People often compare Zoe and Jordan Cransberg.
It’s not surprising, as they’ve elevated twinning to a fine art. Growing up in the Victorian state pathways, they ruptured ACLs within a year of each other, have both taken up contracts at West Coast Fever, now play similar positions on court, and even study degrees within the health sciences.
That presents a few challenges for the twins, as Jordan explained. She said, “We’ve gone through our whole lives being compared to each other. And sometimes you love having a twin and a sister.
“But sometimes you just want to be your own person. Like, I’m Jordan. She’s Zoe.
“We’re on our different paths, so it is quite difficult at times.”
Zoe agreed but said that at Fever, they’ve found a sporting home that treats them uniquely.
“Our coaches here do a pretty good job of separating it, and not seeing us as one. We are treated like two separate people, and we are working on different things.”
Jordan Cransberg drives down court into open space. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Zoe Cransberg has come from a defensive background. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Born in Victoria, Zoe is just 17 minutes older than her sister. She’s a shade taller, and started her netball career as a goal defence, who’s moved into centre/wing defence as she’s matured. Jordan, who can be identified by her coloured socks, a small tattoo on her arm, and – currently – a bun compared to Zoe’s plait, was originally a goal attack who moved out to wing attack and centre.
So while the twins share similarities, they also have very different strengths to their game. Both are skilful and controlled, with a huge engine and a strong and reliable work ethic. Zoe has more defensive assets, tracking her opponents, shutting down space and often ending up in the right place to turnover ball. As a former shooter, Jordan has an innate sense of how to feed the circle. She drives strongly down court, balances her fellow attackers and rips perfectly weighted balls into her shooters.
They come from sporting stock – mum was a netball fanatic, while their father played AFL for Essendon until a knee injury ended his career. The twins also ruptured their anterior cruciate ligaments almost a year apart from each other, but thanks to medical advancements, haven’t suffered the same fate as their dad.
Jordan was the first to start the long recovery process, but developed a significant mental block after seeing Zoe injured.
“I found it hard (doing my ACL) but watching Zoe go through it was so much harder. I was just starting to play netball again as part of my rehab, and it put me back a few months mentally because I knew exactly what she was experiencing. I knew what she was going through, I had some fear because I started wondering about the risks, and that scared me. But I got over it, and Zoe got through the more difficult parts of her rehab.”
What also took some emotional adjustment was that the timing crippled their first chance to play elite netball together. They’d made a state team when Jordan was injured, then when she was ready to play State League alongside her twin, Zoe went down.
Jordan Cransberg takes a ball under pressure from Molly Jovic. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
Which makes it serendipitous that the twins have ended up at Fever together. Not feeling that she was advancing in Victoria, or content to sit and wait for opportunity to knock, Zoe was the first to make the move west at the end of 2021. She said, “It was both easy and hard to decide. We had a lot of family here, and my brother lived here at the time. And I wasn’t getting to where I wanted to in Melbourne.
“One of my coaches called Dan (Ryan, West Coast Fever head coach), he called me and asked if I’d be interested in a training partner role. That’s the biggest opportunity I’d gotten, so I was like, ‘Why not?’”
What made it hard though, was Covid. Zoe received an offer in September, and wasn’t due to move for a couple of months. But WA went to a hard border closure, and any move had to happen inside a week.
“That was a little bit crazy,” she said. “It was hard to make such a quick decision. But I was ready for a change and excited for the opportunity to be a training partner, so it was pretty cool.”
Jordan joined Fever a year later, taking up a training partner contract for 2023. She’d been filling that role with the Melbourne Vixens for a few years, and knew just how strong their midcourt already was. She said, “They were fantastic players, I probably wasn’t going to crack into that anytime soon, and I wasn’t getting any younger.
“So I got a call from Dan who said the team would love to have me over. I saw it as a little bit more of an opportunity – potentially being able to make the team, and it turned out really well for me. Then I got my first full time contract in 2024 which was exciting.”
Zoe Cransberg played ANC in 2022. Image Shaun Sharp/Moments by Shaun
Jordan Cransberg playing at the Australian Netball Championships 2022 for Victoria. Image Shaun Sharp/Moments by Shaun
In a Fever team that’s stacked defensively, Zoe still holds down a position as training partner, while Jordan has stepped into an attacking midcourt role vacated by Kelsey Browne. With the twins itching to get out on court after years of training, the former Diamond was a great mentor to both.
Jordan explained, “She said to me that she wished she’d taken the time to enjoy her career more, because it goes by so quickly. And I think that’s what I’m really buying into this year, just enjoying every single moment training and out on court. I believe that translates into playing really good netball.”
While Zoe may have started the season as Fever’s 11th player, she’s spent most of the season as a replacement for Ruth Aryang, who was injured early on. It was a role Zoe found really difficult at first.
“We love Ruthie, and she’s had a terrible run with injuries, doing her knee a couple of years ago and now her Achilles. The whole team was devastated for her, and she was playing some exceptional netball.”
In one of the unfortunate realities of sport, one player’s brutal situation is another’s opportunity, which is how Zoe managed her emotions.
She said, “I tried not to let it affect me too much. Someone had to come into the team, and I was lucky enough that it was me.”
Playing with Fever week in and week out, meant that Zoe was able to focus her efforts. In the vastly different role of training partner she’d been participating in all Fever training sessions, without getting court time, while also playing in both the State League and Reserves competition.
“As a training partner, you don’t get the reward of playing,” Zoe said. “The biggest challenge is you are across so many different programmes – you’re training with one team, and playing for two others without much time with them.
“Everyone does it because they love it and they want the opportunity of being a contracted athlete. But it is hard at times to build connections with three different teams.”
The Cransberg twins in action together at the Team Girls Cup 2023, at wing attack and centre. Image Marcela Massey
The sisters have been an integral part of Fever’s midcourt, usually sharing the centre bib between them. Jordan said it’s one of the best teams she’s ever been part of. “We all have so much love for each other. And on court, we want to do the best for each other, we’re having little chats, we are making eye contact and that’s where we find our competitive edge.”
The Fever coaching team use all ten players across most matches, strategically looking at what’s needed out on court. Jordan generally gets the start at centre, while Zoe seamlessly rotates on to keep legs fresh and provide some defensive spark. And while all players would prefer to get 60 minutes, Zoe said the key is that everyone understands their own job and the tactics involved.
“Our biggest strength as a team is that we’ve got ten players who can not only play, but play at a high standard, and we are all pretty clear on our role.
“There are certain people who are going to be playing 60 minutes or close to it, and then there’s some of us who come on for impact. You do what you do and then come off again.
“Going into each game we understand what is needed from us.”
Zoe Cransberg was in fine form against the Giants, playing the majority of the match. Image: Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
The Super Netball grand final looms this weekend, after Fever finished as minor premiers then stormed home to win their semi-final. And while six of Fever’s ten have yet to play in that ultimate match, the sisters say nerves haven’t kicked in – yet!
“I’m more excited at the moment,” said Jordan. “Grand finals don’t come around very often, so enjoying and appreciating we are in one. We are embracing how special it is, and we have a lot of confidence in the netball we are playing.
“So we are trying to take in the mind set that we’ve done everything we need to go out there and do a good job.”
While Jordan would love to win the game, she’s just as excited to play with her sister on the big stage. The pair are naturally competitive, but also each other’s biggest fans. She explained, “We just want each other to succeed, and I would probably prefer her to more than myself. But it’s nice that this year we are able to enjoy playing together, finally getting the opportunity to do that, and hopefully our careers beyond this just flourish.”
Both are incredibly driven, combining elite netball with big workloads. Zoe is studying physiotherapy and Jordan is in her final year of medicine, but they take time to enjoy themselves along the way, and it pops out at unexpected moments. Jordan for example wears fluoro socks on match day, which has turned into a guessing game for fans.
Unusually spotted in a white pair at training, she was adamant they weren’t hers. “I seriously don’t own any – these are Zoes! It’s just assumed you wear white socks, but I find it fun to wear a colourful pair. It’s something I’ve always done and it’s brought a little bit of joy to my netball.”
That joy shows up in Jordan’s mantra to enjoy every single moment of her career. She said, “Growing up, netball was such fun. I loved playing with my friends and keeping the love of the game translates to better netball.”
Zoe’s advice to young players is as different as she is from her twin. She said, “Everyone’s pathway is different. So never think you’re falling behind, or that you’re not where someone else is.
“If you put in the hard work, have belief and someone to believe in you, you can go kind of far.”
Jordan (middle) and Zoe (far left) Cransberg thank the crowd after the major semi final against the Swifts. Image Clinton Bradbury/Bradbury Photography
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