Nweke and Jury share top netball honour

The top Silver Ferns shoorter and defender have taken out the New Zealand Netball Supreme Award for 2022.

Kelly Jury
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Rising young shooter Grace Nweke and resurgent defender Kelly Jury have been jointly awarded the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award.

Recognising the best netballer across all competitions and campaigns, the influential pair capped a defining year to become the first joint winners of the sport’s top accolade.

In a stunning year for both, Jury, 26, was also awarded the 2022 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year and ANZ Premiership Player’s Player of the Year on the back of a triumphant season with the title-winning Pulse.

Elevated to the co-captaincy this year, Jury relished the extra responsibility with a standout season, combining consistency with her ball-winning ability to top the intercept and deflection counts across all players during the 2022 ANZ Premiership season while finishing second in the rebounding stakes.

After a fine start to the domestic season for the Mystics, Nweke, 20, was curtailed by injury at the business end but back to full fitness, shone in the international arena to also scoop the Silver Ferns Player of the Year award.

Showing massive improvements across all areas of her game, Nweke was a shining light throughout the Silver Ferns campaigns of 2022 as she continues to build a formidable presence. With more game time against seasoned internationals, Nweke just keeps getting better and has laid the perfect launching pad for further success.

After a year away, the popular Yvette McCausland-Durie made a memorable return to guide the Pulse to a record third title and a second ANZ Premiership Coach of the Year award. She was a previous winner in 2019.

Grace Nweke in action against Australia
Photo: Aaron Gillions / www.photosport.nz

Southland’s Kristie Simpson made it back-to-back Umpire of the Year awards with another standard-setting season in 2022 through her consistency of performance and extensive experience at the top level.

Suffering a serious knee injury and missing the previous season, Southern Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan bounced back in style to win the 2022 Aspiring Silver Fern award.

Mirroring the Pulse’s success, sister team Central Manawa also featured prominently on the highlights reel with livewire midcourter Ainsleyana Puleiata and Anna Andrews-Tasola recognised as the 2022 National Netball League Player and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Promising young Waikato defender Kaiya Kepa was awarded Secondary Schools Player of the Year after a stellar 2022.

For her strong commitment to the smooth sailing of matches from NNL to international outings throughout the year, Rachel Smith received the Outstanding Contribution to Netball by a Technical Official award.

Long-serving New Zealand Netball Players Association (NZNPA) board member Tim Lythe was honoured for his on-going contribution to supporting and enhancing the country’s netball professionals.