Shooter Grace Nweke has finished up her second season with the New South Wales Swifts, having won titles with the Mystics in 2021 and 2023.
Nweke told the Herald the potential of her former ANZ Premiership club joining Super Netball is exciting.
“They’ve shown they are the standard in club netball in New Zealand. They continue to perform week in, week out, and are the most successful club in the league’s history.
“The Mystics are more than capable of giving teams in Aussie a run. It’s an interesting time in netball at the moment in terms of where the league lands, broadcasting and whatnot.
“Ultimately, we want to see the game thriving in both countries. So whatever that looks like, a mix of the Kiwi teams over in Aussie and longer seasons would be really, really cool.”
Ferns midcourter Kate Heffernan is a Super Netball champion, having won the 2026 title with the Adelaide Thunderbirds last weekend. The 26-year-old was voted midcourter of the year and international player of the year by her fellow Super Netball athletes.
Heffernan commends the Mystics’ initiative given the sport’s shifting landscape.
“The way netball is going, everyone’s going to have to be adaptable, and I think it’s pretty exciting. The SSN have talked about expanding, and it would be pretty cool to have a couple of New Zealand teams.”
Nweke was asked if she would consider returning to the Mystics if they were awarded a Super Netball licence.
“I think the dominoes have to fall before I can comment on where I’d take my netball in the future. The future of Super Netball is also uncertain at the moment in terms of the broadcast deal and CPAs [collective player agreements]. There’s a lot to be confirmed, but the prospect is very exciting, so who knows?”
Heffernan – a former Southern Steel captain – admitted the idea of playing for the Auckland-based Mystics would be “a little bit funny”.
“I’m Steel, and right now I’m Thunderbirds, but if there were a New Zealand team getting into that SSN it would be a pretty great opportunity for any of us New Zealanders. But yeah, who knows?
“It is exciting even just to hear something like that could happen. That’s the kind of growth we need for netball in New Zealand right now, considering those different avenues that we might need to go down.”
The continued uncertainty around the future of the ANZ Premiership has seen the likes of Silver Ferns Amelia Walmsley, Martina Salmon and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, plus Mystics coaches Tia Winikerei and Rob Wright demand answers.
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.
