Collingwood Magpies have appointed Nicole Richardson as head coach ahead of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season.

Richardson, who won a Commonwealth Games netball gold medal in 2002 and a World Championship silver medal in 2003, has coached at national youth level for the past eight years. 

She will replace Rob Wright as head coach after spending the last two years on Collingwood’s coaching panel as a defensive coach.  

Before moving to Collingwood she also had a stint at West Coast Fever as a specialist coach. 

Richardson said: "I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to drive the Collingwood program forward. After four seasons we are emerging from our establishment phase as a netball operation. It is now time to make our mark.

“A tough campaign this year taught us so much and has placed us, I believe, in a position to make rapid progress in 2021.”

Collingwood Chief Executive Officer Mark Anderson added: “Nicole will be a head coach who will lead and set high performance standards within our program that translate on-court both in training and on match day.”

Richardson also won an Olympic bronze medal in softball in 1996.