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As the Diamonds celebrated their Netball World Cup triumph with family and friends in an Irish Bar on the Cape Town waterfront last Sunday night, it would surprise if Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” was not getting a run to commemorate the amazing career of Ash Brazill.

Australia’s 61-45 shellacking of England in the World Cup final marked Brazill’s last competitive game of netball.

While vice-captain Steph Wood has also announced her international retirement, she will play on in Super Netball next season.

But Brazill has drawn the curtain on one of the more extraordinary and unconventional netball careers in the modern era.

An Australian rules All-Australian, Brazill will line up for the Collingwood Magpies in the AFLW competition which starts on September 1, although she said she might need to give her body a little bit more rest before she kicks off another footy season.

Her netball career, though, is over.

The rise and rise of Brazill has been extraordinary.

And while it’s easy to think of the 33-year-old as an overnight success given the extraordinary achievements of the last year, which include the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham and her first appearance at a World Cup, they have been hard fought for and hard won.

Brazill has taken the path less travelled.

That’s not just a metaphor for her sporting career but perhaps her life overall as well.

The first openly gay netballer says she never quite fit the cookie cutter mould of the sport but hopes that her success now as part of the changing face of Australian netball – and a national team which includes the first African-born player and only the third First Nations player to represent the Diamonds – can show any little girl that their dream of playing at the highest level is possible.

“Judge me on my ability – not my sexuality, not me being a tomboy, not being a country kid,” Brazill said.

“I hope that me being here (a World Cup winner), every kid thinks that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do this.”

HARD-EARNED SUCCESS

Brazill’s dream had always been to play for Australia. But it certainly didn’t come easily.

Time after time she waited for a phone call from Diamonds selectors when squads were to be announced – and time after time she was disappointed.

That all changed in late 2019 and while she missed the 2020 season after rupturing her ACL playing footy, she returned to the team once fit and has been a key driver of Australia’s recent success.

“I don’t have to go back too far to think when I was doing everything to try and get into the team and I couldn’t do anything to crack it,” Brazill said.

“I wasn’t even in the squad, let alone the team.

“But every single one of those moments that was hard has made these moments worthwhile.”

The path wasn’t always easy.

“I remember after the 2019 World Cup not getting a phone call and I said to (wife) Brooke, ‘That’s it for me’.

“The one thing I always wanted was a World Cup or a Comm Games – either of them, not both – I didn’t even need a medal, I just wanted to be there.

“And I remember being in tears and saying, ‘I’m 30, it’s not going to happen’ – and to be here now, a 33-year-old with two kids, it’s just a dream come true.

“I’ve never been shy in saying that’s what I want because I was that kid in the crowd that would watch the Swifts and get everyone’s signatures after the game and I still feel like that.

“That’s one thing I’m really proud of myself with … is I’ve never fallen out of love with the sport.

“Even through those hard times.”

JOURNEY TRUMPS DESTINATION

It’s the journey that has made everything sweeter for Brazill.

Had the NSW country kid been handed everything on a platter, things would have been markedly different.

She would not have met her wife, Brooke, had she not headed to Perth to play for the Fever.

They would not have been able to access IVF services if they had not moved to Melbourne –

where she headed knowing that she had to change her game to keep her Diamonds dream alive – and she would not be a Diamond at all if she had given in to the anger, frustration and tears every time that dream did not become a reality by the time she hit 30.

“We talk about it all the time just how different our world would be if netball didn’t send me on my journey,” Brazill said.

One of the game changers was the appointment of Stacey Marinkovich as national coach.

Everybody needs someone in their life who believes in them, and for Brazill, that has been Marinkovich, her former West Coast Fever coach and eventually national mentor.

“People ask: ‘Who’s your mentor, who’s your motivator?’ and it’s people like that,” Brazill said of the Diamonds coach.

“They don’t have to be in your life 24-7 but all you need is that little spark.”

THE MARINKOVICH FACTOR

“When I moved to Fever, Stacey was an assistant coach and then I was captain when she was the head coach and now to be a Diamond with her, a World Cup champion (is amazing),” Brazill said.

“The hardest thing I ever had to do was walk away from Fever, I loved everything that she did.

“But I knew to change my game I had to leave and she’s never held that against me which so many people probably would – and she gave me my shot at Diamonds, so I’ll forever be thankful for that.”

Marinkovich too, believes unfailingly in Brazill.

Asked just an hour after the Diamonds had claimed netball’s ultimate prize, to explain what the loss of the tenacious wing defence would mean to the Diamonds, tears welled in the coach’s eyes as she explained what Brazill brought to the group.

“I’ve had a long connection with ‘Brazzy’, I coached her at Fever. She’s been an incredible person in terms of just what she brings in energy and enthusiasm and she genuinely cares for this entire group,” Marinkovich said.

“She’s spontaneous in the way she plays the game, it’s hard.

“When she’s been able to be herself and you see her true authenticity, you just see this person that lights up a room.

“She definitely makes us laugh, she’s cheeky, she’s got an atmosphere around her - but the way she’s played the game over this tournament, full respect to her.

“And I’m so glad she’s been able to go out a champion.”

The Diamonds are more than the sum of their parts.

And that’s what makes Brazill so important to them. It’s not just what she brings on court, although that in itself is great.

She is one of the world’s best wing defence players. And while she might not rack up the stats, the work that she does off ball – for example, in shutting down England captain Nat Metcalf in the World Cup final – does not go unnoticed by her team.

Her wit, her enthusiasm and the infectious competitiveness she brings to a group, all make the Diamonds better.

DUAL CODE SUCCESS

They make the Collingwood footy club better, too.

Brazill is one of the rare exceptional athletes to be able to excel in two codes at once.

But she hopes that she’s one of the last.

That’s not because she wants to hold on to some precious record, but that the fewer dual-code athletes there are, the more professional sport is likely to be for women – and Brazill sees that as a good thing.

“I feel bad saying this, I feel like a bit of a hypocrite – but I hope (we don’t see many more),” she said.

“I hope that the reason I can do it is because footy is not as professional yet.

“And I hope that we get to a level where it’s one or the other because you physically can’t do it, timing wise, you can’t do it.

“But look at the (FIFA Women’s) World Cup. The Matildas are getting packed out stadiums, so I think people are definitely starting to respect female sports and hopefully that will grow and you can only focus on one.”

Now able to concentrate fully on footy, she is excited to see what she can achieve.

“I really want to see what I can do with just a year playing footy,” she said.

“Every year I’ve gone in as a netballer, which has worked for me, but it’ll be interesting to see - does my body shape change, my endurance level, what does that look like?

“Netball has always been my alter ego, footy has just been fun.”

NETBALL STILL ON RADAR

To the relief of many though, Brazill won’t be lost entirely to netball.

Her ultimate ambition is to coach one day – although her great dream of leading Collingwood was crushed when the club elected not to renew its Super Netball licence.

“I don’t want to be lost to the game. I would love to coach, that’s been my biggest dream – but not yet,” Brazill said.

“I’m a big believer that you shouldn’t go straight in after playing because I think I would go in and still see the game from a playing perspective.

“If we’re back in WA, I’d love to coach a state side first and build my way up. Who knows?

“First, I’m just going to be a fan of the sport.”

And as a fan of all women’s sport, Brazill is celebrating an era in which young girls have a smorgasbord of options open to them and choosing to engage with any of them will not have them judged or labelled.

“I’m so grateful that (my son) Louis has got amazing opportunities but then (my daughter) Frankie does too,” she said.

“I think when my parents had me, they didn’t think this was possible for me, where I know that anything’s possible for Franca.

“So that’s exciting.”

Brazill, who rarely drinks, did have a tipple or two on Sunday night after the World Cup final.

She can’t remember exactly what music was played as the Diamonds celebrated, except that there were a lot of songs.

Let’s assume Ol’ Blue Eyes was crooning in the background at some stage though.

“Through it all, when there was doubt

“I ate it up and spit it out

“I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way.”

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