Stuart, a highly credentialled coach with several seasons under her belt in Queensland’s state league competition, will work as assistant coach to Kiri Wills.
The announcement caps a big year for Stuart, who successfully led the TAE Aerospace Ipswich Jets to this year’s HART Premier League netball title, losing just one match in the entire season.
As well as her state league experience, Stuart has previously led the Queensland University of Technology’s High-Performance Program and held coaching roles with Tonga’s Under-21s and the Samoa National Team.
Stuart is also set to lead Samoa to the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar next year, recently leading the Pacific nation’s Under 21s to five wins from five games in the Oceania Qualifiers in the Cook Islands.
“I am deeply honoured to have been given the opportunity to expand my coaching knowledge and work alongside Kiri and the other highly skilled staff members,” Stuart said.
“This experience allows me to not only contribute my expertise but also continue learning from such a talented team.”
The Firebirds also welcome back Brynley Abad as the club’s Head of Strength and Conditioning having previously been with the club from 2013 to 2016 and 2020 to 2023 in various high-performance roles.
“I’m delighted to welcome Paula and Bryn into my team for the upcoming season,” Wills said.
“Paula is not only a successful high-performance coach, she brings with her a wealth of knowledge of netball in Queensland which will be incredibly useful for me to tap into.
“Bryn meanwhile has worked for many years in high-performance environments and knows many of our current players well from his previous time with the club.
“With my support staff beside me and our playing group finalised, I’m excited to get stuck into our preparations for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season.”
