Mabilia shines at international men’s netball tournament

ZAC Mabilia proudly represented Australia in the recent Men’s Netball Nation Series at the Jurong East Sports Centre in Singapore.

The former Wonthaggi Power player competed in Australia’s U20s side through the Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (AMMNA) and was crowned the first runner-up most valuable player (MVP) at the end of the seven-day tournament.

Australia played off in the grand final of the series against Fiji, ultimately losing by just one goal on the buzzer.

Zac said it was an awesome week and the biggest international men’s event he has competed in.

“It was really good to play against five different countries. We lost by one in the end, but it was nice to play against so many different styles of netball because it’s so different between countries,” he said.

Throughout the tournament, Australia faced New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, England and Fiji.

“We played over seven days, and we had two days beforehand where we had training,” Zac said.

“We played every team once and went onto the semi-final and the grand final.”

Australia was up by eight during the grand final, but Fiji kept chipping away and ensured the game was close.

At three-quarter time, Australia was up by three.

The final score was 54 to 55 with the winning goal scored on the full-time buzzer.

Across the week, Australia celebrated some big wins, most notably scoring 100 goals against Singapore.

“We had a very talented side. Regardless of who was on the court, we had a really strong team,” Zac said.

“Men’s netball in Australia has been a little bit more developed than in some of the other countries. Some of the scorelines were fairly big, but they were always competitive games. The tournament director said if you watched the game, you wouldn’t have picked the scoreline.”

One game was played per day in the afternoons, so mornings were spent in team meetings and going over footage game analysis.

“I really like (reviewing the footage). We had a performance analyst from New South Wales (Erin Breaden), which was the first time a junior team has had one. It was really good to see,” Zac said. 

Zac said the highlight of the tournament for him was the grand final, as well as playing in front of friends and family who made the trip to Singapore to support him.

The midcourt player was proud of his performance, which saw him named first runner-up tournament MVP.

“The opposition coaches voted for the MVP. The MVP award was won by a nice midcourt player from England,” Zac said.

“It was pretty cool (to be named runner-up). It wasn’t expected because we have such quality players in our team. It really could’ve gone to anyone, and it was an honour to receive it.”

As well as Singapore, Zac’s netball journey has taken him to New Zealand to compete in the U17 Australian team in 2022 and Christchurch for the Fast Five World Series this year.

“These were all very different experiences. The New Zealand tour was my first international event, so I was nervous for that one. This year, my approach was ‘you’re in this team for a reason, you might as well play as good as you can’,” he said.

“The Nations Series was definitely different to Fast Five. Fast Five was a lot bigger. They use the word ‘sportainment’ and it’s a little more upbeat.

“Singapore was a little more serious because it was a week-long event and back to the sevens netball format with more countries competing.”

For selection into the squad, Zac played in the AMMNA season and went onto trial at a selection camp.

In May, he participated in a joint training camp in Melbourne with the U17 and U20 squad hopefuls.

Once selected, a lot of work went into training for the tournament.

The players are given strength and conditioning programs.

Zac would often follow his program while going to the local gym with mates.

As a reserve for the Australian men’s team the Kelpies, Zac also trained with Diamonds.

“It was awesome to train with them and see what their environment is like,” he said.

“Personally, I generally do two to three gym sessions a week, depending on the training load. Generally, we have one court fitness session a week, which you do yourself. I do that at the Wonthaggi netball courts.”

Zac has also been back to his roots lately, jumping into training with Wonthaggi Power.

“I ran a clinic with Wonthaggi Power recently as part of their preseason and I also ran a training session with Zali Anderson.”

Zali is a former Wonthaggi Power player who has gone on to compete in the Victorian Netball League in the Booroondara Express side.

Zac started his netball journey at Wonthaggi Power, moving on to football once he was too old to play in the local competition.

He played football for Wonthaggi Power and Inverloch-Kongwak, but basketball and netball were always his favourite sports growing up.

“I played basketball in Korumburra and went on to play for Vic Country and for an Australian touring team in New Zealand,” he said.

“When I was 16, I swapped from state development basketball trainings because I was enjoying netball a little more and found I was better at it, so I’ve pursued netball.” 

Having just graduated Year 12 at Bass Coast College, Zac plans to move to Sydney in 2025.

Zac is still waiting for his university offers but is hoping to study exercise physiology.

As well as starting his degree, Zac will be playing for the New South Wales open men’s team.

“A bit of a change is exciting. I will play for New South Wales at nationals, and from there I will hopefully be re-selected into the Australian squads,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to playing with New South Wales. The three midcourters there are in the Kelpies, so it’ll be nice to learn from them and even to train against them because they are the best of the best.”