Netball: Australian standout to retire

Australian defender Julie Corletto, seen here tussling with Jodi Brown, has announced her retirement. Photo / Getty

Star defender Julie Corletto has announced that she will retire from netball following Australia's Netball World Cup campaign in Sydney in August.

The former Mystics import has been part of Australia's last two triumphant Netball World Cup campaigns (2007, 2011) and a win by the Diamonds in Sydney would see her walk away from the sport with three world titles and a Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Corletto, who made her international debut against Jamaica in 2007, is a winner of the sport's highest individual honour, the Liz Ellis Diamond (2009), and has been influential in the Diamonds' current 19-game unbeaten run since 2013.

The 28-year-old said today that she was keen to announce her imminent retirement now to give herself time to focus fully on the World Cup and provide the Swifts with the opportunity to recruit ahead of the 2016 ANZ Championship.

"I'm really happy with what I have achieved in netball so far but it's time now to turn my attention to the Netball World Cup in Sydney in August and work towards our goal of winning a world cup on home soil," Corletto said.

"That would be the ultimate."

Recognised as supreme athlete, Corletto plans to spend time in the UK following the World Cup after her husband, former NZ Breakers shooting guard Daryl Corletto, signed with the Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League.

Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander said she was pleased to have played a small part in Corletto's extended career.

"An amazing athlete and person, Julie has given every ounce of her being to the sport and always puts the team first when it comes to the Diamonds," Alexander said.

"She is the ultimate competitor and I know that Julie will continue to contribute to Diamonds' Netball World Cup campaign; she is always up for every challenge, never takes anything for granted, and gives her very best every time she steps onto court."

Corletto played in the Melbourne Vixens' 2009 title-winning side before crossing the Tasman to play for the Mystics in 2013. She returned to Australia to join the NSW Swifts in 2015 and earned her second selection in the Foxtel ANZ Championship All-Star team.