The Adelaide Thunderbirds is an Australian netball team based in Adelaide who compete in the Suncorp Super Netball league. The Thunderbirds were formed as one of the foundation teams of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, previously the premier netball league in Australia, which was contested from 1997–2007. After the retirement of the CBT, the Thunderbirds were one of five Australian franchises included in the ANZ Championship. After the disbanding of the trans-tasman league, Adelaide joined the new look Suncorp Super Netball. To date, the Thunderbirds have won two CBT titles and two ANZ Championship titles ; in addition, they have finished in the top three placings throughout their competitive history. The Thunderbirds are coached by Tania Obst, who replaced former coach Dan Ryan at the end of the 2018 season. The team is co-captained by Chelsea Pitman and Layla Guscoth, and usually play home matches at Priceline Stadium in Adelaide. The team uniform is predominantly pink, white and black.
History
Commonwealth Bank Trophy era
The Thunderbirds became South Australia's only team in the competition after the axing of the Adelaide Ravens in 2003, and were based out of Priceline Stadium in the Adelaide suburb of Mile End. Until 2006 The Thunderbirds were coached by Margaret Angove and captained by Peta Scholz and Laura von Bertouch. In 2007 the coach was Tanya Obst with a leadership group of comprising captain Laura von Bertouch, Natalie von Bertouch, Fiona Pointon and Kristen Hughes. Their team colours in the CBT were silver, pink and blue. The Thunderbirds were one of the strongest teams in the CBT during that competition's existence, in its early years possibly the strongest, winning the competition twice in that period. While the club slipped to a degree in later years due to increased competition from the Melbourne Phoenix and Sydney Swifts, it has still never finished lower than third overall. In 2006, the team's forward line of Hughes, Medhurst, and the von Bertouch sisters were developing in the Australian squad. The end of the season was disappointing, perhaps partly explained by the sidelining of Scholz 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.
ANZ Championship era
The Thunderbirds are South Australia's representative in the ANZ Championship. The club announced a new sponsor and a new look for the 2008 season, aligning themselves with the Port Adelaide Football Club in a sponsorship deal in which the Thunderbirds wear Port Adelaide's colours of Black, White, Teal and Silver. The Thunderbirds recruited former Melbourne Phoenix coach Lisa Alexander to their coaching staff, plus Australian and former Sydney Swifts player Mo'onia Gerrard and English International representative Geva Mentor to their playing squad. In the first three years of the ANZ Championship, the Thunderbirds have reached the finals stage. In 2008, they progressed to the preliminary final before being defeated by the Magic in New Zealand. The following year they defeated the Magic to contest the grand final, which the Thunderbirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens. In 2010, the Thunderbirds finished second after the regular season, but defeated minor premiers the New South Wales Swifts to book themselves a grand final at home. For the 2010 grand final, the Thunderbirds moved to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, which had a seating capacity of 10,000. Tickets for the 2010 final sold out in 12 minutes. In front of a crowd of 9,300, the Adelaide Thunderbirds defeated the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic by 52–42 to claim the 2010 title. Before the 2011 ANZ Championships the team lost key players including shooter Kate Beveridge and defender Geva Mentor, both to the Melbourne Vixens as well as defender Mo'onia Gerrard to the New South Wales Swifts. The team had a disappointing start to the season with several consecutive losses but managed to find form late in the season to finish a respectable 6th place. For the 2012 season the team had retained the core of the playing group while also gaining internationals Renae Hallinan from the Melbourne Vixens and Rebecca Bully from the New South Wales. The team had an extension to name their 12th contracted player although there was talk that Jamaican International Jhaniele Fowler Reid could be the late addition to the team, it ended up being Carla Borrego. Renae Ingles captained the team in 2014 and 2015 and was followed by Erin Bell, who captained the team in 2016 and 2017. The Thunderbirds became the most successful team in the ANZ Championship after defeating the Queensland Firebirds to claim their second ANZ premiership in the 2013 season. The team was captained to victory by Natalie von Bertouch.
Super Netball era
The Thunderbirds had a disappointing first season in the Suncorp Super Netball, finishing the 2017 season last with only one win. The club retained Dan Ryan as coach and brought in a new captain for the 2018 season, dual South African and New Zealand international Leana de Bruin. Ryan's disappointing run as coach continued and he was replaced by former Giants Netball assistant coach Tania Obst before the 2019 season began. The year was an unmitigated disaster for the Thunderbirds, as the team recorded a winless seasonfor the first time in their 21-year club history. With de Bruin returning to New Zealand, the team chose English internationals Chelsea Pitman and Layla Guscoth as co-captains in 2019 and showed marked improvement, winning three matches and avoiding last position.
Players
Competitive record
Commonwealth Bank Trophy
ANZ Championship
Suncorp Super Netball
Franchise
Venues
Most home games are played at Priceline Stadium in Adelaide, which has a seating capacity of 3,200, with others played at the 10,000 seat Adelaide Entertainment Centre. In past years the club moved occasional matches to the 8,000 seat Adelaide Arena, and in 2019 it took one home match to the Territory Netball Stadium. With its greater spectator capacity, the Entertainment Centre hosted the ANZ Championship Grand Final in both 2010 and 2013. In 2010 the Thunderbirds defeated the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 52-42 in front of 9,300 fans, while the 2013 decider, won 50-48 by the Thunderbirds over the Queensland Firebirds, attracted 9,000 fans.
Team colours
The Thunderbirds adopted primarily silver during their years in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, from 1997–2007. When the team joined the ANZ Championship, they changed their playing colours to teal with silver and black, in line with the colours of the Port Adelaide Power AFL team. After 2010, the Thunderbirds changed again, this time adopting pink with white and black. After 2011, the Thunderbirds' main colours became just pink and white.
Logo
Sponsors
In 2015 Priceline was named as Premier Partner of the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
