Top Talent Honoured At NZ Netball Awards

12 December, 2022

Capping their towering presence at either end of the court, rising young shooter Grace Nweke and resurgent defender Kelly Jury have taken out the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award for 2022.

Recognising the best netballer across all competitions and campaigns, the influential pair capped a defining year to become the first joint winners of the sport’s top accolade at the annual New Zealand Netball Awards, presented by ANZ.

In a stunning year for both, Jury, 26, was also awarded the 2022 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year and ANZ Premiership Player’s Player of the Year on the back of a triumphant season with the title-winning Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse.

Elevated to the co-captaincy this year, Jury relished the extra responsibility with a standout season, combining consistency with her ball-winning ability to top the intercept and deflection counts across all players during the 2022 ANZ Premiership season while finishing second in the rebounding stakes.

After a fine start to the domestic season for the MG Mystics, Nweke, 20, was curtailed by injury at the business end but back to full fitness, shone in the international arena to also scoop the Silver Ferns Player of the Year award.

Showing massive improvements across all areas of her game, Nweke was a shining light throughout the Silver Ferns campaigns of 2022 as she continues to build a formidable presence. With more game time against seasoned internationals, Nweke just keeps getting better and has laid the perfect launching pad for further success.

After a year away, the popular Yvette McCausland-Durie made a memorable return to guide the Pulse to a record third title and a second ANZ Premiership Coach of the Year award. She was a previous winner in 2019.

Southland’s Kristie Simpson made it back-to-back Umpire of the Year awards with another standard-setting season in 2022 through her consistency of performance and extensive experience at the top level.

Simpson has fashioned an impressive resume during an extensive career and earlier this year became New Zealand’s most capped national league umpire when controlling her 120th match after making her debut in 2010. By season’s end that had reached 125.

Suffering a serious knee injury and missing the previous season, Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan bounced back in style to win the 2022 Aspiring Silver Fern award.

A Silver Ferns Development Squad member, Heffernan quickly found her feet when returning to the Steel this season. She was also a part of the history-making Mixed Invitational team during the Cadbury Netball Series and a strong presence for the FAST5 Ferns bronze medal-winning team during the FAST5 Netball World Series.

Mirroring the Pulse’s success, sister team Central Manawa also featured prominently on the highlights reel with livewire midcourter Ainsleyana Puleiata and Anna Andrews-Tasola recognised as the 2022 National Netball League (NNL) Player and Coach of the Year, respectively.

A sparkling athletic talent with a rich array of skills, Puleiata has developed a strong mental fortitude and created her own inspirational story after bouncing back from two ACL ruptures during her young career.

Elevated to the head coach role in 2020 after being the assistant for three years, Andrews-Tasola had the constant backdrop of Covid to navigate during her tenure.

After missing out on the final in 2021, for the first time since the inception of league in 2016, Andrews-Tasola got her reward when guiding this year’s Manawa team to the title.

Balancing her busy schedule as a police sergeant and whistling netball matches, Blenheim’s Michelle Stagg took out the 2022 NNL Umpire of the Year. Appointed to the NNL Grand Final for the first time, Stagg also umpired her first ANZ Premiership match during 2022.

Promising young Waikato defender Kaiya Kepa was awarded Secondary Schools Player of the Year after a stellar 2022.

Showcasing an ability to transition between different environments along with her strong work ethic and training habits, Kepa was named NZSS captain after completing a season which included winning the Upper North Island and ultimately NZSS tournaments with Hamilton Girls’ High School and finishing third at the NZ U18 tournament with Hamilton City.

For her strong commitment to the smooth sailing of matches from NNL to international outings throughout the year, Rachel Smith received the Outstanding Contribution to Netball by a Technical Official award.

Long-serving New Zealand Netball Players Association (NZNPA) board member Tim Lythe was honoured for his on-going contribution to supporting and enhancing the country’s netball professionals.

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