NETBALL HARDENS UP

Once considered a sport for the “softer” sex, netball has grown up – and toughened up. As the Netball World Cup unfurls in Sydney this month, Bryce Corbett meets the gladiators about to step into the arena for Australia.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON IERACE STYLING BY BIANCA LANE

Sharni Layton Age: 27 Hometown: Bonbeach, Melbourne First Club: Patterson Lakes Stingrays Current Club: NSW Swifts Position: Goalkeeper There’s a saying in the Australian netball team locker room. It’s “Sharni arms” – the whole team talks about how crazy good they are and how crazy hard you have to work to get them. The Melbourne native is the poster girl for a new breed of netball – a tougher game, in which the physical clashes on court are harder than they’ve ever been. “Since the sport became semi-professional and girls could afford to spend more time in the gym, it’s become much more physical on the court,” she says. “Players are fitter, stronger and faster than they have ever been. And, if that occasionally means a bit of biff on…

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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2015

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