Super Netball 2026: West Coast Fever could welcome back star shooter in shock return to take on NSW Swifts

West Coast Fever’s Olivia Wilkinson could be a shock late inclusion for her first game of the season when the grand finalists take on NSW Swifts at Ken Rosewall Arena on Sunday. Wilkinson sustained an ankle injury while playing in the pre-season’s Ballarat Blitz in February and was set to miss four to six games. Despite not being listed in Friday’s team announcement, Wilkinson flew to Sydney with Fever on Saturday, where she was set to undergo a fitness test to determine if she would be available to battle the Swifts. Speaking on Friday, Fever coach Dan Ryan said while it was “a long shot,” there was a possibility the 22-year-old could pull on the dress this weekend. “She’s progressed really well through her rehab, so she’s well ahead of schedule, did some match play on Thursday night and has trained throughout the week,” he told The West Australian. “We’ll have one more assessment of her before we make a final decision. She’s certainly within contention if it’s not this week, then the following week. “It’s a bit of a long shot, but she’s ticked all the boxes in her return to play, but probably needs to do one more little session to see, and it will be a conversation around her level of confidence to get back out there and whether she wants one more week of training or whether she feels she’s good to go.” Fever have confirmed one change in the 10-player line-up with midcourter Zoe Cransberg returning from a foot injury to be in line for her first game of the season, veteran Verity Simmons making way. “It’s good to have Zoe back, she’s had a good couple of weeks building in the training environment and getting her loads back up,” Ryan said. “There’s a little bit of managed minutes within reason, but she’s certainly cleared to play and play a decent amount of minutes if required. “We’re looking at ways to integrate her back into the lineup across a number of positions and be patient with that build with her. She’s certainly a player I can look down the bench and be excited about introducing into the game.” While the Swifts haven’t started the season well with only one win from their first three games, Fever’s defence will still have their work cut out for them, especially when it comes to trying to contain superstar goal attack Helen Housby. Injured defender Sunday Aryang normally goes head-to-head against Housby, but it is likely to be fellow Englishwoman Fran Williams who is tasked with the job in her absence. “Fran’s really excited for it; she hasn’t had too many opportunities to go head-to-head against Helen. It’s normally been Sunday’s role,” Ryan said. “Fran’s been doing a great job locking down that goal defence role for us for 60 minutes, and she’s come up against some big-name goal attacks and done a good job so far. “She’ll be ready to step it up again and just do what she needs to do for the team to take care of her own job.”