Five Queensland Firebirds’ have today been named alongside some of the nation’s most exciting up-and-coming netballers in Netball Australia’s 2020/21 Australian Development Squad.
Shooter Tippah Dwan, Midcourters Lara Dunkley, Jemma Mi Mi and Mahalia Cassidy, and defender Tara Hinchliffe have all been selected in the squad of 14, following promising performances throughout the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball season.
Dwan, Dunkley and Cassidy are amongst seven athletes who will get their first Development Squad experience, with Kate Eddy, Sasha Glasgow, Lauren Moore and Maisie Nankivell also named for the first time.
Queensland Firebirds’ High Performance Director, Jeremy Hickmans, said their selection was just reward
“All five Firebirds’ have grown immensely across a unique season and, as a Club, we are incredibly proud to see their development both acknowledged and rewarded with selection in this squad,” Hickmans said.
Introduced in 2019, the squad captures talent within the Australian pathway demonstrating the capability and potential to progress to the Origin Diamonds within the current four-year performance cycle.
The Australian Development Squad will gather for a camp in line with the Origin Diamonds as they prepare for the Constellation Cup in early 2021. Details around this camp are yet to be confirmed.
Origin Diamonds Coach Stacey Marinkovich is excited by the list that has been named.
“With Suncorp Super Netball lists expanded to 12 players this season, it really allowed for our next layer of talent to lay their claim on the game and I’m continually impressed with what they’re putting out there – it will be great to get this group together with the Diamonds in 2021,” she said.
“Our priority with this squad is to identify and develop athletes within our pathway to ensure we have an elite program that is deep with talent right across the court. We will keep this program closely aligned to the Origin Diamonds and Under 21 Netball World Youth Cup team to help us prepare for our benchmark events in the Commonwealth Games and Netball World Cup.”
This squad was selected by the National Selection Panel made up of Marinkovich, Anne Sargeant and Michelle Wilkins.
2020/21 Australian Development Squad
Mahalia Cassidy – Queensland Firebirds/Queensland
Lara Dunkley – Queensland Firebirds/Victoria
Tippah Dwan – Queensland Firebirds/Queensland
Kate Eddy – Melbourne Vixens/Victoria
Matilda Garrett – Collingwood Magpies/Victoria
Sasha Glasgow – Adelaide Thunderbirds/South Australia
Tara Hinchliffe – Queensland Firebirds/Queensland
Olivia Lewis – West Coast Fever/Western Australia
Jemma Mi Mi – Queensland Firebirds/Queensland
Lauren Moore – NSW Swifts/New South Wales
Maisie Nankivell – Adelaide Thunderbirds/South Australia
Amy Parmenter – GIANTS Netball/New South Wales
Alice Teague-Neeld – West Coast Fever/Victoria
Maddy Turner – NSW Swifts/South Australia
