Super Netball 2022: Proud’s path to Diamonds lies with Swifts victories

Maddy Proud may be disappointed to miss selection for the Commonwealth Games, but the Swifts star says the team comes before her personal dream.

Maddy Proud is taking inspiration from the fact the door is not totally shut on her Diamonds selection for the Commonwealth Games.

Proud, a member of the wider Australian squad named ahead of the Quad Series last year before missing the final cut for that tournament, was not in the 18 players named in the preliminary Diamonds squad for the Commonwealth Games.

While disappointed, she is taking inspiration from the fact coach Stacey Marinkovich has not totally slammed the door on a player forcing their way in and will ask for feedback from selectors to help hone her focus.

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Maddy Proud was a surprise ommission from the Diamonds team. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

“It’s obviously disappointing. Going to a Commonwealth Games and representing my country is a dream of mine and has been a dream of mine for a long time,” Proud said.

“But they haven’t said the door is completely shut and there’s opportunities for feedback so I’m getting some feedback on Monday to try and find out what I can do to get myself back in contention.

“It’s still a long season and there’s still a fair bit of time until that final team is announced.”

But Proud, co-captain of the defending premiers, said the Diamonds was not her main focus.

“I’ve always been pretty clear that my focus and my complete goal at the moment is just to keep winning games with the Swifts and I think if I can put out some good performances with the team and we start getting a few more wins on the board, then the rest is going to take care of itself.

“While getting to represent your country is something that’s always a dream, all I ask for at the moment is some more Swifts victories and another premiership under our belt.”

Proud is focussed on performing for the Swifts. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Proud is part of an outstanding group of midcourt players all pushing for Diamonds selection and her absence was questioned in many quarters, along with that of Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion and Magpies dynamo Kelsey Browne.

But Proud’s disappointment will not drive her.

“I think I just go out there and play with some freedom now,” Proud said, acknowledging the selection of teammates Sarah Klau, Maddy Turner and Hadley.

“We know that we’ve got some pretty great depth in there.

“For me, it’s now just going out and essentially putting that to the side and just knowing that there’s no kind of expectation and I can just go out there and doing what I do best and enjoy playing.

“If that means that something comes for me at the end, then that’s brilliant, but I think for now it’s just about getting those wins on the board and getting those getting those points and getting us back in the top four.”

While the Swifts have had a disrupted season losing international shooter Sam Wallace to a season-ending knee injury and having Proud’s co-captain Paige Hadley miss a match with Covid, she still believes they can make the finals.

“When you see a team like the Lightning, who we’re up against (on Saturday), sitting towards the bottom of the ladder and then knock off the undefeated Vixens as they did last week, it just shows that on any given day, it can be anyone’s game.”

‘NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER’: FRUSTRATION SETTING IN AT ADELAIDE

Shamera Sterling sees playoff potential in the Adelaide Thunderbirds but says frustration is creeping into the side after three consecutive losses.

The thunderbirds sat near the top of the competition ladder after winning their opening two games of the season, with Jamaican international Sterling powering their charge in defence.

But things have turned quickly for the South Australians, who head into Saturday’s clash against the Vixens in Melbourne on the back of three consecutive losses.

It’s frustrated Sterling, one of the premier goalkeepers in world netball, who has seen many of the gains made on the defensive end squandered further up the court, with her teammates failing to convert them into goals.

Shamera Sterling says the Adelaide Thunderbirds are still playoff contenders despite three straight losses. Picture: Getty Images.

Irritatingly close one-goal losses to the Sunshine Coast Lightning and NSW Swifts were followed by a bigger crash to the Firebirds last weekend in a match Sterling said would pose a real challenge to the Thunderbirds’ determination to be a top-four side this year.

“I think for the first two games that we played, I think I was pretty happy with our performance but as the season progresses, I think we’re slightly moving away from our structures,” Sterling said.

“Losing by one two weeks ago and then losing battle one last week, we were still in it but (against the Firebirds) we just moved away from our structure and I think for the next couple of games to come, we need to be winning those if we want to be in a top four spot.”

A clean ball-winner and lightning quick mover whose dazzling defensive leaps frustrate some of the best shooters in the world, Sterling was highly sought after in the contracting period during the off-season but chose to remain in Adelaide.

Sterling has loved her time at the Thunderbirds but is frustrated by their inability to fire. Picture: Getty Images.

“I’ve been with the Adelaide Thunderbirds for four years now and I see a bit of good chemistry here,” Sterling said of staying on.

But the team’s inability to fire is starting to frustrate her.

“I really don’t know what’s the problem, why we can’t put it together on court,” she said.

“This is a year where I see a lot of potential in this team for us to make the top four.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, especially as a defender when you know you’re doing your job but then it’s not been capitalised on.

“But then it’s a team effort - seven defenders (against) seven attackers and if all seven of us don’t come together then we can’t win.

“Once we are performing then it brings the whole team up.

“We just need to get it together and just play every game like we want it.”

VIXENS STARS’ COVID SHOCK

The Melbourne Vixens have become the latest team to be hit by Covid, with midcourter Kate Moloney forced out of Saturday night’s cash against the Adelaide Thunderbirds under the club’s health and safety protocols.

Moloney, the Vixens co-captain who was on Thursday night named in the Diamonds squad, will sit out the clash against the Thunderbirds, although the club has not clarified whether she has the virus or is a close contact.

Vixens training partner Jordan Cransberg will come on to the bench as a replacement, with the club able to pull from its pool of nominated athletes in a home game.

As of Friday afternoon, Moloney was the only Vixens player affected.

Vixens’ star Kate Moloney will miss their clash against Adelaide under Covid protocols. Picture: Getty Images.

The club will hope that’s how it stays, given they are desperate to bounce back from their shock loss to the Sunshine Coast Lightning last start.

Unbeaten heading into Round 5 the Vixens fell to an inspired Lightning and will now look to co-captain Liz Watson to take some of Moloney’s workload on her shoulders in her clash against the emerging Thunderbirds midcourt.

Cransberg, who plays in the Victorian Netball League for Melbourne University Lightning, will make her Super Netball debut if she gets on court at John Cairn Arena.

Moloney faces a week in isolation and will be keen to get back into action, with Diamonds squad members having just over a month to impress coach Stacey Marinkovich and national selectors before the final squad is nominated to Commonwealth Games Australia ahead of the Birmingham titles.

Originally published as Super Netball 2022: Proud’s path to Diamonds lies with Swifts victories