Jamie-Lee Price, Kate Maloney get Diamonds call-up as Kim Ravaillion steps down
FIVE years after she made her debut for a New Zealand club side Jamie-Lee Price will cross the Tasman to Hamilton as a prospective Diamond hoping to earn her first international cap.
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FIVE years after she made her debut for a New Zealand club side Jamie-Lee Price will cross the Tasman to Hamilton as a prospective Diamond hoping to earn her first international cap.
Price has received a shock late call-up to the Diamonds team after veteran Kim Ravaillion’s decision to step down from the Australian netball side for the upcoming Constellation Cup with New Zealand.
Ravaillion's departure to rest mentally and physically has given coach Lisa Alexander the opportunity to throw rookie Price into the mix for the two-game New Zealand leg of the annual series.
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Fellow midcourter Kate Moloney will fill the gap left by Ravaillion in the opening two tests in Queensland to be played October 7 and 10.
Price, the daughter of former Canterbury rugby league great Steve Price, grew up in New Zealand and played for the Magic team in the ANZ trans Tasman championship, a competition which later morphed into the Australian based Super Netball.
She was eligible to play netball for New Zealand but chose to campaign for a Diamonds spot instead.
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“I can’t really believe it but this time when Lisa Alexander rang to tell me I answered the phone,” said Price, who missed the call from Alexander last month telling her she was in the Diamonds squad for the first time and plays for the Sydney-based Giants.
“I thought I was a training partner at first and kept saying, ‘what am I, what am I’.
“I debuted for Magic when I was 17 and all my home games were in Hamilton so to be going back there as a part of the Australian team is so, so exciting.’’
Ravaillion, with 60 tests to her name, said she needed a break to refresh mentally and physically for 2019 where Australia will attempt to defend the world cup it won in Sydney in 2015 in the UK.
“This block of time will assist in my preparation for the rigours of the 2019 domestic and international season,” Ravaillion said.
The changes come after Australia swept the Quad series against New Zealand, England and South Africa.
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“Leading into the January Quad Series and the 2019 Netball World Cup we’re keen to ensure that we have a variety of strong playing combinations and a team that is flexible and adaptable,” Alexander said.
“We’re fortunate to have the ability to bring in two squad members in Kate and Jamie-Lee who we know have the capabilities to perform at the highest level.
“We appreciate that Kim is in need of some time away from the game, so we wish her well for the next few months and look forward to seeing her refreshed in 2019.”
Moloney will join the team next week ahead of the Brisbane series opener on October 7 and the Townsville Test three days later.
Price will be in the team for the Hamilton test in New Zealand on October 14 and the series final in Wellington on October 18.
2018 Constellation Cup Dates
Oct 7: 1pm Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Brisbane.
Oct 10: 7.30pm Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Townsville.
Oct 14: 2pm AEDT, Silver Ferns v Diamonds, Hamilton.
Oct 18: Silver Ferns v Diamonds, Wellington.