Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich provides Donnell Wallam update as key details for the Diamonds are revealed
Donnell Wallam went from the golden girl of Australian netball to not being offered a Super Netball contract. Diamonds coach Staecey Marinkovich reveals where Wallam sits in her plans.
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Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich believes Donnell Wallam has found a new lease of life in New Zealand and the door remains open for her to relaunch her international career with the Diamonds this year.
As she revealed plans to announce her Diamonds’ squad ahead of the Super Netball finals, Marinkovich confirmed Wallam was “up for selection” with selectors continuing to keep a close eye on the star shooter now playing in the ANZ Premiership.
Marinkovich said Wallam had embraced her new playing environment with the Northern Mystics - where she replaced Swifts-bound Silver Ferns star Grace Nweke - after missing out on a Super Netball contract.
Wallam made her return to the court for the Mystics earlier this week after missing the past three games with a wrist injury.
The Diamonds’ mentor said Wallam’s performances had been tracked as closely as all the other Australian hopefuls playing in Super Netball.
“We get the footage and our performance analyst does the same amount of deep dive into her performances as we do for every player in the Suncorp Super Netball competition,” Marinkovich said.
“So we have definitely got eyes on and have been tracking her performance but I haven’t actually been over there at this stage.
“She is up for selection and just because you play in a different competition doesn’t mean that we don’t look as to how that will contribute and add value into our group, so I guess it’s looking at the dynamic that we’ve got and how players come in and we’re still navigating that selection piece at the moment.
“I think she has embraced the environment over there and sometimes a different environment gives players a new lease of life.
“As long as she is enjoying what she does then she puts out her best netball.”
Marinkovich said she planned to announce the Diamonds squad - from which teams for the upcoming three-Test series against South Africa and the Constellation Cup will be chosen - before the Super Netball finals, leaving just two more games for players to push their case.
But Marinkovich poured cold water on the prospect of a shock return to the Diamonds fold for star goaler Gretel Bueta after vision of the mum-of-three doing court work with the national coach emerged on social media in May created a stir.
“I think that’s a little way off,” Marinkovich said.
“She touched the ball for a few weeks. She has only just had Lacy getting onto six months (ago). She has got three children under four.
“It’s just a wait and see and we’ll just navigate things at her pace and she hasn’t retired but at the same time is a way off coming back at the moment.”
The Diamonds will gather for their first camp at the AIS in Canberra in early September.
Marinkovich said selectors were making decisions now with an eye towards next year’s Commonwealth Games and the home World Cup in Sydney in 2027.
“Everything really is working towards the Commonwealth Games at the moment, I think we have that as the first stop and I guess we always lift our vision to what a World Cup would be and the what-ifs around that,” Marinkovich said.
“But first and foremost it is getting the best group together to represent in Glasgow and just making sure that we’ve got all our systems in place to keep evolving our depth and make sure that we’ve got a really competitive training squad that is going to be able to push and challenge each other to get the best 12 out at the end of the day
It was announced on Friday Bendigo would host the opening match of the three-Test series against South Africa on October 4.
The South Africa series will lead into the Constellation Cup at John Cain Arena on October 17 and Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on October 22 before the series moves across the Tasman.
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Originally published as Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich provides Donnell Wallam update as key details for the Diamonds are revealed
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