Frew was born and raised in Invercargill, Southland. She is the daughter of Karen and Colin Telfer. The Telfer family were based in Rosedale. Wendy was one of eight children. She has a twin sister, Debbie. She also has three younger sisters, Alice (born.1989) Jo and Katie (born c.1994). They are also twins. All four of Wendy's sisters have played representative netball for Southland. Debbie also played for Southern Sting and played softball for New Zealand at under-19 level. The three Telfer brothers – Chris, Michael and Matt – all played for the Junior Black Sox.[1][2][3][4] Wendy attended Verdon College, where her teachers included Robyn Broughton.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Wendy is married to Trent Frew, a firefighter.[10][11] They have two children. Archie, their son, was born in 2012 and Indie, their daughter, was born in 2015.[12][13][14]
In 2008, Telfer captained the Southland team that won the National Provincial Championships.
They defeated Auckland Waitakere 56–46 to win their first title in 49 years. The team was coached by Natalie Avellino and also featured Julianna Naoupu.[20][21][22][23][24][25]
In July 2018, Frew announced she would retire at the end of the Steel's 2018 campaign.[46] On 8 August 2018, for the Elimination final against Mainland Tactix, the ILT Stadium Southland was temporarily re-named the Wendy Frew Stadium in her honour.[4][47][48][49][50] Frew captained the 2018 Southern Steel to their second ANZ Premiership title, defeating Central Pulse 54–53 in the grand final. She subsequently confirmed her retirement by sharing her celebrations on Instagram, including a Kurt Baker–inspired picture, captioned "That's me. I'm out". Frew posed topless, with two strategically placed netballs, on the shoulders of Gina Crampton as she proudly lifted the ANZ Premiership trophy.[51][52][53][54]
Ahead of the 2020 season, Frew joined Southern Steel as an assistant coach.[55][56] In May 2021, Steel introduced the Wendy Frew Medal, to be awarded to the Steel player who demonstrates excellence, commitment and loyalty.[8][57][58] In April 2022, Frew was included on a list of the 25 best players to feature in netball leagues in New Zealand since 1998.[59][60]
