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 the Australia team that won the silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

. During the

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 ...

era, Anderson was a member of

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 ...

teams that won premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. During 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 ...

era, she played for

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 ...

and

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body tha ...

. After retiring as a player in 2011, she became a coach. In 2020 Anderson was appointed head coach of

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the C ...

Early life, family and education

Anderson was raised in

Woy Woy, New South Wales Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water north of Sydney. It is a population centre within the local government area A local government area (LGA) ...

. Her mother was a netball umpire and Anderson began played netball, aged 8, with the St John the Baptist netball club and the Woy Woy Peninsula Netball Association at

Ettalong Beach Ettalong Beach is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia south of Woy Woy on Brisbane Water at the point where it meets Broken Bay, about 80 km north of Sydney. It is part of the local government area. Ettalon ...

. Between 1991 and 1992, Anderson attended Corpus Christi College. She is the mother of twins, born c.2014. Anderson is married to Mark McWilliams.

Playing career

New South Wales

Between 1992 and 1995, Anderson represented

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the

Australian National Netball Championships The Australian National Netball Championships are a series of annual netball tournaments, organised by Netball Australia and featuring representative teams from the states and territories of Australia. The earliest tournaments took place during ...

. In 1992 she featured at under-19 level. Between 1993 and 1995 she played at under-21 levels.

Mobil Superleague

In 1994, Anderson played for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in the

Mobil Superleague The Esso Superleague, later known as the Mobil Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netball A ...

Commonwealth Bank Trophy

During the

era, Anderson made 141 appearances, playing 519 quarters and scoring 2507 goals. She played for

Sydney Sandpipers Sydney Sandpipers were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2003, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three t ...

Adelaide Ravens Adelaide Ravens were an Australian netball team that, together with Adelaide Thunderbirds, represented Netball South Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. In 1997 Ravens were founder members of the league. In 1999 they were grand fi ...

and

Sydney Sandpipers

In 1998 Anderson made 13 appearances for

Adelaide Ravens

In 1999 Anderson made 17 appearances for

. Together with

Michelle den Dekker Michelle den Dekker , also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of ...

, she was a member of the Ravens team coached by

Patricia Mickan Patricia "Pat" Mickan (born 12 March 1957) is an Australian former basketball player. Biography Mickan played 150 games for the national team between 1979 and 1989, competing at two Olympic Games; 1984 and 1988.Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in ...

Sydney Swifts

During two spells with Swifts, Anderson made 111 appearances. She was a member of

teams that won premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. Her team mates at Sydney Swifts included

Briony Akle Briony Akle is a former Australia netball player and current netball coach. Between 1999 and 2004, Akle played for Sydney Swifts in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Akle was a member of the Sydney Swifts teams that won premierships in 2 ...

Jane Altschwager Jane Altschwager (born 25 August 1980) is a former Australia netball international. During the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era, Altschwager made 81 senior appearances for Adelaide Thunderbirds, Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers. Between 1999 and 2 ...

, Catherine Cox and

Liz Ellis Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player, a member of the national team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most capped international player for Australian ...

. Between 2001 and 2005, she played in four grand finals for Swifts.

New Zealand

Northern Force

In 2006 and 2007, Anderson played for

Northern Force Northern Force are a former New Zealand netball team based in North Harbour, North Shore, Auckland Region. As a result, they were also known as either North Harbour Force or North Shore Force. Between 1998 and 2007, Force played in the Coca ...

in the

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup was the pre-eminent national netball competition in New Zealand between 1998 and 2007. From 2008, it was replaced by the ANZ Championship. Format In the rounds, each team played every other team once, then the top four teams ...

. During the breaks in the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

competition, Anderson travelled back to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to play for

in the

. She was the first player to feature in both competitions at the same time. In 2007, Anderson was a member of the Northern Force team that were defeated by

Southern Sting The Southern Sting were a netball team based in Invercargill, New Zealand that competed in the National Bank Cup competition, formerly known as the Coca-Cola Cup. The Southern Sting team won the National Bank Cup seven times and are the only tea ...

in the last National Bank Cup grand final.

Southern Steel

Between

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Anderson played for

in the

. Anderson was originally a member of the 2008 New South Wales Swifts squad but subsequently withdrew and joined Steel. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in the co ...

initially blocked Anderson from playing for Steel because she was not a

New Zealand citizen New Zealand nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds New Zealand nationality. The primary law governing nationality requirements is the Citizenship Act 1977, which came into force on 1 January 1978. Regulations apply to t ...

and wasn't eligible to represent the

New Zealand national netball team The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern (''Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand s ...

. She subsequently agreed to play for

, but later withdrew from the team, citing work commitments. However, in June 2009 she was permitted to re-join Steel as a replacement for the pregnant

Daneka Wipiiti Daneka Wipiiti (born 8 December 1982 in Hamilton, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand international netball player who played for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, and the Southern Steel in the ANZ Championship. Wipiiti ...

. She then played for Steel in the final three rounds and the playoffs. She captained Steel during the 2010 season.

Northern Mystics

Anderson played for

during the

2011 ANZ Championship season The 2011 ANZ Championship season was the fourth season of the ANZ Championship. The 2011 season began on 13 February and concluded on 22 May. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Lauren Nourse and featuring Romelda Aiken, Laura G ...

. She had initially planned to continue playing for

and was applying to become a

. Meanwhile, Steel signed

Natasha Chokljat Natasha Chokljat (born 27 April 1979 in Tasmania) is a former Australian netball player. She has played international netball as a member of the Australian national team, and has played in the ANZ Championship for the Melbourne Vixens and the ...

, another Australia international. However, Anderson failed to meet the residency requirements required for New Zealand citizenship and Steel found themselves with two import players when they were only permitted to have one. Anderson considered retiring, but was persuaded by Mystics captain,

Temepara George Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2011 ...

to move to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

for one last season. She was subsequently a member of the 2011 Northern Mystics team that were grand finalists and runners up in the

Grand finals

International

Australia

Between 2000 and 2006, Anderson made 20 senior appearances for

. Between 1994 and 1996 she had represented Australia at under-21 level. She made her senior debut on 23 November 2000 in an away match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. She was the first player to debut for Australia in the 21st century. Anderson was a member of the Australia team that won the silver medal at the

World 7

In August 2009, Anderson played for a World 7 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 ...

, that defeated

2–1 in an international test series. As winners of the series, the World 7 team were awarded the

Taini Jamison Trophy The Taini Jamison Trophy is an international netball tournament hosted in New Zealand by the Netball New Zealand organisation. The trophy is contested by the New Zealand national team and at least one touring national team each year. Consequently ...

Coaching career

Assistant Coach

Northern Mystics

After retiring as a player, Anderson was retained by

as a specialist coach for the

2012 ANZ Championship season The 2012 ANZ Championship season was the fifth season of the ANZ Championship. The 2012 season began on 31 March and concluded on 22 July. With a team coached by Noeline Taurua, captained by Laura Langman and featuring Leana de Bruin, Irene van ...

New South Wales Swifts

Between

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Anderson served as an assistant coach to Robert Wright at

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 wa ...

. Specialising in attack, Anderson was part of the coaching team which led Swifts to back-to-back

grand finals in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Australia

Between 2017 and 2019, Anderson served as an assistant coach with

. Together with Robert Wright, she served as one of

Stacey Marinkovich Stacey Marinkovich (born 25 February 1981), previously known as Stacey Rosman, is a former Australian netball player and current netball coach. During the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era she played for Queensland Firebirds and Perth Orioles. In ...

's assistants at the

2017 Fast5 Netball World Series The 2017 Fast5 Netball World Series was the eighth staging of the annual Fast5 Netball World Series, and the fifth to be played under the new Fast5 rules, which replaced the older fastnet rules introduced in 2009. The tournament was held in Austral ...

. In 2018 and 2019, together with Clare Ferguson, she was an assistant to

Lisa Alexander Lisa Alexander (born September 22, 1968) is a Canadian former competitor in synchronised swimming and Olympic medallist. Career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Alexander began synchronized swimming at age eight. She had success in solo, duet and team ...

Head coach

In 2020, ahead of the

2021 Suncorp Super Netball season The 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season was the fifth season of the premier netball league in Australia. The season commenced on 1 May and concluded on 28 August. The defending premiers were the Melbourne Vixens, but they failed to make the finals. ...

, Anderson was appointed head coach of

Honours

;

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

**''Runners Up'':

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

; World 7 *

**''Winners'': 2009 ;

**''Winners'': 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 **''Runners up'': 1998, 2003, 2005 **''Minor premierships'': 2004, 2005, 2006 ;

**''Runners up'': 2007 ;

**''Runners up'':

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

;Individual Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Megan 1974 births Living people Australian netball players Australia international netball players Netball players from New South Wales Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Australian Institute of Sport netball players Sydney Sandpipers players Adelaide Ravens players Sydney Swifts players Northern Force players Southern Steel players Northern Mystics players Esso/Mobil Superleague players ANZ Championship players Australian expatriate netball people in New Zealand Australian netball coaches Suncorp Super Netball coaches New South Wales Swifts coaches Queensland Firebirds coaches People from Gosford Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal People educated at St Peter's Catholic College, Tuggerah Northern Mystics coaches