Super Netball 2024: West Coast Fever sign ex-Vixens shooter Mwai Kumwenda to replace Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard

West Coast Fever have turned to the shooter who broke their hearts four years ago to fill the void to replace Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard next season, signing Malawi star Mwai Kumwenda. Fever needed to find a replacement shooter after five-time Super Netball player of the year Fowler-Nembhard announced she was pregnant and would miss all of next season. They have locked away Kumwenda, 35, who was the grand final most valuable player in Melbourne Vixen’s grand final victory over Fever in the 2020 grand final with 47 goals. Kumwenda didn’t play at all last season because of pregnancy, giving birth to her first child in July. The 183cm shooter has plenty of experience, having played 135 national league games and scoring 4598 goals since making her debut in 2014. West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan said it was a great result to secure an athlete of Kumwenda’s calibre and experience so close to next season. “As a club, we are thrilled to be able to provide her with this opportunity and support her as she returns to professional netball after the birth of her first child. She’s a fierce competitor and I know she’s up for the challenge to get back to her best,” Ryan said. “She’s a proven performer on the SSN court and she knows what it takes to be a winner. I’ve always admired her tenacity, grit and passion and I think those attributes are going to be really important for us next season. She’s a great fit for our team and I can’t wait to see what kind of impact she can have.” Kumwenda said she was very excited to be joining Fever. “I am looking forward to this new chapter of my career and moving over to Perth to join West Coast Fever,” she said. “I am going to embrace the challenge of covering for the best shooter in the world. Jhaniele has set the standards at SSN-level for a long time and I am looking forward to being able to work with her and my new teammates and Dan Ryan in the Fever environment. “I cannot wait to step out on the court in front of my new family, the Green Army, at RAC Arena in our Round One game against the Swifts.” Ryan said Fever needed to be open minded about what they will look like in 2025 following the announcement from Fowler-Nembhard. “Jhaniele is irreplaceable in so many ways so in filling this position we needed to think differently about how we could play the game and most importantly really embrace the challenge of change together,” he said. “Mwai provides us with a strong target in our shooting circle which is familiar for us, but her movement and variety allows us to really evolve our game and do things differently which is going to be a great challenge for everyone.”