NQ names Firebirds Futures squad for 2023 ANC

The squad features several players who represented NQ in securing bronze at last year’s ANC, including Queensland Firebirds training partners Leesa Mi Mi, Isabelle Shearer and Olivia Dijkstra. 

Rylee Burns, Lia Woolnough and Danielle Taylor are the other players returning from last year’s tournament while Maddi Ridley has been named after missing the 2022 ANC due to injury. 

New faces in the squad include Brisbane South Wildcats young gun Tahlia Evans and Gold Coast Titans trio Talitah Faifai, Jess Milne and Kourtnee Baird. 

Jessie Laga’aia’s break-out season in the HART Sapphire Series with the Carina Leagues Club Tigers has resulted in her selection, while 19/Under Australian squad member Elsa Sif Sandholt will be eager to build on her growing combination with TAE Aerospace Jets Netball teammate Abigail Meafou. 

The Jets’ strong HART Sapphire Series campaign is reflected in the selection of five players in total including Chloe Litherland and Lily Gribble as well as Sandholt, Meafou and Taylor. 

There are also five ACU Brisbane North Cougars players named – Burns, Mi Mi, Woolnough, Dijkstra and Ashlee Barnett. 

Annabelle Lawrie joins Ridley, Shearer and Laga’aia in a Tigers quartet for the squad which will be reduced to a final team of 12 later this month. 

“This squad of 18 athletes is a true reflection of the diversity of athletes we have competing in our Hart Sapphire Series with a strong mix of experienced talent and some emerging athletes with an eye to promote and develop our 21s cohort of athletes making their mark on Queensland’s premier competition,” Firebirds Futures Head Coach Jessica Whitfort said. 

Last year’s Queensland Sapphires captain Hulita Veve was ineligible for the ANC due her upcoming participation for Tonga in the 2023 World Cup in South Africa. 

The date and venue of the ANC will be announced soon. 

Firebirds Futures 2023 squad