Commonwealth Games 2022: Diamonds squad confirmed, bolter Donnell Wallam earns shock call
A public furore has erupted over stars missing the cut ahead of the Commonwealth Games, but Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich is defending the selection strategy.
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Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich has defended the reselection of her entire Quad Series squad ahead of the Commonwealth Games, saying anyone forcing their way into the set-up needed to “exceed” the standard of the those already there.
Australian selectors have placed high value on incumbency, with all 15 players that travelled to the Quad Series in January named in the 18-member Diamonds squad on Thursday.
A public furore has erupted about certain players that missed the cut, particularly midcourters Kim Ravaillion, Kelsey Browne and Maddy Proud.
But Marinkovich said the incredible depth and talent in some positions especially, meant it was extremely difficult for those on the fringe to force their way in.
“The thing that you think about, is when you want to include people into a squad, their performance doesn’t have to just match what’s there it really has to exceed it,” Marinkovich said.
“And you then have to recognise the time that you’ve got to build that combination and the realistic nature is we have a very short space of time.”
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Marinkovich will have just eight days with her players in Australia at the end of the Super Netball season and another eight days in England before the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham at the end of July.
She said selectors were “keeping our eyes still open to what’s in the competition” with seven rounds remaining before the team had to be nominated.
“But you’ve also got to back the investment that you’ve put in, particularly when the Diamonds have had such limited competition over the last two years,” she said.
Of the players added to the group this week, two - Kiera Austin and Amy Parmenter - were in the wider Quad Series squad, with Austin missing the trip to London while recovering from an ACL injury.
Goal shooter Donnell Wallam is the only player from outside the wider Diamonds squad named last year to have forced her way into the preliminary Commonwealth Games squad.
Part of the reason for that was the lack of international netball over the Covid period.
The Diamonds have played just eight games since March 2020 and had not played together for almost two years when they took the court at London’s Copper Box Arena in January.
And while they beat world number two, New Zealand, the third-ranked England and South Africa (5) to take the title, Marinkovich knows it will not be enough to win in Birmingham.
It makes sense then that selectors would look to build on foundations already present rather than try to reinvent the wheel in the two weeks they’ll have in camp immediately before the Games.
“We’ve really had one performance,” Marinkovich said.
“We’d been chipping away at a game plan and you saw an example of where it’s at - and we know we have to build on that.
“What we did at the Quad Series isn’t going to win us a gold medal (in Birmingham).
“What it did was solidify that we’re on the right track with what we were doing.
“So there’s a lot of quality players that are on the edge but (if they’re to be selected), it’s about s working out, what they bring that makes the group significantly different.”
‘IS THIS A SCAM’: DIAMONDS BOLTER’S PERFECT REACTION
When Netball Australia officials rang Donnell Wallam earlier this week to let her know the biggest news of her life - she initially thought it was a prank call.
Wallam almost didn’t answer the random number that called on the Easter Monday public holiday as she was bringing her groceries inside.
Thankfully, she took the call from Netball Australia’s general manager of performance Stacey West and national coach Stacey Marinkovich, who told her she had made the Diamonds’ preliminary squad for the Commonwealth Games.
The first Indigenous player in 22 years to be named for the Diamonds.
“I actually thought, is it a scam?” Wallam said.
“Then when Stacey West introduced herself from Netball Australia, I was like, oh, wow.”
Wallam had heard the talk around the traps.
That after just a handful of games, she was being considered for the Diamonds.
But she was determined not to let the noise interrupt her focus - so the congratulatory call was surreal.
“It was in the back of my mind, I was thinking about it but for the most part, I tried not to read too much into it,” Wallam said.
“I just focused on every game each week with Firebirds and that was the best thing for me.
“What I did was just focus on playing with Firebirds and let the rest sort itself out. Thankfully for me it did.”
Wallam’s meteoric rise is the stuff of fairytales.
While she has been talked about in netball circles for years - with those in the know raving about her talent as a goal shooter, she did not have a Super Netball contract heading into the 2022 season.
“It is crazy. Back in December I was preparing to play in the West Australian Netball League (WANL) - the state league over there.
“I hadn’t been picked up (by a Super Netball team) and I just had no idea what was about to happen in 2022.
“It’s been a crazy ride, but I’m so thankful.”
With no guarantee of a full-time contract in place, Wallam left her family in Western Australia and moved across the country before eventually being offered a deal by the Firebirds when Romelda Aiken-George took maternity leave.
It was a leap of faith and one she’s proud of herself for taking.
“The risk that I took has paid off but the way I thought about the whole situation was very calculated,” she said.
Knowing the world’s best goal shooter - Jamaican Jhaniele Fowler - was contracted to the West Coast Fever for 2022 and 2023, Wallam knew it would be difficult to get a chance to Super Netball in the west any time soon.
“When Megs (Firebirds coach Megan Anderson) reached out to me, I thought originally I was coming for six weeks,” Wallam said.
“I thought it was a risk worth taking because it’s my foot in the door with another club. I was purely thinking of (getting a contract) next year … come over, show them what I can do and then that would get my foot in the door for next year if they needed a shooter.
“But it paid off quicker than I thought.”
That’s the understatement of the century.
Wallam has dominated as a holding shooter this season, beating some of the best goalkeepers in the world and showing Marinkovich she can be an answer for the Diamonds, who have not had a dominant holding shooter in their ranks since the retirement of former captain Caitlin Bassett.
Wallam knows there’s plenty of work ahead if she’s to make the final cut of 12 for the Commonwealth Games.
But she’s stepping on the shoulders of giants in the only other First Nations Diamonds and has taken great strength from their journeys.
“A huge appreciation to Marcia Ella-Duncan and Sharon Finnan-White who have paved the way for myself coming through,” she said of the only two First Nationals players to have worn the gold dress.
“It’s just it’s an amazing feeling. It’s overwhelming. But yeah, I’m just so grateful that I get I get to now be among those two.
“That makes me so proud. And I just hope seeing me make it inspires so many other First Nations athletes - no matter what sport they’re in - to just keep following their dreams,” she said.
“They could be representing our country and most importantly, our mob.”
DIAMOND WARNING: AUSSIE YOUTH BEHIND GOLD-MEDAL PLEDGE
By Erin Smith
Diamonds captain Liz Watson wants to see fringe players try to force their way into Australia’s Commonwealth Games squad knowing pressure for spots is the only way to guarantee success in Birmingham.
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich on Thursday night confirmed the 18-player squad as revealed exclusively by News Corp for Commonwealth Games redemption, but Watson was quick to remind those unlucky to miss selection the decisions were far from final.
The team will be cut to a final 12 players before the end of the Super Netball season and while all 15 members of this year’s triumphant Quad Series squad were retained, Watson said she was not surprised to see names like bolter Donnell Wallam, Kiera Austin and Amy Parmenter on the list.
“We are looking for players that are in form, who are performing well at their clubs and who can fit into the Aussie culture and the way we play,” Watson said.
“There are still a fair few rounds to go until the actual team for the Commonwealth Games is going to be announced so there are definitely still opportunities for players to enter the squad and really show why they should be there.”
One such player is Firebirds’ new shooter Wallam.
Wallam, who almost missed out on a Super Netball contract altogether this year, let her shooting do the talking.
The 28-year-old made the move to Brisbane for a two-month trial with the Firebirds during the off-season and impressed during the pre-season tournament but when longtime shooter Romelda Aiken-George announced she was pregnant Firebirds almost chose to overlook Wallam and sign Maria Folau.
At the last minute everything fell into place for Wallam and she was quick to prove she earned the spot – shooting to No.2 on the goal scorer rankings in Super Netball after five rounds with 210 goals behind Fever’s international star Jhaniele Fowler (282).
Former Diamonds shooter and captain Caitlin Bassett said Wallam had earnt this recognition but warned the rising star had to continue to lift her game if she’s to wear the green and gold.
“We haven’t really seen her play consistently against some tough international defenders and I think that is what the league does so well, is that every team has an international goalkeeper,” Bassett said.
“So seeing her perform week in and week out against these different defenders who are going to challenge her, it is all a great experience for her.
“Every time she is challenged, every opportunity against a world class defender she is going to get better.”
Watson, who was part of the Commonwealth Games team that suffered a heartbreaking one-goal loss to the English Roses at the 2018 grand final, said Australia had the team to bring home the gold this year.
“This squad is very versatile, we’ve got players with experience and players with not as much experience as well,” Watson said.
“There is a nice mix of hunger and passion in this group, we are young, we are vibrant and we want to go out there and play.
“The whole lead up with the Aussie squad at the moment is that we want that gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. We know it is going to be extremely difficult.”
Watson said the key to success would be making the most of the short camp players would get between Super Netball and the Commonwealth Games.
“At the moment we are all playing against each other and we will only get a couple of weeks at the end of the season to really get together as a squad and build those connections,” she said.
Playing in the Super Netball competition has seen all of the Diamonds either playing alongside or against some of the most talented international stars in the game.
Watson said it was valuable insight that all of the players would share with each other in the lead up to the tournament.
“There is not so much of a shock when we go out there and play these great players because we are used to seeing them every week.”
AUSTRALIA’S 18-STRONG COMMONWEALTH GAMES NETBALL SQUAD
The netball tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games will run from July 29 to August 8.
Diamonds Squad: Sunday Aryang (Fever), Kiera Austin (Vixens), Ash Brazill (Magpies), Courtney Bruce (Fever), Gretel Bueta (Firebirds), Sophie Dwyer (Giants), Sophie Garbin (Magpies), Paige Hadley (Swifts), Sarah Klau (Swifts), Cara Koenen (Lightning), Kate Moloney (Vixens), Amy Parmenter (Giants), Jamie-Lee Price (Giants), Maddy Turner (Swifts), Donnell Wallam (Firebirds), Liz Watson (Vixens), Jo Weston (Vixens), Stephanie Wood (Lightning).
BASSETT’S CLASSY FLOOD VICTIM GESTURE
By Erin Smith
Former Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett is giving away some of her prized green and gold dresses in a bid to raise money for flood affected netball clubs – but she wasn’t quite willing to part with all of them.
Bassett, who captained the Diamonds from 2017-2021, came across the signed dresses while cleaning out under her bed.
“I came across all these beautiful dresses signed by all these amazing people and thought maybe I could do something helpful with them,” Bassett said.
Among the items are two signed 2018 Commonwealth Games dresses.
Her aim is to raise $10,000 and then use the money to help out community netball clubs in NSW and Queensland affected by the recent flood events.
Bassett said it hadn’t been easy to part with the dresses.
“I’ve kept some of the really special ones, the gold medal wins, World Cup and my debut dress,” Bassett said.
“You get given extra dresses on these tours though and it is great to have a chance to share these dresses with others.”
Bassett hopes the funds will get clubs back up and running and help keep aspiring netballers in the game.
“I started playing netball because all my friends at school were playing and the local netball courts were just down the road from us,” Bassett said.
“I get a kick out of seeing kids run around playing the sport that has obviously given me so much.”
The last dress will go up for auction today – anyone who donates to the cause goes in the draw.
To donate visit https://cbass.raisely.com/.
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