Former Hatherleigh, Millicent and Australian netballer Natalie Medhurst has come out of a two-year retirement and returned to elite level competition.


The 40-year-old was a late call-up on Saturday when her Melbourne Mavericks hosted the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Super Netball competition.


The mother of two spent 16 minutes on court as a goal shooter with her team going down 37-59.


Medhurst has been a commentator on Fox Sports but responded to an SOS from the Mavericks after several players were injured.


She had spent her formative years in Millicent and was educated locally at St Anthony’s School and Tenison Woods College.


Another South East connection comes with her husband Samuel Stratford Butler.


He is a West Coast Eagles AFL premiership player while his mother is a member of the prominent Stratford clan of Millicent.


Medhurst began her professional career in 2004 with the Adelaide Thunderbirds, before heading to the Queensland Firebirds in 2010, followed by stints with West Coast Fever and the Collingwood Magpies.


Her international career began in 2007 and spanned a decade.


Medhurst represented Australia with the Diamonds on 86 occasions and went on to win three Netball World Cup gold medals, one Commonwealth Games gold medal, one Commonwealth Games silver medal and six Constellation Cup titles.


Throughout her Diamonds career, she scored 1166 goals for Australia and captained the Diamonds on one occasion.


Last month, it was announced Medhurst would be a part of a special program run by the Australian Institute of Sport.


AIS Accelerate, which is run with the support of the Office for Women, is an educational and professional development program aiming to support retired or retiring female athletes looking to transition to a career within the sports industry.