Sharpshooter Caitlin Bassett a game-changer for new Super Netball club Giants
They played shoulder-to-shoulder in two winning World Cup teams so Kim Green knows better than most the potency of super shooter Caitlin Bassett as a game-changer.
They played shoulder-to-shoulder in two winning World Cup teams so Kim Green knows better than most the potency of super shooter Caitlin Bassett as a game-changer.
It’s why the veteran midcourter universally know as C-Bass, believes her new team-mate is so crucial to the Giants winning a Super Netball crown after two ill-fated attempts.
AUSSIE SKIPPER: Armed and dangerous for Super Netball
FEAR FACTOR: Swifts early season goal
Green was beside Bassett when she made her World Cup debut in 2011 and shoulder to shoulder with the star of the 2015 campaign where Australia netted its 11th world title.
TEAM GUIDE: NSW Swifts
TEAM GUIDE: The Giants
Now four years on the pair are teammate again at the Giants with the NSW side pulling off the coup of the offseason by signing sharpshooter Bassett, part of the last two Super Netball winning teams at Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Green says the 196cm Bassett brings more to the club than just an eagle-eye.
“She is a big part of what we need to win,” Green said.
“She wins games. She stands up tall against others.
“Because of the calibre of shooter she is she gets targeted a lot, she gets slammed in games but you never see her retaliate.
“She is so cool and collected. She just turns and shoots and she wins you games. She has won two Super Netball titles and she brings that knowledge with her.”
BRUISING: Players bracing for rough and tumble
Green believes Bassett is integral in the Giants kicking off their 2019 season on a high note by downing the Swifts in the NSW derby on Sunday.
The Giants last season lost their first encounter of the rounds against the Swifts before recording an easy second half of the season victory over their cross-town rivals.
Bassett, who spent much of the pre-season recuperating from a fractured forearm sustained while touring with the Diamonds in England, played her first practice game with the Giants just last week.
Despite underperforming the past two seasons, the Collingwood Magpies are among the pre-season favourite's for this year’s Super Netball.
Competing kicks off for 2019 on Saturday with the Melbourne Vixens hosting the Firebirds and the Magpies taking on defending champions Lightning.
On Sunday the Giants play the Swifts in the first local derby of the season with the Thunderbirds hosting West Coast Fever.
Ranked: Who should really be named SA’s top sporting hero?
We’ve named the top 100 athletes, teams and sporting icons from South Australia. But did we get it right? Rate our full list here.
Matildas loss rugby’s gain as teens help Aussies end long Sevens drought
Grit, a fighting spirit and a pair of young guns - including one that was touted as a future Matilda - have helped Australia end a seven-year-long drought in rugby sevens.