Commonwealth Games 2022: Diamonds add pair to squad before final team selection

Weight of performance has forced Aussie selectors to add a mid-courter and defender to the Diamonds squad a fortnight before Commonwealth Games selection.

Two stars have been added to the Diamonds Commonwealth Games squad.

Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud and Firebirds rookie Ruby Bakewell-Doran have bolted into Commonwealth Games contention after national selectors added the pair to the Diamonds squad.

Twenty athletes are now in contention for the 12 spots in the team for the Birmingham Games, with coach Stacey Marinkovich and fellow selectors unable to ignore the weight of consistent performances from the pair.

“I don’t think we were missing anything in particular but we want to make sure we continue to challenge the depth of what we’ve got within our squad,” Marinkovich said of adding the pair.

“Maddy and Ruby have certainly both put their hand up in terms of their performance and they’ve earned that right to be in that squad.”

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Swifts midcourter Maddy Proud has been added to the Diamonds squad ahead of Commonwealth Games selection. Photo: Getty Images

Midcourter Proud was a member of the extended Diamonds squad last year but failed to make the initial cut for Games selection earlier this season, while exciting rookie Bakewell-Doran has continued her meteoric rise, showing her early form was not just the result of opponents adjusting to a league newcomer.

Marinkovich said Proud had raised her game to another level since gaining feedback on her initial omission.

“We had a really good discussion and went through the feedback and I think she’s really taken it on board and she raised her game to another level – not only across one position, but two,” Marinkovich said of Proud, who has played at both centre and wing attack for the Swifts and leads the league in goal assists this season.

“I think now you can say that she’s a high-volume feeder, she’s dogged in her defence and she’s certainly improved the consistency of her ball security … so she certainly rose to that challenge.”

Proud said gaining such clear and concise feedback allowed her to know what she had to do to break into the squad, although her focus has remained on the Swifts, where she has helped lead a turnaround in the second half of the season.

“My number one focus was just getting that consistency back,” Proud said.

Maddy Proud of the Swifts catches the ball during the round nine Super Netball match between NSW Swifts and Adelaide Thunderbirds. Photo: Getty Images

“With our situation (at the Swifts) this year and losing Sammy (Wallace) in the circle, I’ve tried to take my leadership to another level as well, which I think has really helped me be able to be that presence on the court and know that in those moments, I have to be the one that steps up.”

Bakewell-Doran had few expectations heading into her maiden Super Netball season but not only has she leapfrogged former Diamonds squad member Kim Jenner for a Firebirds starting spot, her rapid trajectory and consistency has demanded her addition to a select defensive contingent that all helped Australia to a Quad Series win in England less than six months ago.

“From the way Ruby’s entered the competition, I think she’s certainly been a key ball-getter across the competition and by giving her the time (to show what she can do), we’ve been able to see that it’s been sustainable across multiple games,” Marinkovich said.

“She’s built into a four-quarter performer and has gone in against opposition for the second time and has still been able to get hand to ball, so it certainly shows that her way of playing and the way in which she’s adapting is challenging the goal attacks out there and it’s certainly something that we liked.”

Ruby Bakewell-Doran of the Firebirds reaches out to intercept the ball during the round 12 Super Netball match between West Coast Fever and Queensland Firebirds. Photo: Getty Images

Selectors had made Bakewell-Doran aware she was on their radar but the 23-year-old said getting a call from Marinkovich earlier this week was “unreal”.

“I think the part that feels the least real is to think that my name is on a list of some of the most incredible netballers in Australia – and people who I’ve looked up to and aspired to play like for so many years, it’s hard to describe how much that means to me,” she said.

“If you had asked me at the start of the year if I could see myself where I am now, it would have been a blanket ‘no’.”

Both Proud and Bakewell-Doran know the next step is even tougher though, with selectors Marinkovich, Anne Sargeant and Michelle Wilkins needing to whittle the side down to 12 team members and three travelling reserves.

“Obviously we’re coming down to the end of that selection period and we certainly have started to form some strong ideas,” Marinkovich said.

Australian Diamonds netball coach Stacey Marinkovich. Picture: Richard Walker

“It is tough. The thing that I’ve really come to realise is that players that don’t get selected, it’s not because of poor performance or that they aren’t quality, it’s just that there is a great group of players within the Netball Australia system and it’s how that combines together (to form the best team).

“It’s certainly not going to be a pleasant experience telling the players that haven’t been successful.

“But once you make the Diamonds squad, there’s a commitment of how you can contribute to that end performance – whether that’s as a squad member, a travelling partner, or being in the final team.”