Megan Anderson, also known as Megan McWilliams and previously known as Megan Dehn, is a former Australia netball international and current netball coach. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 20 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of the Australia team that won the silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

. During the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

era, Anderson was a member of

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an netball in Australia, Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they ...

teams that won premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. During the

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 ...

era, she played for

Southern Steel Southern Steel may refer to: * Southern Steel (netball) Southern Steel are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 ANZ Championship season, 2008 and 2016 ANZ Championship season, 2016, they played ...

and

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

. After retiring as a player in 2011, she became a coach. In 2020 Anderson was appointed head coach of

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian professional netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pl ...

Early life, family and education

Anderson was raised in

Woy Woy, New South Wales Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region of the New South Wales state of Australia. The town is located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water and near the mouth of Brisbane Water at the Pacific O ...

. Her mother was a netball umpire and Anderson began played netball, aged 8, with the St John the Baptist netball club and the Woy Woy Peninsula Netball Association at Ettalong Beach. Between 1991 and 1992, Anderson attended Corpus Christi College. She is the mother of twins, born c.2014. Anderson is married to Mark McWilliams.

Playing career

New South Wales

Between 1992 and 1995, Anderson represented

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the

Australian National Netball Championships The Australian National Netball Championships are a series of annual netball tournaments, organised by Netball Australia and featuring representative teams from the states and territories of Australia. The earliest tournaments took place during ...

. In 1992 she featured at under-19 level. Between 1993 and 1995 she played at under-21 levels.

Mobil Superleague

In 1994, Anderson played for the

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 ...

in the

Mobil Superleague The Mobil Superleague, originally known as the Esso Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netba ...

Commonwealth Bank Trophy

During the

era, Anderson made 141 appearances, playing 519 quarters and scoring 2507 goals. She played for

Sydney Sandpipers Sydney Sandpipers were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2003, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three ...

Adelaide Ravens Adelaide Ravens were an Australian netball team that, together with Adelaide Thunderbirds, represented Netball South Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. In 1997 Ravens were founder members of the league. In 1999 they were grand fi ...

and

Sydney Sandpipers

In 1998 Anderson made 13 appearances for

Adelaide Ravens

In 1999 Anderson made 17 appearances for

. Together with

Michelle den Dekker Michelle den Dekker , also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of A ...

, she was a member of the Ravens team coached by Patricia Mickan that finished the season as overall runners up. In the grand final, Anderson scored 17 from 30 as Ravens lost 62–30 to

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 ...

Sydney Swifts

During two spells with Swifts, Anderson made 111 appearances. She was a member of

teams that won premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. Her team mates at Sydney Swifts included Briony Akle, Jane Altschwager, Catherine Cox and

Liz Ellis Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player and television presenter who was a member of the national netball team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most ca ...

. Between 2001 and 2005, she played in four grand finals for Swifts.

New Zealand

Northern Force

In 2006 and 2007, Anderson played for Northern Force in the

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup, originally known as the Coca-Cola Cup, was the top level national Netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball league between 1998 in New Zealand, 1998 and 2007 in New Zealand, 2007. The league was organised by Netball Ne ...

. During the breaks in the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

competition, Anderson travelled back to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to play for

in the

. She was the first player to feature in both competitions at the same time. In 2007, Anderson was a member of the Northern Force team that were defeated by

Southern Sting Southern Sting are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in Invercargill. Between 1998 and 2007, Sting played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. They were the league's most successful team. They played in all ten grand ...

in the last National Bank Cup grand final.

Southern Steel

Between

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 ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Anderson played for

in the

. Anderson was originally a member of the 2008 New South Wales Swifts squad but subsequently withdrew and joined Steel. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in th ...

initially blocked Anderson from playing for Steel because she was not a

New Zealand citizen The primary law governing nationality of New Zealand is the Citizenship Act 1977, which Coming into force, came into force on 1 January 1978. Regulations apply to the entire Realm of New Zealand, which includes the country of New Zealand itse ...

and wasn't eligible to represent the

New Zealand national netball team The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, the ...

. She subsequently agreed to play for

, but later withdrew from the team, citing work commitments. However, in June 2009 she was permitted to re-join Steel as a replacement for the pregnant

Daneka Wipiiti Daneka Wipiiti (born 8 December 1982 in Hamilton, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand international netball player who played for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, and the Southern Steel in the ANZ Championship. Wipiiti ...

. She then played for Steel in the final three rounds and the playoffs. She captained Steel during the 2010 season.

Northern Mystics

Anderson played for

during the

2011 ANZ Championship season The 2011 ANZ Championship season was the fourth season of the ANZ Championship. The 2011 season began on 13 February and concluded on 22 May. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Lauren Nourse and featuring Romelda Aiken, Laura G ...

. She had initially planned to continue playing for

and was applying to become a

. Meanwhile, Steel signed

Natasha Chokljat Natasha Chokljat (born 27 April 1979 in Tasmania) is a former Australian netball player. She has played international netball as a member of the Australian national team, and has played in the ANZ Championship for the Melbourne Vixens and the ...

, another Australia international. However, Anderson failed to meet the residency requirements required for New Zealand citizenship and Steel found themselves with two import players when they were only permitted to have one. Anderson considered retiring, but was persuaded by Mystics captain,

Temepara George Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2011 ...

to move to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

for one last season. She was subsequently a member of the 2011 Northern Mystics team that were grand finalists and runners up in the

Grand finals

International

Australia

Between 2000 and 2006, Anderson made 20 senior appearances for

. Between 1994 and 1996 she had represented Australia at under-21 level. She made her senior debut on 23 November 2000 in an away match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. She was the first player to debut for Australia in the 21st century. Anderson was a member of the Australia team that won the silver medal at the

World 7

In August 2009, Anderson played for a World 7 team, coached by

Julie Fitzgerald Julie Fitzgerald is a veteran Australian netball coach. Between 1997 and 2007, Fitzgerald served as head coach of Sydney Swifts in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. She guided Swifts to premierships in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007. Between ...

, that defeated

2–1 in the

2009 Taini Jamison Trophy Series The 2009 Taini Jamison Trophy Series, also referred to as the New World Series, was the second Taini Jamison Trophy series. It featured New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand playing a World Netball, World 7 in a series of three Test m ...

Coaching career

Assistant coach

Northern Mystics

After retiring as a player, Anderson was retained by

as a specialist coach for the

2012 ANZ Championship season The 2012 ANZ Championship season was the fifth season of the ANZ Championship. The 2012 season began on 31 March and concluded on 22 July. With a team coached by Noeline Taurua, captained by Laura Langman and featuring Leana de Bruin, Irene va ...

New South Wales Swifts

Between

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Anderson served as an assistant coach to Robert Wright at

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian professional netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. ...

. Specialising in attack, Anderson was part of the coaching team which led Swifts to back-to-back

grand finals in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Australia

Between 2017 and 2019, Anderson served as an assistant coach with

. Together with Robert Wright, she served as one of

Stacey Marinkovich Stacey Marinkovich (born 25 February 1981), previously known as Stacey Rosman, is a former netball in Australia, Australian netball player and current List of netball coaches in Australia, netball coach. During the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era ...

's assistants at the

2017 Fast5 Netball World Series The 2017 Fast5 Netball World Series was the 8th Fast5 Netball World Series. Australia hosted England, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand and South Africa in a series, played in October 2017, at Melbourne's Hisense Arena. With a team coached by Tracey ...

. In 2018 and 2019, together with Clare Ferguson, she was an assistant to Lisa Alexander.

Head coach

In 2020, ahead of the

2021 Suncorp Super Netball season The 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season was the fifth season of the premier netball league in Australia. The season commenced on 1 May and concluded with the Grand Final on 28 August. The defending premiers were the Melbourne Vixens, but they were ...

, Anderson was appointed head coach of

Honours

;

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

**''Runners Up'':

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

; World 7 *

Taini Jamison Trophy The Taini Jamison Trophy series is an international netball series hosted by Netball New Zealand. The series traditionally features New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand playing a series of Test match (netball), test matches against a ...

**''Winners'':

;

**''Winners'': 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 **''Runners up'': 1998, 2003, 2005 **''Minor premierships'': 2004, 2005, 2006 ; Northern Force *

**''Runners up'': 2007 ;

**''Runners up'':

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

;Individual awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Megan 1974 births Living people Australian netball players Australia international netball players Netball players from New South Wales Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists in netball Australian Institute of Sport netball players Sydney Sandpipers players Adelaide Ravens players Sydney Swifts players Northern Force players Southern Steel players Northern Mystics players Esso/Mobil Superleague players ANZ Championship players Australian expatriate netball people in New Zealand Australian netball coaches Suncorp Super Netball coaches New South Wales Swifts coaches Queensland Firebirds coaches Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal People educated at St Peter's Catholic College, Tuggerah Northern Mystics coaches Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games People from Woy Woy 21st-century Australian sportswomen