Nat Haythornthwaite of the Swifts in Super Netball action. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Natalie Haythornthwaite has recommitted to the NSW Swifts for the 2021 Super Netball season.
A Premiership winner with the club in 2019, Haythornthwaite’s signing comes one day after the Swifts announced the return of fellow attacker and Vitality Rose Helen Housby who enters the final season of her current three-year deal.
Haythornthwaite, who captained the Vitality Roses in the test series against South Africa last year and in the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in January, has become a stalwart of the club over the past three years.
Initially signed as a replacement player in 2018, she overcame an injury-interrupted 2019 campaign to produce one of the standout performances in the Swifts’ Grand Final success over the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Discussing the return of Haythornthwaite and Australian sharpshooter Sophie Garbin on the club’s official website, Head Coach Briony Akle said both players were proven winners and key to the Swifts’ plans to bring the Super Netball title back to NSW, having missed out on successive Premierships in 2020.
“Depth is of huge importance when you are looking to win a championship and both Sophie and Nat have demonstrated how important they are over the past number of years,” she said.
“Natalie arrived at the Swifts as a Commonwealth gold medal winner and went on to add a Premiership with us the following year.
“That shows the calibre of player she is, but she is also one of the most diligent, humble and hard-working people we have at the club.
“Both have the hunger and drive to succeed and add to the legacy of the club.
“We can’t wait to welcome them back for what will be another big pre-season going into next year.”
Due to the current Super Netball Collective Bargaining Agreement coming to an end in 2021 competition clubs are not permitted to sign players beyond next season.
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