By Amanda Myler
ONE season deep into the HART Premier Netball League (HPNL) with Kedron-Wavell Cougars and goal shooter Nalani Makunde is feeling at ease.
Heading into this Sunday’s Round 7 clash with Sunshine Coast Thunder, the 26-year-old Canberra-born netballer has slotted 146 goals at 90.68 per cent despite being available for just four games due to Super Netball Reserves duties with the Canberra Darters.
“This season has been really good because it’s the second year and I’m finally feeling settled somewhere, which has been really nice,” Makunde said.
“I know where I am, I know everybody, and I feel really comfortable. When I first moved up here, that was one of the challenges for me - just feeling confident and comfortable and knowing my place in the team.”
Makunde landed at Thunder in 2022, and switched to Brisbane South Wildcats for the 2023 season, before a conversation with Cougars coach Liz White triggered a move across the river ahead of a 2024 competition in which they failed to make finals for the first time in recent history.
“I went into the team knowing this is the Cougars, who were coming off five back-to-back premierships, which is insane,” she said.
“But when we reflect on last year, we had started to play super shots that season so fundamentally it was a different game. We were really good at one-point netball, and just took a bit longer to adjust. By the end of that season, things were going much better and I think we found our groove but it was too late.”
In 2025, the Cougars have returned to expected form to sit second on percentage on the HPNL Sapphire ladder, just one win behind the Gold Coast Titans.
“We’re feeling in general that we’re playing really well, not our best yet though so we’re all really excited to get the pieces together and play as well as we can,” Makunde said.
“I think we’re all really excited, especially now after Super Netball Reserves, to get everyone together as a group.”
Makunde could be considered a late starter in the game, having only picked up a netball for the first time at a high school gala day.
The 188cm teenager was selected to represent the ACT U17 team that very same year, and has since accrued higher honours including debuting for the Zimbabwe Gems against the Australian Diamonds at the 2023 Netball World Cup.
“I did not have expectations coming into the team,” Makunde said,
“I thought it would be so cool even sitting on the bench against the Diamonds. After camp, I started that first game and I was a bit surprised. I played into the third quarter before coming off, first against (Courtney) Bruce then (Sarah) Klau.”
Logistics in regards to travel and funding make performing consistent national duties challenging, but Makunde holds out hope of partaking in the 2027 Netball World Cup, which has recently been confirmed to take place in Sydney.
“Like anyone, you want to play at as high a level as possible,” she said.
“Every year passes, I get older and the window starts to close but at the same time I’m still going to training, trying my best, doing all that. One of the things I think about as an athlete coming from a smaller state, is that whatever I can crack I hope that means the next person can start further down the road.”
KommunityTV is your home to watch Queensland’s top talents LIVE and exclusive. Two matches each round from the top-flight Sapphire division are being exclusively live streamed on News Corp Australia mastheads, including The Courier-Mail and Gold Coast Bulletin.
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