The 2008 New South Wales Swifts season was the inaugural season for both

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was ...

and the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

. Swifts were formed in late

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

when

Netball New South Wales Netball New South Wales is the governing body for netball in New South Wales. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing two elite level teams, New South Wales Swifts and Giants Netball, who compete in Su ...

merged its two former

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

league teams,

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three te ...

and

Hunter Jaegers Hunter Jaegers were an Australian netball team based in Newcastle, New South Wales. Together with Sydney Swifts and Sydney Sandpipers, they were one of three teams to represent Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. H ...

, in order to enter a single team in the 2008 ANZ Championship. With a team coached by

Julie Fitzgerald Julie Fitzgerald is a veteran Australian netball coach. Between 1997 and 2007, Fitzgerald served as head coach of Sydney Swifts in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. She guided Swifts to premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. Between ...

and captained by Catherine Cox, Swifts won 10 of their 13 matches during the regular season and finished second behind

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

. Swifts subsequently defeated Magic in both the major semi–final and the grand final to become the inaugural ANZ Championship winners.

Players

Player movements

;Notes * Eight members of the 2008 New South Wales Swifts squad had been members of the 2007

squad that had won the

league title. *

Megan Dehn Megan Anderson, also known as Megan McWilliams and previously known as Megan Dehn, is a former Australia netball international and current netball coach. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 20 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of t ...

was originally a member of the 2008 Swifts squad but subsequently withdrew and joined

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...

Roster

Regular season

On 7 April, Swifts made their

debut against

at the

Acer Arena The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena) is a large multipurpose arena located in Sydney, Australia. It is situated in Sydney Olympic Park, and was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for the 2000 Summer Olympics. ...

. During the regular season Swifts won 10 of their 13 matches and finished second behind

Fixtures and results

;Round 1 ;Round 2 ;Round 3 ;Round 4 ;Round 5 ;Round 6 ;Round 7 ;Round 8 ;Round 9 '' received a bye.'' ;Round 10 ;Round 11 ;Round 12 ;Round 13 ;Round 14

Final table

Play offs

Swifts defeated Magic in both the major semi–final and the grand final to become the inaugural ANZ Championship winners. ----

Players

Player movements

Roster

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Final table

Play offs

Major Semi-final

Grand Final

Award winners

ANZ Championship awards

Australian Netball Awards

Swifts awards

References