The 2012 Adelaide Thunderbirds season saw

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 ANZ Championship s ...

compete in the 2012 ANZ Championship. After winning nine games doing the regular season, Thunderbirds finished fourth and qualified for the play-offs. However they subsequently lost the minor semi-final 49–48 to the eventual overall champions,

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. The team were formed in 1998, following the merger of Waikato Wildcats and Bay of Plenty Magic. In 1997, Wildcats and Magic had been founder members of the Coca-Col ...

Players

Jhaniele Fowler

In November 2011, Thunderbirds signed

Jhaniele Fowler Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard (formerly known as Jhaniele Fowler-Reid or Jhaniele Fowler; born 21 July 1989) is a professional Jamaican netball player who plays for the West Coast Fever in the Suncorp Super Netball League. Fowler-Nembhard is a 5-time ...

, the

Jamaica international The Jamaica International is an open international badminton tournament in Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antille ...

. However the deal depended upon

Carla Borrego Carla Borrego (born 11 November 1983), also known as Carla Williams and Carla Williams-Borrego, is a former Jamaica netball international. She was a member of the Jamaica team that won the bronze medal at the 2003 World Netball Championships ...

, a former Jamaica international, successfully becoming an

Australian citizen The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia. All persons born in Australia before 20 August 198 ...

and thus freeing up Thunderbirds' export place for Fowler. This did not happen in time for the start of the season and the deal collapsed.

Player movements

2012 roster

;Notes *

Cody Lange Cody Lange (born 24 October 1994) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds. Lange began her career at the Thunderbirds in 2011 and played at the club for six of the next seven sea ...

Maddy Proud Maddy Proud (born 4 December 1993), also known as Madeleine Proud, is an Australian netball player. Between 2011 and 2016, Proud played for Adelaide Thunderbirds in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, she has played for New South Wales Swifts in ...

Melissa Rowland Melissa Rowland (born 18 May 1989) is a former netball in Australia, Australian netball player. In 2007 Rowland was included in the Melbourne Phoenix Commonwealth Bank Trophy squad. She was also a member of the Adelaide Thunderbirds senior team ...

and

Kate Shimmin Kate Walsh (née Shimmin; born in 1992) is an Australian netball player, most recently in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. In August 2019, Jess Thirlby the new England Roses Coach announced Shimmin w ...

were all members of the 2012 Southern Force squad. With a team that was coached by Tania Obst and also featured other past and future Thunderbirds' players Kelly Altmann, Georgia Beaton and

Sheree Wingard Sheree Wingard (born 18 August 1988) is an Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, S ...

, Southern Force finished as 2012

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008, it has served as a second-level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Net ...

champions, defeating

NNSW Waratahs Netball New South Wales Waratahs is an Australian netball team that represents Netball New South Wales in the Australian Netball Championships. In 2008 they were founder members of the ANL/ANC. They were ANL/ANC champions in 2011 and 2024 and h ...

50–36 in the grand final. * Amehlia Schmidt was also in the 2012

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

ANL squad.

Tauranga Pre-Season Tournament

On 2, 3 and 4 March,

hosted a pre-season tournament at the TECT Arena in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. For the first time since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, all ten

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

teams competed at the same tournament. The ten teams were divided into two pools of five. Teams within each pool played each other once and the winners qualified for the final. Thunderbirds finished the tournament in 7th place. ;7th/8th place play-off

Regular season

Fixtures and results

;Round 1 ;Round 2 ;Round 3 ;Round 4 ;Round 5 ;Round 6 ;Round 7 ;Round 8 ;Round 9 ''

Players

Jhaniele Fowler

Player movements

2012 roster

Tauranga Pre-Season Tournament

Regular season

Fixtures and results

Final table

Finals

Minor semi-final

Award winners

Thunderbirds awards

References