Netball World Cup 2023: Donnell Wallam left out of Australian Diamonds team for World Cup in South Africa

Donnell Wallam was one of the feel good stories in Australian sport last year but she’s been dropped from the Diamonds team for the World Cup. Check out the full team here.

Emma Greenwood

4 min read

June 19, 2023 - 6:15AM

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Sophie Garbin has won the contentious final shooting spot in the Diamonds’ team for the World Cup, edging Donnell Wallam out of the team for next month’s tournament in South Africa.

Garbin, Jamie-Lee Price and Sunday Aryang won the only spots really in contention, with national coach Stacey Marinkovich and her selectors retaining 10 of the 12 players that helped the Diamonds win gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

The team naming ends a tumultuous week for the sport after Netball Australia reneged on a previously agreed time frame in which to inform squad members of their involvement in the World Cup.

Sophie Garbin has won the final shooter’s spot in the Diamonds’ World Cup squad. Photo: Getty Images

The impasse between NA and its players association – in which the national body had refused to nominate a side to World Netball until players signed Collective Player Agreements (CPA) – was finally resolved with a decision to extend the interim CPA until after the World Cup.

The public blue was another black eye for the sport when it should have been celebrating its best players but Marinkovich said while delayed, nothing could detract from the excitement players relayed after being informed of their selection.

“There was a negotiation and two sides needed to work through that, so we’re there, we’re named and the excitement, the emotion, none of that changed,” Marinkovich said.

WHERE THE DIAMONDS WERE FIRST CUT: ORIGINS OF THE WORLD CUP TEAM

“It probably even just showed a greater appreciation when those people were told that they were in the in the team.

“Nothing detracted from the significant moment of those phone calls, particularly to the players that were named.”

Garbin – who was outstanding in the Constellation Cup, England Roses series and Quad Series at the end of last season in the absence of the pregnant Gretel Bueta – won the holding shooter’s spot over Wallam, who will reprise last year’s role as a travelling reserve.

Donnell Wallam has been named as a reserve for the Diamonds for the World Cup. Photo: Getty Images

In the other change, Jamie-Lee Price has won the final midcourt spot, with Kate Moloney the mid reserve, the pair swapping their Commonwealth Games roles.

Garbin has had a mixed Super Netball season playing at goal attack for the Magpies while challenging for a goal shooter’s role in the national team.

But Marinkovich said the partnership between the Diamonds and Super Netball clubs allowed players to be able to work on skills that might be required at the international level that could be different to their club roles.

“I think that’s one of the things that’s really evolved with the partnership between the Diamonds and the club environment is we’ve been able to have some really clear conversations with the individual athletes and things that they’ve been able to focus on that whilst they might not relate directly to their club’s game plans, they’ve still been able to make sure that they’re having a touch point on skill sets that we need for ours,” she said.

“Obviously with Sophie, that is a full position change. She certainly has been training across those double positions within Magpies because she is the back-up goal shooter to Shimona (Nelson).”

Jamie-Lee Price in action during the Netball Quad Series match between South Africa and Australia. Photo: Gallo Images

Garbin, who made her debut in 2021 in Marinkovich’s first tournament in charge, now has 10 Test caps, compared to Wallam’s two and her familiarity with the Diamonds system is also likely to have played in her favour.

“Sophie has been out there and Donnell has grown over these last two seasons – her introduction last year to elite netball – and then this year,” Marinkovich said.

“They both play the game differently and it brings a different versatility in how we can move the ball in the circle.”

Marinkovich said it had been a tough job for her and selectors Anne Sargeant and Michelle Wilkins to decide on the final 12, given the quality of players involved.

“One of the biggest things, it’s not that players are performing poorly that’s taken them out of selection (contention) and I think that’s what makes it so incredibly difficult,” she said.

“They’re playing to their potential and they’ve certainly done some great things out on court throughout the season and when they’ve been in the Diamonds environment.

Kate Moloney, in action here at the Constellation Cup, has been named as a World Cup reserve. Photo: Getty Images

“For us, it’s looking at the way in which they play with others around them. It’s looking at our opposition and what experience we’ve had, what we know works and what we think we can continue to challenge with those change-ups and that variety.”

Australia’s midcourt depth makes any decision in that area extremely difficult.

“We’ve gone for a point of difference in our midcourt – we’ve got our hard runners, we’ve got some size, we’ve also got the versatility that we can move the combinations around,” Marinkovich said.

“Certainly, selection wasn’t an indication of poor performance, it’s really looking at match-ups and the type of opposition we’re coming up against.”

Aryang won the final defender’s spot, with Bakewell-Doran named as the reserve in what Marinkovich said was a tight contest between the pair and wider squadmate, Adelaide’s Matilda Garrett.

Sunday Aryang in action in the Quad Series in England last year. Photo: England Netball

Specialist wing defence Ash Brazill won the only other positional race that could have been considered contentious, although her form over the past month since the announcement of the Magpies’ demise has been outstanding, especially considering the stress she has been under as co-captain.

The Diamonds head into camp on July 10, just two days after the Super Netball grand final before heading to South Africa attempting to win the only trophy now not in their possession.