Shepparton News Goulburn Valley League Netball Rising Star for August: Shepparton Swans’ Jaylah Meda

In an injury-riddled Goulburn Valley League season where Shepparton Swans had to improvise across the court, the teenager began as a promising junior – but in August, Meda has proved she’s already so much more.

With an experienced shooter in Chelsea McDonald to understudy, Meda has fast-tracked her growth and scaled up her workload to become a regular name in a Swans side that has cracked the finals code for the first time since 2019.

And for those reasons, she has been crowned The News’ GVL Rising Star for August.

Swans coach Jana Riordan doted on her young goaler for the leaps and bounds she’s made over the past few months.

“I think Jaylah Meda has really built her season gradually,” Riordan said.

“She’s one of the ones who’s come up from the under-17s and she’s just such a quiet achiever and a really beautiful team person.

“But I’ve really been impressed with what she’s put on the court in the last month – you can see her development from the start of the season and she’s really consistently playing a beautiful goal attack role and doing what we saw her do in the under-17s.”

When you realise what kind of cloth Meda is cut from, her seamless transition to A-grade starts to make a whole lot of sense.

A glistening ruby in the crown of Shepparton Swans’ youth, three years ago Meda was named best on court in her side’s 15-and-under premiership win before top-scoring in the 2024 17-and-under grand final victory.

Plucked from the under-17s, Meda has built her season the hard way — learning on the fly, adjusting to senior-level physicality, and growing into the precise, dynamic attacker Riordan needed during the campaign’s pointy end.

“She’s such a dynamic attacker, but she’s really upped her ability to attack and defend and do that consistently through 15 minutes which has been really pleasing,” Riordan said.

“Earlier in the season you could see her tire mentally or physically, whereas now we’re not seeing that much at all.

“She’s really pushed some great defenders in the last month which is really pleasing to see.”