Narrabeen’s own Australian netballer Mo’onia Gerrard takes her place amongst NSW’s greatest athletes
Respected Australian netballer Mo’onia Gerrard represented the country multiple times, and has now been inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions alongside some of the state’s greatest athletes. It was the perfect homecoming for Mo’onia, who recently returned to Australia having spent some years abroad with husband, David, and their four children.
Despite now living on the Hawkesbury, Mo’onia says: “Narrabeen is home to me.” Raised on the Beaches, Mo’onia attended Narrabeen Primary School where she first tried the game. “Then a friend of mine asked Mum if I could play in her team because they were one short, and that was the Narrabeen Youth Netball Club,” Mo’onia says, recalling her black and white uniform.
“Netball definitely chose me, I feel,” she says. “I was lucky enough to have really cool people around me to make me enjoy it.” With supportive coaches and teammates that made the game fun, Mo’onia’s interest in netball grew.
While she did have a go at the GA and C netball positions, Mo’onia found her place in defence, adding that as an Islander of Tongan decent, it ‘runs in our DNA to protect family or protect the unit.’
At 12 she was a representative player for the Manly Warringah Netball Association and followed the pathway through to the NSW State Team.
During her career Mo’onia has played for the Sydney Swifts and the Adelaide Thunderbirds, and made her debut for the Australian Diamonds in 2004 – becoming part of the team to win the 2007 and 2011 Netball World Cups. She also has a silver Commonwealth Games medal, won by the Australian team in 2010. Mo’onia also represented Tonga at the 2023 World Cup.
Even so, she lists her Manly team winning the State Age competition in 1995 as one of her netball highlights. “That one was a great memory,” she says. “We had a good team and everything worked in our favour.”
She is humble with her achievements, despite being awarded many accolades during her life, including an Order of Australia Medal in 2016 for her services to netball and the community.
But Mo’onia says she was ‘definitely chuffed’ and ‘pretty honoured’ to be inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions, which was announced at a ceremony held on 24 November at The Star Event Centre in Pyrmont. The NSW Hall of Champions is located at the Quaycentre at Sydney Olympic Park, and pays tribute to the great athletes of NSW.
Despite stepping away from playing netball in 2013, the game is still a big part of her life as she has continued with coaching and consultancy. “What I enjoy is the high performance of it all,” she says of coaching. “But I also enjoy the growth and development in the junior groups too.
“I think the overall biggest victory for me is seeing that kid grow as a person. Whether it’s confidence or self-belief, resilience, that ticks it for me. That’s why I’m still in the game coaching.”