Steph Wood

Last updated

Steph Wood
Stephanie Wood.jpg
Personal information
Full nameStephanie Fretwell(née Wood)
Born (1991-11-28) 28 November 1991 (age 33) [1]
Hyde Park, Queensland, [2] [3] [4] Australia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Spouse Marcus Fretwell
Married 29 September 2023
Netball career
Playing position(s): GA, WA
YearsClub team(s)Apps
2008–2013 Suncoast Lynx
2009 → Carina Tigers
2009–2014 Queensland Fusion
2010–2011 → AIS
2012 → Queensland Firebirds 0
2014–2016 New South Wales Swifts
2015 → NNSW Waratahs
2016– Sunshine Coast Lightning
YearsNational team(s)Caps
2017–2023 Australia 56 [1]
Medal record
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Netball World Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Liverpool Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Cape Town Team
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Gold Coast Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Birmingham Team

Stephanie Fretwell (born 28 November 1991), previously known as Stephanie Wood, is a former Australia netball international, who currently plays for the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Super Netball competition.

Contents

Wood was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and at the 2023 Netball World Cup. Between 2015 and 2016, Fretwell played for New South Wales Swifts in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 she has played for Sunshine Coast Lightning in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2015 and 2019, she featured in five successive grand finalist squads, winning premierships with Sunshine Coast Lightning in 2017 and 2018.

Early life and family

Wood was born in Hyde Park, Queensland. Her family moved around because her father served in the Australian Defence Force. The family eventually settled in Brisbane and Brendale. She is the youngest of three girls. Her two older sisters, Jodie and Tracey, also played netball. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Playing career

Early years

Wood started playing netball when she was six and was playing in division one with the Pine Rivers Netball Association when she was twelve. [6] [7] [9] She represented Queensland at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2010 she captained the under-19 team to an Australian National Netball Championships title and was named Tournament MVP. Her shooting partner was Ameliaranne Wells. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Wood also played for both Suncoast Lynx and Carina Tigers in the Queensland State Netball League. [6] [14] [15] [17] [18]

Queensland Fusion

Between 2009 and 2014, Wood played for Queensland Fusion in the Australian Netball League. In 2014 she was a member of the Fusion team that finished as runners up in the ANL. She was also named the 2014 Queensland Fusion MVP. [6] [14] [15] [19] [20] [21] While playing for Fusion, Wood was also called up as a replacement player for Queensland Firebirds during the 2012 ANZ Championship season. However she never made a senior appearance for Firebirds. [5] [22] [23]

Australian Institute of Sport

Between 2010 and 2011, Wood played for the Australian Institute of Sport. [5] [9] [16] [24] In 2011 she won the Gweneth Benzie Award for the best player in the program. [13] [25]

New South Wales Swifts

In 2014 Wood signed for New South Wales Swifts. She subsequently made her ANZ Championship debut with Swifts in a 2015 Round 2 match against Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. [9] [25] [26] [27] During 2015, Fretwell played for NNSW Waratahs in the Australian Netball League. Wood played for Swifts in two successive grand finals in 2015 and 2016. However, on both occasions they lost to Queensland Firebirds. [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]

Sunshine Coast Lightning

Since 2017, Wood has played for Sunshine Coast Lightning in Suncorp Super Netball. Together with Caitlin Bassett, she was one of the first players to join the new franchise. [4] [14] [15] [33] [34] Wood was a member of the Lighting teams that won the 2017 and 2018 Suncorp Super Netball titles. In 2018 she was named Lightning's Members' Player of the Year. She also shared the main MVP award with Karla Pretorius. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]

Grand finalsTeamPlaceOpponentGoals
1 2015 New South Wales Swifts Runners up Queensland Firebirds
2 2016 [40] [28] New South Wales Swifts Runners up Queensland Firebirds Netball.svg  3/4 (75%) [41]
3 2017 [35] [36] Sunshine Coast Lightning Winners Giants Netball Netball.svg  16/20 (80%)
4 2018 [38] Sunshine Coast Lightning Winners West Coast Fever Netball.svg  17/20 (85%)
5 2019 [42] [43] Sunshine Coast Lightning Runners up New South Wales Swifts Netball.svg  8/14 (57%)

Australia

Wood made her senior debut for Australia on 27 August 2016 against South Africa during the 2016 Netball Quad Series. [1] [2] [9] [44] [45] [46] She had previously represented Australia at under-19 and under-21 levels. [19] [12] [47] Wood was subsequently a member of the Australia teams that won the silver medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games [3] [48] and at the 2019 Netball World Cup. [49] [50]

Wood was appointed as vice-captain of the Diamonds in 2021, alongside captain Liz Watson, with the team winning every major tournament under their leadership, including gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Netball World Cup.

Following the 2023 Netball World Cup, Wood announced her retirement from international netball after 56 matches for the Diamonds. [51]

TournamentsPlace
2016 Netball Quad Series [44] [45] [46] Gold medal icon.svg
2018 Netball Quad Series (January) [52] Gold medal icon.svg
2018 Commonwealth Games [3] [48] Silver medal icon.svg
2018 Netball Quad Series (September) [53] [54] Gold medal icon.svg
2019 Netball Quad Series [55] Gold medal icon.svg
2019 Netball World Cup [49] [50] Silver medal icon.svg
2022 Netball Quad Series Gold medal icon.svg
2022 Commonwealth Games Gold medal icon.svg
2023 Netball Quad Series Gold medal icon.svg
2023 Netball World Cup Gold medal icon.svg

Honours

Australia
Sunshine Coast Lightning
New South Wales Swifts
Queensland Fusion
Queensland

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References

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  17. ↑ "Lynx has proven record of producing top players". www.qt.com.au. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
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  21. ↑ "Netball Queensland – Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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  26. ↑ "Stephanie Wood". nswswifts.com.au. 26 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  27. ↑ "NSW Swifts - Honour Roll". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  28. 1 2 "Lightning goal attack Stephanie Wood not haunted by grand final ghosts". www.couriermail.com.au. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "NSW Swifts - 2015 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  30. ↑ "2015 Annual Report – Netball NSW" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  31. ↑ "NSW Swifts - 2016 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  32. ↑ "Netball NSW – 2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  33. ↑ "She's back! Steph can't wait to make Lightning debut". www.news-mail.com.au. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  34. ↑ "Stephanie Wood". supernetball.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  35. 1 2 "Sunshine Coast Lightning blow out Giants to win inaugural Super Netball title". www.theguardian.com. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  36. 1 2 "Stephanie Wood's Super Netball grand final heroics should earn Australian Diamonds selection". www.smh.com.au. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  37. ↑ "Netball: Steph Wood will play 50th national league game when Lightning play Adelaide". www.ntnews.com.au. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  38. 1 2 "Lightning strikes twice as Sunshine Coast retain Super Netball title". www.abc.net.au. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  39. ↑ "Stars shine at end of season awards ceremony". sunshinecoastlightning.com.au. 16 September 2018.
  40. ↑ "Queensland Firebirds' grand final win over NSW Swifts raises the bar for Australian netball". www.abc.net.au. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  41. ↑ "Queensland Firebirds 69–67 New South Wales Swifts". mc.championdata.com. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  42. ↑ "NSW Swifts stun Sunshine Coast Lighting to claim dominant Super Netball grand final victory". www.abc.net.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  43. ↑ "The NSW Swifts are the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball Champions". supernetball.com.au. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  44. 1 2 "Shooter Steph Wood ready for Diamonds netball debut in Quad series". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  45. 1 2 "Netball Quad Series: Australia Diamonds thump South Africa in first match". www.watoday.com.au. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  46. 1 2 "Steph Wood, Kristiana Manu'a make Diamonds netball debut in Test win". www.foxsports.com.au. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  47. ↑ "2011 Annual Report – Netball Australia" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  48. 1 2 "Women Netball Commonwealth Games Golden Goast, Australia 2018". www.todor66.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  49. 1 2 "Stephanie Wood". www.nwc2019.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  50. 1 2 "Samsung Diamonds 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup Team Announced". diamonds.netball.com.au. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  51. ↑ "Wood Announces International Retirement". diamonds.netball.com.au. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  52. ↑ "New Zealand 48–67 Australia". mc.championdata.com. 28 January 2018.
  53. ↑ "Australia 61–44 South Africa". mc.championdata.com. 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020.
  54. ↑ "Energetic second half secured Diamonds the win". netball.com.au. 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  55. ↑ "Samsung Diamonds win third straight Quad Series title". diamonds.netball.com.au. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
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