Natalie Medhurst (born 20 January 1984) is a retired Australian international

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player. As well as playing for several clubs in Australia's domestic competitions, she also made multiple appearances for the

Australian Diamonds The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Se ...

in various international competitions and tests.

Netball career

Domestic career

Born in

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee d ...

, Victoria, Medhurst rose to prominence in 2004, when the then-twenty-year-old had a strong debut for the

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 ...

. Replacing club stalwart

Jacqui Delaney Jacqui Delaney is a former Australia netball international. Between 1997 and 2002 she made 21 senior appearances for Australia. Delaney was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 1999 World Netball Championships and th ...

, Medhurst put many of the world's best defenders to task with her accuracy, speed, and elusive nature. With the start of 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 ...

in 2008, Medhurst re-signed with the Thunderbirds for the inaugural season in. She stayed at the club for two years, before signing with the

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 ...

for the 2010 season. At the Firebirds she claimed the 2011 premiership and was named the season's MVP. In 2014, Medhurst moved to Perth to play for the

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is an Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Perth Orioles, th ...

, reuniting with her former Australian coach

Norma Plummer Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the D ...

, shifting with Firebirds wing attack

Chelsea Pitman Chelsea Pitman (born 8 June 1988) is an Australian-born netball player representing the England National Netball Team internationally. She is currently contracted as a training partner for the West Coast Fever playing in the Suncorp Super Netbal ...

, and forging stronger links with Australian goal shooter

Caitlin Bassett Caitlin Bassett (born 23 May 1988) is a former Australian netballer, who played for Giants Netball and the Australia national netball team. Between 2017 and 2021 Bassett captained Australia in international netball tests. Career Caitlin played ...

. Later, she was announced as club captain. Medhurst quickly became the highest-profile player at the Fever. In 2017 the new Super Netball league was formed and Medhurst signed a three-year deal with the Fever that was supposed to have resulted in her staying at the club until the end of the 2019 season. Controversially, Medhurst's final year option with the Fever was not picked up after their 2018 campaign ended up in a grand final loss. On 14 September 2018,

Collingwood Magpies Netball The Collingwood Magpies are an Australian netball team in Melbourne that competes in the premier domestic league, Suncorp Super Netball. The team was founded in 2016, during the disbanding of the ANZ Championship. The Magpies are owned by the ...

announced they had signed her on a two-year deal. In 2019 Medhurst played 15 matches for the Magpies and had a shooting accuracy rate of 82%. She announced she would step back from her netball career for much of the 2020 season, due to pregnancy. Despite harbouring hopes of returning to play for the Magpies in the latter half of the 2020 season, Medhurst was unable to play any games due to the travel and quarantine restrictions stemming from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She announced her retirement from the game on 9 September 2020.

Super Netball statistics

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Fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

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Magpies Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

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International career

Medhurst went on to represent Australia at the 2005 World Youth Championships, in Fort Lauderdale Florida, where they finished in third place. She continued to develop as a player at open level, and in 2007 she finally made her debut with the

Australia national netball team The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Se ...

against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on 8 July 2007. Her shooting accuracy was 100% during the quarter she was on, shooting 7 from 7. Medhurst continued her strong debut season for Australia during the 2007 Netball World Championships, where she ended the preliminary rounds as the third-most accurate shooter at the championships, with a strike rate of 91%. Her rise continued in the grand final against New Zealand, when she was brought on in the final quarter when Australia's senior shooters were struggling. She calmly converted all three of her attempts at goal, with Australia winning the final 42–38, making Medhurst a world champion. She cemented her position in the Australian line-up over time, and was named in the national team's

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

side where she gold. By 2015 Medhurst had reached the elite ranks of international netball, becoming one of only eight players to have won three world titles, with success at the

2015 Netball World Cup The Netball World Cup Sydney 2015 (NWC2015) was the 14th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball. It was held from 7–16 August, in Sydney, Australia, which secured hosting rights after defeating ...

in Sydney. Medhurst played a crucial supporting role in the final to shooter

that saw the Diamonds win their third-straight World Championship, winning 58-55. Medhurst and teammate Julie Corletto both made their debut together in 2007 and finished with their third World Championship, with Corletto retiring from netball following the Tournament. She continued to feature in the Diamonds line-ups in 2016, though in June 2017 she was left out of the squad for the international season.

References

External links

Magpies Netball profile

Super Netball profile

Netball Australia profile

Netball Draft Central profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medhurst, Natalie Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Queensland Firebirds players Adelaide Thunderbirds players West Coast Fever players Collingwood Magpies Netball players ANZ Championship players 1984 births Living people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in netball People from Warracknabeal Australia international netball players Netball players from Victoria (Australia) Australia international Fast5 players South Australian Sports Institute netball players 2007 World Netball Championships players 2011 World Netball Championships players 2015 Netball World Cup players