Laura Geitz given June deadline to make netball comeback

Laura Geitz has until the end of June to decide if she will resume her netball career.

Champion netballer Laura Geitz at the unveiling of a life-size statue of her at Brisbane Entertainment Centre yesterday. Picture: Tara Croser.

Laura Geitz has until the end of June to decide if she will resume her netball career to spearhead the Diamonds’ 2018 Commonwealth Games campaign, coach Lisa Alexander said.

Geitz is still agonising over whether she will return to the court next year after becoming a mother in February.

But the clock is ticking on the 29-year-old dual world champion, who has been immortalised with a bronze statue at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, where she won two of her three titles with the Queensland Firebirds. Alexander would prefer to know one way or another by the end of the Super Netball season, or shortly afterwards.

“She’s obviously not going to play this season so we can bring her in as a training partner at any time and I’ve spoken to her about that,” Alexander said. “There will be a time when we’ll need a decision — most likely by the end of this season or perhaps by the end of June, because we would love her to come to our July camp if that’s what she wants to do.”

Geitz, who gave birth to her son Barney only 11 weeks ago, said she was no closer to making a call.

“I don’t think people understand on the outside just how much of a difficult decision it is to make,” Geitz said yesterday at the statue’s unveiling. “I haven’t even had a run yet so I should probably do a bit of exercise before I make any decisions about my future.”

Geitz initially thought it was a prank from her teammates last year when she was told a statue of her would be commissioned a few days after she captained the Queensland Firebirds to back-to-back grand final wins.

Alexander believed the sculpture — which cost around $75,000, and was jointly funded by AEG Ogden and Stadiums Queensland — might sway her future.

“This may cause her to reflect and say ‘I’ve achieved pretty much everything I need to achieve’,” she said. “It is a legacy item — there’s no doubt about that. It’s not just about Laura. It’s about her whole family committing to her getting back to high-performance sport.”

AAP