South Australian stars Georgie Horjus and Lucy Austin are set to pull on the green and gold together, after being selected in the 2022 Australian Fast5 side.
The lifelong friends and Adelaide Thunderbirds teammates were named in the team of 10 on Tuesday morning and will travel to New Zealand in November to take part in the tournament.
Horjus, 20, started her netball journey with Parndana Netball Club on Kangaroo Island before joining Contax Netball Club, while Adelaide-born Austin, 20, hails from Matrics Netball Club.
For Horjus, the opportunity to pull on the green and gold is a dream come true.
“It means a lot to me, it’s been a dream since I was a little girl to play for Australia one day,” Horjus said.
“I can’t wait to meet the other girls and do my family and friends proud in an Aussie dress.”
Finding out she would share it with her best friend in Austin was the cherry on top.
“I may have had a little cry when I found out Luce was in it also, it makes me so happy,” Horjus said.
“I feel like a proud mum for her, she’s worked so hard, and the fact that our mums grew up together makes it even more special.”
The selection tops off an incredible couple of months for Austin, who secured her first Suncorp Super Netball contract with the Thunderbirds, won a premiership with Matrics Netball Club, won a championship with SA’s Southern Force at the Australian Netball Championships, and was named in the 21U Australian side for 2022.
Austin said it was an honour to be selected to represent her country and share it with the person who knows her best.
“This is something that I definitely was not expecting so I am over the moon to be heading to New Zealand with an amazing group of athletes,” Austin said.
“Georgie and I have grown up together and she knows me better than anyone, so it is extremely special to be representing Australia together - I still cannot believe it.”
Fellow Thunderbirds Tayla Williams, from Balaklava in South Australia, and Matilda Garrett, from Melbourne, were also named as Reserve athletes in an overall squad of 13.
The pair will join the selected list of 10 for a training camp at Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport ahead of the Fast5 tournament.
Thunderbirds assistant coach Cathy Fellows was also selected as assistant coach of the Fast5 side.
The team will play in the Fast5 Netball World Series on November 5 and 6, 2022 at Christchurch Arena.
2022 Fast5 Australian Team
Austin, Lucy – GS/GA – Adelaide Thunderbirds/South Australia
Anstiss, Jess – C – West Coast Fever/Western Australia
Browne, Kelsey – C – Collingwood Magpies/Victoria
Dwyer, Sophie – GA/GS – GIANTS Netball/New South Wales
Garbin, Sophie – GS/GA – Collingwood Magpies/Western Australia
Hinchcliffe, Tara – GD/GK – Sunshine Coast Lightning/Queensland
Horjus, Georgie – GA/GS – Adelaide Thunderbirds/South Australia
Jenner, Kim – GD/GK – West Coast Fever/Queensland
McDonnell, Matilda – GK/GD – GIANTS Netball, New South Wales
Mundy, Hannah – C – Melbourne Vixens/Victoria
Reserve athletes
Garrett, Matilda – GD/GK – Adelaide Thunderbirds/Victoria
Leatherbarrow, Matisse – GS/GA – GIANTS Netball/New South Wales
Williams, Tayla – C – Adelaide Thunderbirds/South Australia
