Giants settling into their stride

A Giants Netball team widely tipped as premiership contenders have settled into a nice groove, according to star shooter Caitlin Bassett.

Giants goal shooter Caitlin Bassett

A Giants Netball team widely tipped as premiership contenders have settled into a nice groove, according to star shooter Caitlin Bassett.

The team’s season began rocky with two scratchy losses while an underdone Bassett searched for some confidence as she recovered from a fractured arm.

“The first couple of games I was worried that if I got a knock to my arm something bad would happen,” she said. “But I think after the first two games I got through unscathed with some pretty heavy contact. I saw the confidence that it gives the girls when I take a ball strongly. That’s real for me.”

Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald could see things weren’t connecting in her team’s rejigged attacking line, which showed glimpses of greatness amid frustrating errors.

“Every week we are getting better and better, and I can really see how lethal our attacking end can be when we get that ball moving,” Bassett said.

She also emphasised that all eight Super Netball teams have to press hard for competition points with only a month left before the league pauses for the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool.

It’s still unclear how Netball Australia and the players’ association will handle the physical load for returning World Cup players, who will only have a week to recover before Super Netball resumes. So it is in the best interests of the Giants and other contenders to bank every point they can before the World Cup wildcards are dealt out.

That challenge starts this week for Bassett’s Giants as they head to her former home on the Sunshine Coast, where she won two premierships. She is expecting some emotional baggage when she takes the court at Sippy Downs for the first time as an outsider.

“I guess I want to get out there and prove I made the right choice by moving, so getting a win up there is going to be important for me this weekend,” Bassett said.

It will be the last outing for Australian players before the Diamonds team for the 2019 World Cup is announced. Players will be told if they made the cut on Monday, and the 12-player team unveiled on Thursday.

Bassett, the incumbent captain, is already an assumed inclusion.

“It’s tougher than ever to crack this Australian team,” she said.

“I know at this stage, (the selectors) probably know who they want, minus a few tweaks.”

Her advice to junior Diamonds and fellow Giants Jamie-Lee Price and Kiera Austin?

“I just say get out there and have fun, because for me when you get out there and play with freedom, you select yourself.”