Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett’s Giant goals in netball
CAITLIN Bassett used to think she would be retired from netball at 30. Now, just three months after the landmark birthday, she has signed a three-year deal with the Giants she believes will make her a better netballer.
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AUSTRALIAN captain Caitlin Bassett used to think she would be retired from netball at 30.
Now, just three months after the landmark birthday, Bassett has instead signed a three-year deal with the Giants she believes will make her a better netballer.
In the biggest coup post the conclusion of the 2018 Super Netball season, 193cm shooter Bassett is heading to the biggest city she has ever lived in for potentially the biggest gains of her career.
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It’s a move that has sent shockwaves through a competition won for the past two seasons by Bassett and her former Sunshine Coast Lightning teammates and a pulse of excitement though a Giants side which has fallen short of its goals for two years.
“This is about me stepping out of my comfort zone. I grow when I am challenged,’’ said Bassett, hopeful of leading Australia to victory at her third world championships in 2019.
“I didn’t want to slip into a rut. I wanted to mix things up. I wanted to be excited.’’
Bassett, who is keen to pursue a media career in Sydney off the court, said the fact Lightning coach Noeline Taurua has recently been appointed to coach the Silver Ferns was not a factor in her move.
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“Noeline has always done a great job at separating herself. I asked her if there would be a problem and she said no,’’ Bassett said.
“But I knew she has only signed on for one more year and I didn’t want as one year contract.’’
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Bassett, who started her elite netball career in Perth before moving to Queensland, will slot into the spot left vacant on the Giants but the retirement of good friend and former Diamonds teammate Susan Pettitt.
She will then forge a new relationship with a woman who helped orchestrate Australia’s failed Commonwealth Games defence on the Gold Coast in April.
England star Jo Harten, who scored the last second winner in the Roses’ 52-51 victory over the Diamonds, last week also signed a three-year deal with the Giants.
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“It was a major draw for me coming here, playing with Jo,’’ Bassett said. “I’m really looking forward to it.’’
The Giants finished second in Super Netball in 2017 when beaten by Lightning and third this season when again downed by Bassett and her teammates in the preliminary final.
“I got sick of seeing her playing so well in finals and beating the Giants,’’ joked coach Julie Fitzgerald.