Super Netball 2025: Former West Coast Fever star Verity Simmons on mixed emotions ahead of NSW Swifts debut

West Coast Fever premiership star Verity Simmons concedes she’s unsure how the Green Army will receive her when she runs out on the court for the NSW Swifts at RAC Arena on Sunday. Simmons will make her return to the sport in the season opener having shocked the netball world when she retired at the end of 2023 to pursue a career in the AFLW having been pivotal in Fever’s maiden premiership in 2022. The former Diamond played seven games for West Coast last year as a rookie before being delisted and offered a Super Netball lifeline at the Swifts as a replacement player for pregnant co-captain Maddy Proud. Simmons, 33, said she had mixed feelings as she prepared to pull on the Swifts dress this weekend. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, because it’s a very odd feeling to be thinking about walking back into RAC Arena with the ‘Green Army’ and seeing the Fever girls and that not being my time,” Simmons told The West Australian. “But at the same time, I’m really excited to have that red dress on, represent the Swifts and get out there back into netball.” Simmons’ first big test back in Super Netball will likely be to take on Fever skipper Jess Anstiss with both set for a role at centre for their respective clubs. “She’s one of the top midcourters going around, is as fit as a fiddle and has that dogged attitude that just never says die,” she said. “You know you’re going to be up against it when you come up against Jess Anstiss but I love a challenge and I always have. “My mindset is to just run towards it. It’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be a tough match but they’re the things that we love. You want those hard games to come.” Simmons said her return to netball felt like ‘riding a bike’ despite not having played for more than a year. “Putting the ball back in my hand and having that love for it again and passion for it only drives you and wants you to be better,” she said. “It’s very clear in my mind that I’ve been out for a year and a half, I understand that but at the same time netball almost runs in the blood so I know what I’m doing and I’m confident in getting out there.”