The Firebirds Futures are an Australian netball team that represents Netball Queensland in the Australian Netball Championships. Between 2008 and 2019, as Queensland Fusion, they played in the Australian Netball League. From 2020 to 2022, the team was known as the Queensland Sapphires. The Firebirds Futures are effectively the reserve team of Queensland Firebirds and the representative team of the HART Sapphire Series.
| Founded | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|
| Based in | Brisbane | |
| Regions | Queensland | |
| Home venue | Queensland State Netball Centre | |
| Head coach | Katie Walker | |
| Asst coach | Simone Nalatu | |
| Manager | Ashley Naugamo | |
| League | Australian Netball Championships | |
| Website | Firebirds Futures | |
| ||
History
editQueensland Fusion
editBetween 2008 and 2019, Queensland Fusion played in the Australian Netball League. They were founder members of the ANL. Their best performance in the ANL came in 2014 when they reached the grand final but lost 51–49 to Victorian Fury.[1][2][3]
- Regular season statistics
| Season | Position | Won | Drawn | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | ||||
| 2009[4][5] | 3rd | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| 2010 | ||||
| 2011[6] | 4th | |||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013[2] | 6th | |||
| 2014[2] | ||||
| 2015[7] | ||||
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | ||||
| 2019 |
Overall runners Up
Queensland Sapphires
editIn 2021, Queensland Fusion were re-branded Queensland Sapphires after the HART Sapphire Series. In September 2021, they were due to represent Netball Queensland in the inaugural Australian Netball Championships tournament.[8][9][10][11][12] However, this tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Sapphires subsequently played in a four team series, playing against Sunshine Coast Lightning's ANC team, the Queensland Suns men's netball team and PacificAus Sports, a Pacific Islander select.[14][15][16]
Grand finals
edit| Season | Winners | Score | Runners Up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 [2][3] | Victorian Fury | 51–49 | Queensland Fusion | Waverley Netball Centre |
Source:[17]
Home venue
editDuring the 2019 ANL season, Queensland Fusion played their home matches at theQueensland State Netball Centre.[18]
Notable players
edit2021 squad
edit| Queensland Sapphires – 2021 Australian Netball Championships roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Manager:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player profiles: Team website | Last updated: 29 December 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:[12]
Internationals
edit
Queensland Firebirds
editSunshine Coast Lightning
editHead coaches
edit| Coach | Years |
|---|---|
| Kylee Sampson[19] | 2009 |
| Kylee Byrne[2] | 2012, 2014 |
| Tracey Jeanes-Fraser | 2017 |
| Jenny Brazel[6][7][20] | 2011, 2015, 2020 |
| Katie Walker[8][12] | 2021 |
Premierships
edit- Australian Netball League
- Runners up: 2014: 1
References
edit- ^ "Queensland Fusion". Netball Queensland. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Netball Queensland – Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Two titles for Fury". Riverine Herald. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "2009 New Idea Australian Netball League". www.netball.asn.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Australian Netball League 2009". www.netball.org.sg. 22 July 2010. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "2011 Netball Queensland Annual Report" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b c "2015 Netball Queensland Annual Report" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Queensland Sapphires to be introduced to netball world at Championships in September". qld.netball.com.au. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "ANC & Qld Sapphire". qld.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Record number of teams enter ANC". netball.com.au. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Australian Netball Championships – 2021 Fixture" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "High hopes set for Australian Championships as Queensland Sapphires announce squad". qld.netball.com.au. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Queensland Sapphires look at options as Australian Netball Championships remodelled". qld.netball.com.au. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Exciting talent to light up the coast in Born to Shine series". qld.netball.com.au. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Elite stars on court". 16 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021 – via PressReader.
- ^ "Australia and the Pacific share one court in Born to Shine Series". netball.com.au. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Australian Netball Championships". netball.com.au. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ "2019 DUANL Fixture" (PDF). netball.com.au. 15 April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ "Storm grabs a record win". Sunday Territorian. 16 August 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via PressReader.
- ^ "Queensland Fusion". Netball Queensland. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2021.