the Giants on Sunday and her efforts cannot be questioned, while Harten, one of the smartest players in the league, has also turned in a couple of vintage performances in her last two outings, although she is no longer a 60-minute option at full throttle.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Record start continues for Super Netball pacesetters
The NSW Swifts have survived a first-half scare in their Sydney derby clash with the Giants before extending their record-setting start to the Super Netball season. Sunday's contest at Ken Rosewall Arena drew together two teams at different ends of the ladder, but the Giants threw everything they had at their unbeaten rivals before falling to an 82-69 defeat. While the Swifts remain unbeaten after six rounds - continuing their best start to a season - the Giants remain at the bottom of the ladder with just one win. The Swifts got off to a sluggish start that has typified their recent matches. They still managed to hold a three-goal lead at the main break after a feisty first half featuring a physical battle between Swifts centre Paige Hadley and her Giants counterpart and fellow Diamond Jamie-Lee Price. But the third quarter proved crucial as the competition front-runners streaked away with the match, extending their lead to 60-48 with sharp-shooter Grace Nweke almost unstoppable. Down the other end, Swifts keeper Teigan O'Shannassy also kept a tight lid on the Giants and was named player of the match. The Giants lost Jo Harten with a mystery injury. The veteran shooter made her way off court and down the tunnel midway through the third quarter and was unable to return. Harten had been in blistering form, with 25 goals from 25 attempts and two from four from the two-point range. Matisse Leatherbarrow took over the GS bib and was also on target with 16 goals from 19 attempts, including five super shots. The Giants tried to claw their way back into the match in the final term but the deficit proved too much, with the Swifts' Kiwi ace Nweke finishing with a mammoth haul of 64 goals from 67 attempts. Briony Akle's troops extended their dominance over the Giants, now winning their past six clashes. "We wanted to start each quarter hard, we wanted to come out and lay a mark and I think we did that," said ex-Giant O'Shannassy. "We got told by Briony to go out and do what we do best, individually and as a team, and getting that freedom from the coach is something that lifts everyone up. "It's the battle of NSW and no matter where they (Giants) are on the ladder they bring out the best in us and no matter where we are in the ladder it's always going to be a great game."
