Netball: Ravaillion learns to lighten up

Kim Ravaillion has cemented her position as one of Australia’s best Diamonds.

Kim Ravaillion will play centre for the Diamonds at this year’s Commonwealth Games. Picture: Aaron Francis

Diamonds centre Kim Ravaillion is “a lot more excited to play netball” than she was a year ago as she prepares for a key role in Australia’s gold medal defence at the Commonwealth Games in April.

Over the past year Ravaillion has gone from struggling to stay on the court amid a tumultuous first season at Magpies Netball to cementing her spot as one of Australia’s best Diamonds.

The key to that turnaround has been learning to lighten up a little amid the high-intensity environment that confronts every athlete at Collingwood, a challenge for a tenacious netballer with a reputation for being “direct and forceful” with her teammates.

Firebirds coach Roselee Jen­cke, who plucked Ravaillion from the AIS as a 19-year-old in 2013, saw the centre’s form last year as “inconsistent”.

That’s kinder than the assessment most made of her form: ­Ravaillion felt the burn of fan dissatisfaction on social media and forums as harshly as any Magpie last year. Many wanted her dropped from the national side.

She was aware of her poor form and knew her job security as a Diamond was under real pressure for the first time in years.

“There’s no doubt that there was external pressure on her last year; that impacted her performance,” said Jencke. “Everyone saw that (the Magpies) just weren’t gelling as a team; that wasn’t just her, it was a whole team.”

Ravaillion seemed a step slow, a notable change in one of the world’s fittest netballers.

“Most of us were very tired,” said Ravaillion. The problems stemmed from a lightning quick pre-season as athletes had only a handful of days to recover from an international tour before the Super Netball season began.

Ravaillion is a personal trainer as well as an athlete. She thought the solution to her slump was to push herself harder in training, but that only made things worse. “Going into most of my games last year I was at 75 per cent. Now I’ve actually realised that I don’t have to be at every training; I ­actually need to recover, and need to make sure I’m ready to go at every game,” she said.

Things started to turn around for Ravaillion after the Quad ­Series tests in July, which marked the low point of the Diamonds’ year. New Zealand blasted Australia in a match that rang alarm bells among netball analysts.

“The Quad Series wasn’t great for me,” admitted Ravaillion, who saw fellow Magpie and household name Madi Robinson dropped from the team after the loss.

After the tournament, Diamonds head coach Lisa Alexander sat down for a long chat with the 24-year-old centre and pushed her to embrace a more proactive role on the team. Ravaillion is still young but she’s now among the most experienced active Diamonds, with 50 caps for Australia.

“Lisa pulled me and made me realise that I need to make my own decisions,” she said.

“She found me at the start of my career and believed in me from the get go. So when I listen to what she says, when she ­believes in me, it makes me realise that I am a good player, and … that I kind of just make things hard for myself.”

Alexander believes ­Ravaillion is now in the best form of her ­career. Jencke, who also serves as a Diamonds assistant coach, also said that the international centre had far more to her game than a high workrate.

“(Kim has) evolved into a really smart decision-maker … she just gives the ball at the right speed, right placement,” said Jencke.

As for Ravaillion’s doubters on social media, the player ignores what’s said on Twitter.

“Do you know what?” she said. “I just block out what most people say. I’m like, if you think you can do a better job, put your hand up and play in centre, because I’m telling you it’s harder than what you think.”