30 January 2020

Netball stars Laura Langman, Nat Haythornthwaite and Jhaniele Fowler all included in Australia's bushfire relief charity match

Some of netball's biggest players have been confirmed to feature in Australia's bushfires relief charity match in March. 

The match will see the Australian Diamonds take on the Suncorp Super Netball All-Stars to help raise funds towards the devastating bushfires which have ripped through parts of the country.

The All-Stars team will feature Sunshine Coast Lightning player Laura Langman, who is New Zealand's most capped player with 151. 

Meanwhile, England's Geva Mentor and Chelsea Pitman have both been selected to play. 

Mentor has played for the Collingwood Magpies since last year and Pitman now co-captains the Adelaide Thunderbirds. 

New South Wales Swifts' Natalie Haythornthwaite will also play off the back off England's bronze-medal winning Nations Cup series, where she captained the side.

South Africa defender Karla Pretorius will also feature in the All-Stars line-up and will be joined by West Coast Fever and Jamaica's Jhaniele Fowler, who is classed as one of the world's best shooters.

And the Australian Diamonds will be led by superstar Caitlin Bassett, who has earned an enormous 90 caps for her side. 

Head coach of the team Lisa Alexander said: "This will truly be a spectacle for netball fans right across the globe. To have the world’s best netballers all taking to the one court in a game is going to be a sight to behold.

"I’m honoured to be part of this match and so proud of our elite netball program and netball in Australia in being able to pull this brilliant event together in such a short timeframe to support our communities who have been affected by these devastating fires."

All funds raised will be donated to the Natural Disaster Relief Fund.

The funding will go towards supporting netball-specific bushfire relief and recovery projects. 

Netball Australia announced yesterday that they will also be joining other major sports and COMPPS to help the recovery of sports facilities which were affected. 

Australian Diamonds squad: 

Caitlin Bassett (captain) (GIANTS Netball), Liz Watson (vice-captain) (Melbourne Vixens), Kiera Austin (GIANTS Netball), Ash Brazill (Collingwood Magpies), Courtney Bruce (West Coast Fever), Paige Hadley (NSW Swifts), Sarah Klau (NSW Swifts), Tegan Philip (Melbourne Vixens), Jamie-Lee Price (GIANTS Netball), Laura Scherian (Sunshine Coast Lightning), Caitlin Thwaites (Melbourne Vixens), Gretel Tippett (Queensland Firebirds), Maddy Turner (NSW Swifts), Jo Weston (Melbourne Vixens). 

Suncorp Super Netball All-Stars squad: 

Jhaniele Fowler (West Coast Fever), Jo Harten (GIANTS Netball), Nat Haythornthwaite (NSW Swifts), Helen Housby (NSW Swifts), Laura Langman (Sunshine Coast Lightning), Emily Mannix (Melbourne Vixens), Kristiana Manu’a (GIANTS Netball), Geva Mentor (Collingwood Magpies), Kate Moloney (Melbourne Vixens), Chelsea Pitman (Adelaide Thunderbirds), Karla Pretorius (Sunshine Coast Lightning), Gabi Simpson (Queensland Firebirds), Shamera Sterling (Adelaide Thunderbirds), Sam Wallace (NSW Swifts).

The match will take place on March 1 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. 

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