By Jonty Ralphsmith
Former Cranbourne and Narre Warren netballer Matilda Garrett played in the Adelaide Thunderbirds’ Suncorp Super Netball premiership on Saturday night.
At John Cain Arena, the Thunderbirds won an extra-time thriller 60-59, after going in as underdogs against the New South Wales Swifts, and leading by eight goals at halftime.
Garrett, a lockdown defender who has made a name for herself as a goal defence, started on the interchange but played a key part in the win and has been excellent this season.
At Adelaide, she has international star Shamera Sterling and young riser Latanya Wilson to learn off in the key defensive posts.
The 186cm 24-year-old played 16 games in 2023, her third season at the Thunderbirds, accumulating an impressive 41 deflections, 10 rebounds and 16 intercepts to make a nuisance of herself when opponents attack.
A graduate of the Rowville Sports Academy, she represented Victoria in four separate underage teams and made her state debut at 15-years-old.
Her first taste of netball was with Cranbourne, before she spent a season at Narre Warren, representative netball taking her elsewhere after that.
Prior to arriving at the Thunderbirds, she spent three seasons at Collingwood.
Garrett has long been noted for her disciplined defence, pressure and ability to read the play, with those traits helping her form part of the Australian World Youth Cup silver medal squad in 2017.
In April, she was announced in the Australian Diamonds World Cup squad as her trajectory continues to trend up.
