Williams’ proud VNL journey reaches 150 games

They say home is where the heart is and it seems particularly so for midcourter and Bendigo Strikers foundation championship player Meg Williams.

The 27-year-old will play her 150th Victorian Netball League (VNL) game this Wednesday night against Melbourne University Lightning at the State Netball Centre.

Williams’ VNL career has spanned 10 seasons between two clubs.

The homegrown talent joined the Strikers for their first season in the VNL in 2024 after seven seasons with North East Blaze, highlighted by a division one premiership in 2019, a VNL under-19 team of the year selection in 2018, and her ascension into the club’s championship team ahead of the cancelled 2020 COVID season.

She was appointed the Strikers’ inaugural captain, but relinquished the reins the following season after a frustrating run with injury throughout 2024 and into the start of 2025.

If not for the advent of the Strikers, who joined the competition at the same time as two other new teams – Western Warriors and Gippsland Stars – Williams would likely be playing game number 150 in Blaze colours.

But she is steadfastly proud and eternally grateful to be doing so for her hometown club, for which local netball officials had waged a decade-long battle for a VNL team of their own.

It was VNL stalwarts like Williams and current Strikers and Sandhurst teammate Ruby Turner and former Strikers Chelsea Sartori and Ash Ryan that those officials had in front of mind in their pursuit to provide a local pathway for elite netball talent from the region.

Williams can recall the exact moment she first learned about the VNL, while representing Victoria at the School Sport Australia national 15-and-under netball championships in 2014.

“I was the country girl in the team and all these girls were asking about what VNL club I was going to the year after and I was like, ‘I don’t even know what that is’,” she said.

“I had to quickly get something together and ended up joining Blaze and was there for seven years. Seven absolutely fond years.

“They helped shape the netballer I am. I give so much credit to them and the people at that club.

“I was so fortunate to have landed there and have the likes of Kate Upton as a coach, who’s gone on to be a Vixens assistant coach.

“Being able to carry that knowledge and experience now into Strikers … it’s been very valuable.”

Starting in the then under-19s, Williams first season came at a time when an emerging midcourter by the name of Elle McDonald (the Strikers’ 2026 season captain) was carving a name for herself in the Blaze championship team.

“I just idolised her so much when I was a teenager and now I get to play alongside her at Strikers now,” she said.

“It’s a pretty cool story.

“The champs girls seemed a little intimidating to me back then, but it’s great for Elle and I to have reconnected through the Strikers.”

As someone who values loyalty more than anything else in netball, Williams looks back on her decision to sign with the Strikers as one of the toughest, yet easiest decisions she has made.

“What struck me when the Strikers started, I kept thinking of that young country girl, who had been driving down the Calder for so many years, and just the toll that has on you and even my parents,” she said.

“I was so lucky they were able to really support me, but there was always this little bit of a disadvantage being a country girl going down to Melbourne each week.

“We do have an incredible region of talent with our netball that it just made so much sense to have our own VNL team.

“I remember receiving the first call from Tracey (championship coach Tracey Brereton); that was awesome. I thought if I can help younger girls have more exposure to Melbourne and better netball, I’m going to do my part.

“It was a real opportunity to give back to a community that helped me and gave so much to me growing up.

“It was hard to leave Blaze as they are such an incredible club and I had developed so many fond memories, but this was something important to me and a perfect opportunity to be part of something special.

“It’s been an incredible journey.”

While the move to the Strikers reinvigorated her netball, Williams admitted to being frustrated by having to spend a good portion of the first season on the sidelines.

A multiple club MVP winner with Blaze, Williams – who has won four A-grade premierships with her local club Sandhurst and was best on court in two of them – rated the honour of being the Strikers’ inaugural captain as one of her finest netball accolades.

“It was a great honour and something I will always be proud of,” she said.

“The first two years at Strikers for me were a bit tricky with injuries. Still being a leader at the club and working out what I could do from the sidelines was hard.

“But there was so much learning and growth as a person through that as well.

“This year I’ve been really excited to put a year together on the court and being back with the girls and enjoying my netball.”

Williams’ 150th game will be a crucial one for the Strikers, who have bounced back from three consecutive losses to post back-to-back wins.

In fifth position on the ladder at 7-5, they will be looking to make inroads into at least three of the teams above them – the Blaze (8-3-1), Casey Demons (8-4) and City West Falcons (7-5) in the run to finals.

Aiming to get their season back on track after three straight losses, the Lightning defeated the Strikers in their earlier season encounter at Red Energy Arena back in March.

With both the championship and 23-and-under teams eyeing a second straight finals run, Williams believed the foundations for sustained success have been well laid by the Strikers.

“I feel like every year we are getting stronger and stronger and the buy-in has been amazing,” she said.

“It just keeps showcasing how incredible this region is when it comes to not only netballers, but coaches and officials, and everyone involved.

“We do it so well at Strikers and it’s such a professional club.

“Everything is in place and it feels like we have been around for years.

“We go down to Melbourne now and we are a really established club and teams fear playing us as we are strong in both the 23s and champs.

“The professionalism from our committee has really set us up.

“It does feel like we have achieved a lot in three years.”