Adelaide Thunderbirds
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The Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team, playing in the national Commonwealth Bank Trophy. They have been South Australia's only team in the competition since the axing of the Adelaide Ravens in 2003, and are based out of ETSA Park in the Adelaide suburb of Mile End. The Thunderbirds were until 2006 coached by Margaret Angove and captained by Peta Scholz and Laura von Bertouch - the new coach will be Tanya Obst. Their team colours are silver, pink and blue.
The Thunderbirds have been among the strongest teams in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy ever since its inception. The club was possibly the strongest in the league in its early years, and twice won the competition in that period. While it has slipped to a degree in the recent years due to increased competition from the Melbourne Phoenix and Sydney Swifts, the team has still never finished lower than third overall.
2006 saw some sizzling performances from the girls from Adelaide, as their whole forward line of Heinrich, Medhurst, and both von Bertouch sisters were developing in the Australian squad. The end of the season was disappointing, perhaps partly explained by the sidelining of Scholz (who was in top form) due to pregnancy, when they first dropped a game to the seventh placed Hunter Jaegers, and then were decimated by the Sydney Swifts in the major semifinal and the grand final. Coach Angove has since announced her departure after ten years, leaving only Julie Fitzgerald as both a current and a founding coach.
[edit] Current players
- Georgia Beaton
- Mandy Edwards
- Demelza Fellowes
- Jessica Hazel
- Kristen Heinrich
- Felicity Lukeman
- Nadia Mapunda
- Amanda Martin
- Natalie Medhurst
- Kirby Mutton
- Fiona Pointon
- Bianca Reddy
- Peta Scholz
- Laura von Bertouch
- Natalie von Bertouch
- Carrie Worthley
