Netball doesn’t rate a mention in conventional fairy tales, but Laura Geitz might just be writing one of her own. The 30-year-old Queenslander – who has not played elite netball since 2016 and last February gave birth to her first child – has been named in the 12-player squad to represent Australia at April’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Despite not playing in Suncorp Super Netball last season, Geitz was elevated to the squad, and therefore made eligible for selection, after a camp at the Australian Institute of Sport last month and clearly impressed national coach Lisa Alexander. The last time Geitz wore green and gold was in the 2015 Constellation Cup.
Her return is a blinding neon sign to every other women’s sport in the country that kids are now part and parcel of elite female sport – not a career-ender. If she can lead the Diamonds to what many believe is an inevitable gold medal in her home state of Queensland, she’ll enter rarefied area in world sport.
The gun goal keeper, who has 64 caps to her name, will be joined by April Brandley, Jo Weston and rising star Courtney Bruce in defence at the Games. That trio, who have never been to a Commonwealth Games, will have a box seat to one of the finest defenders in the game, whose on-court leadership is unparalleled in the game. Her performance against Silver Fern Bailey Mes in the gold medal match of the 2015 Netball World Cup is just one recent example. It was also a mercurial Geitz touch that won her Queensland Firebirds the final ANZ Championship in extra-time.
Getiz’s return pushes young Melbourne Vixen Emily Mannix, who got little court time during the recent Quad Series in England and South Africa, out of the squad. Also absent from the list was fan favourite Sharni Layton, who withdrew from the Diamonds’ Quad Series side last August, citing exhaustion. She is back in full training with her Super Netball franchise, Collingwood, but didn’t make the cut.
Layton’s Magpies team-mate, Madi Robinson, was named ahead of Vixens captain Kate Moloney, who travelled to the most recent Quad Series but failed to make an impact.
Code-hopper Gretel Tippett was also overlooked despite having been a mainstay of recent squads. Tippett is a controversial figure among netball fans, who haven’t taken to her unconventional style and her omission for the Gold Coast may signal an end to the experiment.
Meanwhile, mid-courters Gabi Simpson and Liz Watson and shooter Stephanie Wood have earned their maiden Commonwealth Games selections. In attack, Alexander locked in Sunshine Coast stars Caitlin Bassett and Wood, as well as veteran Susan Pettitt, who heartbreakingly missed out on selection for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 World Cup teams. Collingwood pair, Caitlin Thwaites and Kim Ravaillion, round out the squad.
Alexander, who said the squad deliberations were the toughest she and national selectors Anne Sargeant and Michelle Wilkins have ever undertaken, has tried to strike a balance between youth and experience. The side is almost split down the middle; half have proven track records at “marquee events such as the Commonwealth Games and Netball World Cup, whilst half are yet to debut in a major tournament.”
Only captain Bassett, on 76, has more caps than Geitz. But we all know who the heroine of this fairy tale is. We’ll just have to wait until April to see if she lives happily ever after.
Diamonds squad: Courtney Bruce, Laura Geitz, Susan Pettitt, Gabi Simpson, Stephanie Wood, Caitlin Bassett (captain), April Brandley, Kim Ravaillion, Madi Robinson, Caitlin Thwaites, Liz Watson, Jo Weston
