Helen Housby dedicated New South Wales Swifts’ Sydney derby success to injured captain Maddy Proud.

On Wednesday, the NSW Swifts confirmed Proud will miss the remainder of the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball season after she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in her side’s 68-46 win over the Queensland Firebirds.

Critics predicted the Swifts were in danger of having their dream start to the season derailed due to Proud’s misfortune, but an unanswered seven-goal spree to finish the Sydney derby shocked the 10,973-strong crowd on Sunday as the Swifts claimed a sublime 59-55 comeback win over Giants Netball.

“What a game. [I’m] so proud of the fight in these girls to take the derby win,” 24-year-old netball ace Housby, from Drumleaning, near Wigton, wrote on her Instagram account.

“That one was for you @maddyproud. Swifts fans, you were incredible - 11,000 of you packed into @qudosbankarena and we heard you. [It was] an honour to wear this beautiful dress for the indigenous round.”

A choked up Proud added to The Sydney Morning Herald: “I was just so proud. Seeing the way they fought back in those last minutes was brilliant.

"Anyone watching at home would have thought we couldn’t – and shouldn’t – have won that.

"But seeing the way they all found that extra something in them was so special. The pride I felt overwhelmed me."