THE NSW Swifts netball team, captained by Sutherland Shire's Australian representative Kimberlee Green, will create history when they host the first ever ANZ Championship game to be played in our nation's capital today, Anzac Day.
On a significant date for both Australians and New Zealanders, the NSW Swifts will take on Invercargill-based Southern Steel at Canberra's AIS Arena in round nine of the 2014 ANZ Championship.
Before and during the game, the NSW Swifts will honour our service personnel, past and present, with an observance ceremony.
Green, also the incumbent Australian Diamonds vice-captain, is one of four NSW Swifts players selected in Lisa Alexander's 18-player Diamonds squad to contest the Commonwealth Games selection camp in Canberra in May, and one of four shire players in the Swifts' squad.
The Swifts are third on the ladder but come into this home encounter after back-to-back defeats including the side's 15-goal loss to a hot Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane on Easter Sunday.
Both sides will experience shorter than normal turnarounds between games this week; something Swifts' coach Rob Wright said isn't necessarily a bad situation.
"It's great to get back to training and prepare for a game in four days time, so that's an excellent opportunity for us to move on, but also address what happened in the [Firebirds] game," Wright said.
The last time the sides met in Round 7 last season at Stadium Southland in Invercargill the Steel won 60-55.
The big Swifts-Steel Anzac Day clash begins from 1.45pm today.