Netball news: Australian captain Liz Watson on her 2027 World Cup plans, Diamonds’ trophy targets and first year with Sunshine Coast Lightning
After leading Australia to the Netball World Cup crown in South Africa last year, Diamonds captain Liz Watson has revealed her plans for the team’s World Cup campaign on home soil in 2027 as the international season swings into gear.
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Diamonds captain Liz Watson has declared her ambition to lead Australia to the next World Cup on home soil in Sydney in 2027, but says she does not want to be “crawling there” to defend the team’s crown.
After steering Australia to the Netball World Cup trophy in Cape Town last year, Watson said it would “be incredible” to get the chance to lead the team at home for the netball showpiece as the Diamonds begin to cast an eye to the future.
As the new World Cup cycle begins, the Diamonds gathered for their first training camp this week ahead of next month’s three-Test series against England where three debutants – Ash Ervin, Georgie Horjus and Hannah Mundy – were welcomed into the squad.
Feeling strong physically and loving netball as much as ever, the 30-year-old champion wing attack has relished training in a new Super Netball environment with the Sunshine Coast Lightning this year – despite a first-week finals exit – which she felt had added another element to her game.
Watson said she was driven to try and lead the Diamonds to another World Cup campaign, but added Australia needed the best team there and she would not want to be just “hanging on”.
“I would love to be a part of it, there is no doubt about that,” Watson said.
“I am just loving every moment and I know that every single time the Diamonds play, (coach) Stacey (Marinkovich) will want to have the best possible team for that and whether that is with me or without me, or whoever it is, we need the best team at that World Cup.
“It does seem like a long way away, but to be honest it has gone very quickly this year so I feel like it will fly to 2027, but I would love to be a part of what we have been able to do already and continue that on with the next group.
“Obviously experiencing World Cups in two different places in Liverpool and South Africa, I still felt really supported and it was such an excitement, so I can’t imagine how special that would be to put it all together and have it on home soil.
“But I don’t want to be hanging on and crawling there, I want to be really enjoying and loving my netball and playing well and doing what I can for the group.
“I will definitely work really hard to hopefully be there.”
One of the best midcourters in the world, Watson is now a veteran of 84 Test caps for the Diamonds after making her national debut in 2016.
Having been a part of the Diamonds’ teams which reclaimed the Commonwealth Games and World Cup crowns, Watson said Australia was determined to hold onto its major trophies.
“When Stace came in four years ago, we spoke about the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup and realised we don’t have those trophies and we want to win those,” Watson said.
“Now the mentality is we have those trophies, we want to keep them.
“We’ve got so many Test matches to get there, but we are always going to be striving for that …. we want to keep everything that we have earned with us and want to keep those trophies and keep performing well.
“But it is going to take hard work, especially with new combinations and new players.
“It’s really exciting to have new faces …. we don’t see it as a full reset, we still continue on with what we have been able to do and know that there is so much that we still want to do.
“But obviously when you lose great players like Ash Braz and Steph (Fretwell) to retirement, it does leave gaps and a good opportunity.”
Watson’s move to the Lightning for the 2024 Super Netball campaign after 10 years with the Melbourne Vixens created waves last off-season, but she said the change of teams and states had been positive for her game.
“I felt like I had a really good year, especially with the combination with Steph (Fretwell) and Cara (Koenen), I think there are always things I want to get better at,” Watson said
“I really enjoyed the change, for me personally to be able to train differently, be in a different environment, have different teammates, all those kinds of things I think have added something else to my game.
“I still feel really good out there, my body has been really good this year. I haven’t really had many niggles or injuries to limit my ability to train or play, which I think is really important to be able to train throughout the year to set yourself up for an international series.
“The Vixens are an incredible team and they have done so much for me and developed me to who I was. I think it (the move) was just more of a personal decision to want to do that.
“If it is going to extend my career or not, it is hard to say ….it was more about that change for me and just seeing what I could do, what else is out there and how I can keep getting better. “But if it adds a few more years, I will take that. It’s absolutely great, but it’s been really nice.”
Watson’s Lightning suffered a first-round finals exit, losing their semi-final to the West Coast Fever by 10 goals, while the Vixens lost to the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the grand final by two goals.
The midcourt ace conceded it had been a disappointing finish to the season, but she felt the team had harmed its finals chances earlier in their campaign.
“We obviously wanted to go the whole way as everybody does,” Watson said.
“It was probably more disappointing with the way that we have lost games throughout the season, not necessarily right down to that final and I felt we could have been in a better position in finals had some of those games turned into wins, not losses.
“To only have six wins and go into a final is not such a great record, but still really proud of ourselves to be able to get there.”
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