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Anne Sargeant
Centre, Australia, 1978 to 1988. Sargeant played for Australia for eleven years and captained the side from 1983 to 1988, setting the standard for the modern centre: the player who takes the first pass at every centre restart and decides how the attack builds. Her later work as a commentator and national selector means many fans have learned to read midcourt play through her.
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Vicki Wilson (netball)
Goal shooter, Australia, 1985 to 1999. Wilson came back from a serious knee injury suffered at the 1995 World Championships to captain Australia to the first Commonwealth Games netball gold in 1998 and to the 1999 world title, won by a single goal. Her holding and footwork under the post show that a shooter's work starts before the catch, in how she sets position against a goalkeeper.
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Liz Ellis
Goal keeper, Australia, 1992 to 2007. Ellis is Australia's most capped international and captained the side for her last four years, ending with the 2007 World Championship title. She was known for reading the shooter's movement early and contesting every lob and rebound, the sort of defender whose influence shows in how many passes are never attempted.
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Irene van Dyk
Goal shooter, South Africa and New Zealand. Van Dyk played 72 tests for South Africa and 145 for New Zealand, making her the world's most capped netball international, and shot 90 per cent across her career. She won the 2003 World Championship with New Zealand, and her timing of the lead into space, rather than simply standing tall under the post, is what made her so reliable.
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Sharelle McMahon
Goal attack, Australia and Melbourne. McMahon captained Australia and led the Melbourne Vixens to the 2009 ANZ Championship title. Australian coach Norma Plummer rated her among the most naturally athletic players the game has seen, and her drives from the centre third into the circle show what makes goal attack the most mobile shooting role: feeding, shooting and pulling defenders out of position.
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Temepara Bailey
Centre, New Zealand and Northern Mystics. Temepara George (now Bailey) anchored the Silver Ferns midcourt through the 2000s, winning world and Commonwealth titles, and played every quarter of the Mystics' first ANZ Championship seasons. Her speed onto the centre pass and quick release into the circle made her the engine of a fast-feeding New Zealand attack.
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Geva Mentor
Goal keeper, England and Leeds Rhinos. Mentor competed at six Commonwealth Games for England and was part of the side that won a historic first gold in 2018, beating Australia on the Gold Coast. Her long reach and patience in front of the shooter, rather than lunging for every ball, have kept her at the top level for two decades, including premierships in Australia's leagues.
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Laura Langman
Centre and wing defence, New Zealand. Langman is the Silver Ferns' most capped player, with 163 tests, and captained them to the 2019 World Cup title, moving between the attacking and defensive midcourt roles. Her running, with constant leads and recoveries, is the clearest example of how much ground a centre covers without ever entering a shooting circle.
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Casey Kopua
Goal defence, New Zealand. Kopua captained the Silver Ferns and won Commonwealth gold in 2006 and 2010, then was coaxed out of retirement by coach Noeline Taurua for the 2019 World Cup and named player of the match in the final as New Zealand won. Her timing on the intercept, reading the feeder's eyes rather than the shooter, is a model for goal defence.
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Laura Geitz
Goal keeper, Australia and Queensland Firebirds. Geitz won the 2011 world title, then captained Australia to Commonwealth gold in 2014 and the World Cup in 2015, and led the Firebirds to the 2015 ANZ Championship. Her height, clean hands and timing on the rebound made the circle a place where opposing shooters had to earn every goal.
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Jade Clarke
Wing defence and centre, England. Clarke played at six World Cups from 2003 to 2023 and four Commonwealth Games, including the 2018 gold, and is England's most capped player and the most capped player for any single country. Her role is the unglamorous one of shadowing the opposing wing attack and cutting off the feed into the circle, done consistently enough to last two decades.
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Maria Folau
Goal attack, New Zealand. Folau was known for long-range shooting from the edge of the circle, the hardest shot in netball, and for the calm feeding that made her a natural partner for taller goal shooters. She was a key part of the Silver Ferns side that won the 2019 World Cup, and she shows how a goal attack stretches a defence by being a threat from anywhere in the circle.
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Serena Guthrie
Centre and wing defence, England. Guthrie was one of the midcourt leaders of the England side that won its first Commonwealth gold in 2018 and captained the Roses at the 2019 World Cup, combining relentless defensive pressure with drive onto the centre pass. Her ability to switch between attacking and defending roles within a match made her one of the most influential English players of her generation.
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Helen Housby
Goal attack, England. Housby scored the goal after the final whistle, from a penalty shot, that beat Australia 52-51 in the 2018 Commonwealth Games final and gave England its first gold. Beyond that moment, her strength is movement: she works the top of the circle, feeds her goal shooter and keeps the goalkeeper guessing about whether she will drive or shoot.
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Karla Pretorius
Goal defence and wing defence, South Africa. Pretorius has been the defensive leader of the Proteas for more than a decade and won Super Netball premierships with the Sunshine Coast Lightning. Her footwork lets her stay with a goal attack all the way from the centre third to the post, and her deflections often come from pressure on the pass rather than leaping for the ball.
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Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard
Goal shooter, Jamaica and West Coast Fever. Fowler-Nembhard has been named Super Netball Player of the Year five times, scoring at very high accuracy from close range. She belongs here because her game shows the craft of the holding shooter: she plants herself, uses her body to shield the space and gives feeders a target they can hit under pressure.
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Liz Watson (netball)
Wing attack and centre, Australia. Watson won Commonwealth gold in 2022 and the World Cup in 2023 and has won the Liz Ellis Diamond, the award for Australia's best player. Her vision on the circle edge, holding the ball for a split second until the shooter's lead opens, makes her one of the best feeders in the game and a good player to watch for how the final pass is made.
More about Liz Watson (netball)18
Shamera Sterling
Goal keeper, Jamaica and Adelaide Thunderbirds. Sterling-Humphrey was named Super Netball Player of the Year in 2023, an award usually won by shooters or midcourters. Her long, timed leaps for intercepts and rebounds have made her one of the most exciting defenders to watch, and she shows how a goalkeeper can turn defence into attack in a single movement.
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