Wallam Watch: Harvey-raised star signs on in New Zealand after being left without a Super Netball contract

Harvey-raised star Donnell Wallam has signed on with a team in New Zealand after being left without a Super Netball contract. Auckland-based Northern Mystics, the reigning back-to-back ANZ Premiership winners, announced on Monday morning Wallam would play for the club in the 2025 season. The move comes after she did not sign on with any club in the local league before the free agency period came to a close on Friday. Following her shock departure from Queensland Firebirds due to what the club termed as “game style and strategy reasons”, Wallam headed for the open market with a resume which included scoring the second-most goals in the competition last season and six caps for the national side. But that was not enough to convince any of the league’s seven other clubs, only some of which had attacking vacancies, to sign her. Wallam’s most obvious destination was NSW Swifts, who had a gap at goalshooter after parting ways Sam Wallace-Joseph midway through last season, but they chose to sign New Zealander Grace Nweke from the Mystics. Only two Super Netball clubs will head into next season with an Australian as their first option at goalshooter. A Diamonds player having to leave the national league for greater playing opportunities is not without precedent, with then-captain Caitlin Bassett exiting Giants Netball to sign with New Zealand side Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 2020. After Wallam departed the Firebirds, Diamonds coach Stacey Markinkovich said she would remain part of the 2024-25 squad no matter where she plied her trade. “I don’t believe she has reached her ceiling and she’s continued to show incredible variation and growth in her game this year,” she said. “We have made a commitment to Donnell, like we do with all our Diamonds, to provide the support and resources to ensure she reaches her potential and maximises selection opportunities.”