Super Netball 2026: Premiership hero Verity Simmons back at West Coast Fever, Zoe Cransberg to miss round one

West Coast premiership midcourter Verity Simmons has made a shock return to the club as the Fever look to cover the absence of rising star Zoe Cransberg due to a foot injury. The West Australian can reveal Simmons has signed as a temporary replacement player to cover Cransberg, who will miss all of the upcoming pre-season games. Simmons retired from netball in late 2023 and crossed codes to play for the West Coast Eagles in the AFLW for one season, before returning to Super Netball last year to cover for NSW Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud who was on maternity leave. The former Diamond has now returned to the Fever environment to help the club as they deal with a spate of injuries ahead of their season opener against the Sunshine Coast Lightning at RAC Arena on Sunday, March 15. Cransberg had already signed as a permanent replacement player for premiership defender and Australian star Sunday Aryang, who will miss the season after she ruptured her ACL late last year while representing the Diamonds. Aryang joined her sister Ruth on the sidelines, with the fellow defender coming back from a ruptured Achilles she sustained early last season. Superstar shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard will also miss the entire year because she is expecting the birth of her second child, with fellow Jamaican Romelda Aiken-George coming out of retirement to replace the six-time Super Netball player of the year. Cransberg will be sidelined for at least eight weeks with the foot injury, meaning she will be unavailable for the upcoming pre-season games in Melbourne, Ballarat, Kalgoorlie and at the Perth High Performance Centre. Fever netball boss Sara Francis-Bayman said the injury was a setback for Cransberg but the club was hopeful she would return in the early stages of the season. “Zoe will miss at least eight weeks, which rules her out of round, but we will all be doing everything possible to have her back for the early rounds of the competition,” Francis-Bayman said. Francis-Bayman said the decision to bring in Simmons provided experience and knowledge of the playing style as Fever prepare for the season. “Everyone knows that Verity Simmons is an amazing athlete, Fever premiership player and an absolute professional,” she said. “We are really confident she can re-enter our environment, begin her preparations and have a positive impact on the group. “Bringing her in immediately was a key part of our decision-making process as it will allow her to take part in our full pre-season campaign. “There is a strong likelihood she will pull on her beloved green dress again and I know that will excite the Green Army as we look towards round one on March 15 against the Sunshine Coast Lightning at RAC Arena.”