Netball Diamonds: Giants star Jamie-Lee Price on Australia squad, Super Netball finals
Without Commonwealth Games commitments, GWS Giants will throw everything at chasing Super Netball glory and Jamie-Lee Price says the fire in the belly is well and truly lit.
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The Giants are the only team in the finals series without a player among the 12-strong Diamonds Commonwealth Games squad — meaning Jamie-Lee Price and her team have nothing but finals redemption to focus on this weekend.
While not in the 12, Giants midcourter Price will head to Birmingham as one of three travelling reserves.
Teammates, Sophie Dwyer and Amy Parmenter, who had been named in the extended squad, did not get a call up.
The snubbing took netball experts, including coaching great Lisa Alexander by surprise.
Alexander said it was a missed opportunity and that Price and Dwyer could have been “x-factors” for the Diamonds.
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Price was part of the Giants previous two unsuccessful attempts to bring home the crown — the first against Lightning in 2017, and then again last year against cross-town rivals Swifts.
The 26-year-old plans to draw on that experience when she takes on Magpies in the elimination final on Sunday.
“We’ve made two grand finals in a short period of time and it is definitely character building,” Price said.
“Last year was really disappointing and I think it goes to show how important it is to have strong starts in finals and to finish games as well.
“At the end of the day we don’t want to be playing catch-up netball.
“I think a lot of our younger girls who played their first finals last year have taken a lot out of it and really stepped up this year.”
As one of the more experienced players in the team Price said her role in the lead up to the must-win game was to keep “cool, calm and collected”.
“It is a privilege to be playing in the finals and we are really excited to be here,” Price said.
“We have got our home crowd with us and that will help as well.”
Giants have had a good track record against the Magpies this season downing them 76-61 in Round 5 and 69-60 in Round 10.
But Price said the round games were now irrelevant.
“Anything is possible in a finals series. We need to work extra hard and our destiny is in our own hands,” she said.
While remaining tight-lipped on Giants game plan against the Magpies, Price said keeping Collingwood’s shooter Shimona Nelson out of the match would be key.
“I think with any tall shooter at the back you just have to make it hard for the midcourt and obviously not let it get down to the circle edge, because once (the ball) gets there it is going to be a very hard job for (Matilda McDonell),” Price said.
“We got to put the pressure on the (midcourers) and obviously not allow them to have sight of (Nelson).”
Giants will take on Magpies at Ken Rosewall Arena at 4pm on Sunday.
TOUGH DIAMOND WHO BATTLED BACK FROM BRINK
Kiera Austin is bound for her first Commonwealth Games but if it hadn’t been for a fellow Diamond the star goaler would have hung up her dress when she suffered a horror ACL injury 12 months ago.
Austin, 24, is one of eight named in the 12-woman Diamonds squad, confirmed on Tuesday, set to play at their first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The feat is remarkable considering Austin tore her ACL in Round 1 of the 2021 Super Netball season.
This time last year she was learning to walk again, wondering if she would ever get back the strength, agility and confidence she once had.
On the road to recovery, the former Giants turned Vixens player, thought about giving up the sport she loved more than once. Along with her dreams of pulling on the green and gold dress again.
Austin was in her prime when the injury happened, fresh off a Diamonds debut against New Zealand in the Constellation Cup.
When she hit the pine she knew it was a serious injury, possibly damaging enough to take her career away.
“In the early months of rehab you have maybe two or three times a week where you just sit there and think I don’t want to go to gym today and feel sore, tired and defeated,” Austin said.
“I think it is the feeling of not feeling like an athlete that is the hardest part.
“There were definitely days where I just said ‘this is so not worth it’.”
It was a message from Swifts star and Diamonds player Paige Hadley that spurred Austin to keep going.
Hadley knew exactly what Austin was going through.
In 2014 Hadley, aged 21, tore her ACL at training, just five months after making her Australian debut.
“(Hadley) was one of the first people to reach out to me after I did my knee and explained she had been through something really similar,” Austin said.
“I couldn’t believe the parallels in our story. She did her ACL in a Commonwealth Games year, just before the season started and just after her Diamonds debut.
“But she came back and made the World Cup team that year, hearing her story made me feel like it was possible to come back.”
So when Austin got a phone call last Monday letting her know she had a seat on the plane bound for the UK she “balled her eyes out”.
The tears were a mix of excitement and relief.
“The past 12 months have been very full on for me, mentally and physically,” Austin said.
“Commonwealth Games selection has always been on the back of my mind but to finally get that phone call, I just remembered all the times I’d spent at physio, all the tears during the rehab process and it just felt really worth it.”
On Tuesday Austin spent a rare few minutes thinking about the trip to Birmingham and the opposition she will face – she is desperately trying to put it all to one side and give the Vixens all her focus until after the Super Netball finals series, which starts this weekend.
Having only come up against New Zealand in the green and gold before, Austin is excited to play against close rivals England and Scotland.
“My dad is from Scotland so I have a little soft spot for the Scottish team. I really look forward to playing against them,” Austin said.
The goaler hopes to avoid a repeat of the 2018 finals, which Australia lost the gold medal play-off to England by one goal.
Austin watched the crushing defeat with her sister from the back seat of their car in a McDonald’s carpark during a family road trip.
“We were in shock, we couldn’t believe it had happened. It is a very vivid memory and I’m excited to be a part of the team that hopefully changes that memory to a gold one.”
The Commonwealth Games run from July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham.
NEW LOOK DIAMONDS SET SIGHTS ON GAMES GOLD
A new look Australian Diamonds team, featuring eight Commonwealth Games debutants has been confirmed with captain Liz Watson determined to bring home the gold medal.
The team, revealed by News Corp on Monday, was confirmed by Netball Australia this morning.
Of the 12 players named in the squad just four competed at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games – where the Diamonds suffered a devastating one-point loss to England in the gold medal playoff.
Captain Liz Watson, who was on court at the Gold Coast, looks forward to the chance to once again represent Australia at the Games. She is the most capped Diamond having played 51 Test matches.
“I am incredibly excited to be playing alongside some of the best netballers in the world, and I am itching to see what this team can do in Birmingham,” Watson said.
“We’ve all grown up watching and dreaming about the Commonwealth Games, and we hope to inspire the nation when we step onto the court to represent Australia.”
Specialist wing defence Ash Brazill made the difficult decision earlier this year to step away from her AFLW commitments with Collingwood to focus on Commonwealth Games netball selection.
The cross-coder is one of the supermums in the Australian team, balancing her demanding Magpies training schedule with looking after daughter Frankie and son Louis.
Firebirds goal attack Gretel Bueta, 28, has also been juggling netball and parenting duties after giving birth to son Bobby last year.
If anything, the dual role has renewed the Queenslander’s love for the sport – she was crowned player of the tournament at this year’s Quad Series, where the Diamonds defeated New Zealand, South Africa and England. And also voted as the best player in the Super Netball by her peers.
Rising star Sunday Aryang, 21, the first African-born Diamond, joins the experienced Joanna Weston and Courtney Bruce in defence, alongside two-time NSW Swifts premiership player Sarah Klau, 27.
Stephanie Wood has been selected alongside her Sunshine Coast Lightning teammate Cara Koenen, 26, a pair who formed a formidable goal combination in Super Netball this season.
Vixens goaler Kiera Austin, 24, will also make her highly anticipated return at the international level after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 2021.
Firebirds rookies Donnell Wallam and Ruby Bakewell-Doran have been named as travelling reserves alongside Jamie-Lee Price.
Of the 20-woman squad, announced earlier this year, Collingwood’s Sophie Garbin, Giants duo Sophie Dwyer and Amy Parmenter plus Swifts pair Maddy Turner and Maddy Proud missed out on Games selection.
The Diamonds, ranked No. 1 in the world, will finetune their skills at several training camps in Perth and Manchester prior to the Games starting on July 28.
Australian Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich said the selection process had not been an easy one.
“Selection for any international series – especially the Commonwealth Games – is never easy,” Marinkovich said.
“We have such great depth of talent in Australian netball, across every position on the court, and I congratulate the 12 athletes who have been selected to compete at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I’m incredibly excited to work with this group of athletes and build on our connection both on and off the court, starting with a training camp in Perth next month.”
Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan has congratulated the 12 athletes selected and said she hopes they can continue to build on Australia’s Games success.
“On behalf of Netball Australia, we congratulate the 12 athletes selected in the Australian Diamonds Commonwealth Games team,” Ryan said.
“This opportunity only comes around every four years, and we are all keen to see this team carry on Australia’s proud history in netball at Birmingham.”
2022 Commonwealth Games Diamonds
Sunday Aryang
Kiera Austin
Ash Brazill
Courtney Bruce
Gretel Bueta
Paige Hadley
Sarah Klau
Cara Koenen
Kate Moloney
Liz Watson
Jo Weston
Steph Wood
Originally published as Netball Diamonds: Giants star Jamie-Lee Price on Australia squad, Super Netball finals
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