Hunter Jaegers - History

History

The Jaegers were created at the end of the 2003 season, when Netball New South Wales decided that the weaker of their two teams, the Sydney Sandpipers, were unsustainable, and that they could not develop a strong enough team in the metropolitan region. After a search for a new location with the state, it was decided to move the second license to Newcastle and create a Hunter Valley team. A competition was held to select the new mascot, which ultimately settled on the endangered jaeger (a linguistic pun, as jaeger is also German for 'hunter').

The Jaegers had a highly promising start to their debut season, winning several early games and surprising many. However, they slipped towards the end of the season, and ultimately finished sixth. The team came very close to making the finals for the first time in 2005, controversially drafting former New Zealand international Daneka Wipiiti for the last two games to supplement an injury-ridden side. However, their loss in the last round to the Melbourne Kestrels saw them slip from fourth place and narrowly lose their place in the finals.

In 2006 the Hunter team ran cold more than hot, and players were inconsistent and at times intimidated. This may in part be due to the absence of Alison Tucker from the defence end. Strangely out of their 3 wins for the year, they knocked off the second placed Adelaide Thunderbirds, and came close to the other top four teams.

While they played some impressive netball at times during the 2007 season, they were, in the end, again unable to proceed to the final series.