For one frenzied fortnight, Eleanor Cardwell thought her netball career was over. Fast forward two years and she is going to her second Commonwealth Games.

It has been quite the rollercoaster for the Blackpool-born netballer, who has moved to Australia and back since her Commonwealth debut at Birmingham 2022.

Cardwell enjoyed a dream first season Down Under with the Adelaide Thunderbirds before injury stymied her time at the Melbourne Mavericks.

The shooter has since enjoyed a gradual return to form since returning to AO Manchester Thunder, with the 31-year-old heading to Glasgow 2026 off the back of an impressive Netball Super League season.

But it could easily have been so different for Cardwell, who was left questioning what would come next after surgeons initially thought she would not fully recover from two meniscus injuries.

“There was a point where I didn't think I'd be playing netball again and I didn't think it would be possible to get to a Commonwealth Games,” she said.

“During my first rehab I was always worried about getting injured again because I thought that would be the end. When it happened again, my first thought was that I was done and would have to retire from netball.

“That was a pretty hard week. There was probably only a week or two where I genuinely thought about retirement. As soon as I opened up and spoke to people about it, they helped me realise I'd gone straight to the worst-case scenario.

“I was so sad when I thought I would have to retire. Those two weeks felt endless and I felt very alone in that moment, so I didn't want to tell anyone in case it became a reality.

“Then my surgeon in Melbourne was very positive. He basically said, 'Don't be stupid, we can rehab this, fix it and get going from there.’"

The road to recovery has been a long one for Cardwell but one very much worth treading with the goal of a second Commonwealth Games her North Star.

Cardwell went to Birmingham 2022 off the back of an impressive season with Thunder that ultimately earned her the move to Adelaide.

The Games itself did not quite go to plan as England missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in their defence of the gold medal they had won in 2018.

As one of three returnees from four years ago, Cardwell is relishing the chance to put things right and share her experiences with new faces in the group.

“The biggest difference is that I have a lot more experience now and I'm mentally much tougher than I was in 2022,” she said. “I understand how important the England bubble is, how important the culture is and what we can achieve as a group.

“Before the last Commonwealth Games I was obviously on an upward trajectory, but I was inexperienced and had the likes of Jo Harten and Helen Housby around me, who were very experienced in every form of netball. I was learning a lot from those players.

“There were so many incredible memories from Birmingham, but the actual netball side probably represented one of the lowest moments of my career.

“Not winning a medal was tough because we genuinely thought we could win. We'd shown that in the group stages as well. We just didn't bring it when it came to the finals.

“I think we have something to prove. This group is incredibly exciting. We love playing for England, but we also want to compete and win. We wouldn't be here otherwise.

“We've got something to prove to ourselves, really. No one else, just ourselves.”