Caitlin Thwaites back in the groove after overcoming post-World Cup battles
Melbourne Vixens goal shooter Caitlin Thwaites admits she found it tough backing up from the World Cup, but is ready to take it to the Swifts in the Super Netball preliminary final.
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Caitlin Thwaites has revealed the toll a gruelling netball World Cup campaign took on her, but says she is now primed to help spearhead the Melbourne Vixens attack in the pursuit of a grand final berth.
The veteran goal shooter admitted she initially struggled backing up from her Diamonds duties at the July World Cup when the Super Netball competition resumed.
But Thwaites, 32, has put a post-Liverpool lull behind her and is determined to make the most of her second stint with the Vixens, who she last played for 10 years ago.
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“For me, yes, it was really hard and I did have a couple of weeks that were really tough (physically backing up from the World Cup),” Thwaites said.
“It definitely was challenging … as much as we knew that it was going to be hard, I think everyone has probably had their own struggles and has not wanted to give too much away about what those struggles are to the other teams.
“You don’t want to give anyone a mental edge to say that you are struggling.
“But we’ve managed to get back into routine and I feel like I’m through that now and it’s good because we’ve had finals to move onto and focus on as well.”
Thwaites’ struggles were symptomatic of the Vixens’ form in the tail-end of the season, with the team losing three of its last five games after the World Cup.
But t he Vixens returned to form in stunning fashion in last week’s minor semi-final against the Magpies, who they rolled by 13 goals at the State Netball and Hockey Centre to book a preliminary final against the NSW Swifts in Sydney on Sunday.
Despite losing to the Swifts twice this season, Thwaites was confident the Vixens had flicked a form switch and could triumph on the road against their long-time Sydney rivals.
The winner will face the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the grand final.
“We know when we play our best we can take it to anybody,” Thwaites said.
“I guess the few weeks leading up to the finals we hadn’t necessarily been able to put our best out there. I think everybody did a bit of individual soul-searching as well as a collective.
“We know that we’ve absolutely got it … we still know that there’s a lot of hard work to be done coming up but we were happy coming off that win and buying ourselves a chance at another week.”
Thwaites has more to play for than finals with her one-year contract with the Vixens expiring at the end of the season.
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Confirming her desire to continue playing next year, Thwaites said she was comfortable with where talks sat at the moment.
“I am feeling pretty good about it,” she said.
“Getting back from worlds, I really wanted to get everything sorted out and done before we ended up getting into finals, but I’m ticking along in that space and I’m happy with where things are at the moment.
“I am really focused on what the Vixens are wanting to do in the finals.”
SUPER NETBALL PRELIMINARY FINAL
NSW SWIFTS v MELBOURNE VIXENS
Sydney, Sunday, 1pm
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