Versatile Proteas squad named for tough New Zealand and Australia tour

National netball team coach Jenny van Dyk feels that the versatile players chosen to travel to New Zealand and Australia, to take on the two top-ranked sides in the world in September and October, will compensate for a lack of depth in some key positions.

Van Dyk named the Spar Proteas squad for the daunting clashes on Monday.

With the likes of Boitumelo Mahloko out injured and Syntiche Kabuya unavailable for selection, defenders Entle Futshane, Nozipho Ntshangase, and Juanita van Tonder join the squad for the first time after impressing in this season’s Telkom Netball League.

Veteran defender Karla Pretorius also remains unavailable for selection this season, but the team will welcome back another experienced campaigner in Shadine van der Merwe, who has been playing in England’s Netball Super League.

Midcourt dynamo Khanyisa Chawane will continue to captain the side, which also includes the always-entertaining Kamogelo Maseko, the TNL Player of the Tournament Tarle Mathe, and top scorer in the Netball Super League this season, Rolene Streutker.

“For this tour we are well aware of the fact that we don’t have the exact depth we’ve envisioned in one or two key positions yet, but we have very versatile players within our core group that can get the job done for this tour, and we have a plan in place to create the depth we need afterwards,” Van Dyk said.

She explained that trials held in Johannesburg over the weekend were the final step in the selection process, allowing them the opportunity to test combinations between foreign- and local-based players.

“If you are going to take on the best in the world, you need players with experience, grit and a fierce fighting spirit, and we believe within our core group that is exactly what we have.”

Assistant coach Zanele Mdodana said the tour is crucial in the build-up to both the Commonwealth Games and the next Netball World Cup.

“We are going to go full force into these Test matches with the objective of really sharpening ourselves, whil also gauging where we are compared to the professional teams in the world,” said Mdodana

"We know that the players are fully aware as to what our objectives are and how we're going to go about achieving them. There’s the Commonwealth Games next year, there’s the World Cup in 2027, and everything that we're doing is aligning to ultimately assist us in achieving our objectives.”

While the Proteas went down to the Aussie Diamonds in a series at the start of 2023, their last match against New Zealand’s Silver Ferns was their memorable 48-all draw at the Netball World Cup on home soil in Cape Town, also in 2023.

Spar Proteas squad for Tour of Australasia

Khanyisa Chawane (captain), Nicholé Breedt, Entle Futshane, Kamogelo Maseko, Tarle Mathe, Owethu Ngubane, Refiloe Nketsa, Nozipho Ntshangase, Nicola Smith, Rolene Streutker, Elmeré van der Berg, Shadine van der Merwe, Juanita van Tonder, Jamie van Wyk, Sanmarie Visser