‘I would have her in, 100 per cent’: Diamonds legend’s bold World Cup selection call
A Diamonds legend has backed an in-form netballer for next month’s World Cup, ignoring an entire position and preaching versatility.
Australian netball legend Kim Green has urged selectors to pick Jamie-Lee Price in the Diamonds’ World Cup squad, proposing not to pick a specialist wing defence.
Australia’s 12-player squad for next month’s World Cup in South Africa is set to be announced any day now, after a temporary truce was reached between Netball Australia and the players’ association.
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The Diamonds team is mostly settled although three positions have been hotly debated — the goal shooter, wing defence and the fourth midcourt position.
Many pundits view these selection battles as two-horse race between:
— Donnell Wallam and Sophie Garbin (goal shooter)
— Ash Brazill and Amy Parmenter (wing defence)
— Kate Moloney and Jamie-Lee Price (midcourt spot)
Wallam has all but secured her spot in the squad with strong form for the Queensland Firebirds, but the other two selection calls are still up in the air.
Jamie-Lee Price was left out of Australia’s Commonwealth team that won the gold medal, but she impressed in the Constellation Cup, Quad Series and games against England last year.
Price has been the Giants’ most consistent player this Super Netball season and could be the X-factor Australia needs to win the World Cup back from New Zealand.
“We talk about standout players and Jamie-Lee Price and boy has she stood up for that team every week,” Fox Netball’s Green told news.com.au.
“I really feel for her because the consistency around her hasn’t been there. It takes more than one player having to turn up every week to win games.”
Green, who won two World Cups for Australia and played the final years of her career with the Giants, believes Price is a no-brainer selection for the Diamonds.
“I would have her in, 100 per cent,” Green said.
“She’s the most in-form midcourter at the moment. She’s been in the fold and she brings something completely different to those others. I would have her in, but I would also have Moloney in.”
Green’s proposal to pick both Price and Moloney along with Diamonds stalwarts Liz Watson and Paige Hadley is a bold one, given it would leave the team without a specialist wing defence.
But the 74-cap Diamond believes the wing defence position can be covered by picking versatile players who are comfortable wearing the WB bib.
“It’s a hard one but I think there’s enough who can cover and shift over to wing defence,” Green said.
“I look at players that need that versatility going into a World Cup all of those players can play multiple positions.
“The unfortunate thing for Braz and Parmy is they predominantly play wing defence their whole season. They’re not known to be centres.
“Jamie-Lee Price can shift back there, Moloney can shift back there, Sunday Aryang can go out on a wing, so can Jo Weston.
“There’s multiple options and going into Commonwealth Games last year, we saw Paige Hadley go down with a calf niggle and the midcourt was under the pump having to cover that.
“You have to have players that can intertwine and interchange and it be seamless. That’s my opinion, I wouldn’t be going a specialist wing defence. And to be honest, Jamie-Lee was a specialist wing defence before the Giants got their hands on her.”
The Diamonds will go in as favourites to win the World Cup after they lost the 2019 decider to New Zealand by one goal.
Australia has won everything there is to win in this cycle of international netball — the Quad Series, Constellation Cup and the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
The Diamonds will face stiff competition from New Zealand and rising powerhouse Jamaica at what Cath Cox believes will be the “hardest World Cup” yet.
Green agrees that Australia will have to be firing on all cylinders to win this World Cup.
“The girls definitely have enough in them to do it,” she said.
“It’s just a matter of implementing it on the day. Anyone can win it.
“I hate saying that because I never had to say that because other than the last World Cup that we didn’t get out hands on, you don’t have those conversations.
“It was just you get in there, you have a good crack and nine times out of 10 you win it.”
Meanwhile, a temporary truce in netball’s ongoing pay dispute will allow the squad for next month’s World Cup to be selected.
Netball Australia and the players have been at loggerheads over the messy pay dispute that delayed the naming of the squad and earnt the governing body a stinging rebuke from the Australian Netball Players’ Association
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The World Cup squad was meant to be announced on Tuesday, but NA boss Kelly Ryan said it couldn‘t be picked until a new collective bargaining agreement was agreed to and contracts signed.
But after a player meeting on Wednesday, NA was urged to “decouple national selection from industrial negotiations” by the players’ association and in the name of the “wellbeing of all players” advise who has been selected in the Diamonds’ squad.
On Friday, NA confirmed a temporary deal had been done.
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