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38 SPORT
THURSDAY APRIL 16 2015 CAIRNSPOST.COM.AU
Watts the
answer for
Diamonds
Indigenous carnival dream turns real
MICHAEL WARREN
FOR more than a decade
former Australian netballer
Sharon Finnan has had a
vision about the many
benefits players could gain
both on and off the court by
participating in an annual
indigenous netball carnival
in Cairns.
Three months ago after a
chat with Cairns Netball
operations manager Kym
Mcphee-Smith, Finnan
decided it was time her
dreams of creating such a
tournament became a reality.
The first Sharon Finnan
development cup will be held
on July 18-19, with Finnan
hoping one day it might just
be a launching pad to find
Australia’s next indigenous
netballer.
“From a personal point of
view, I would really love to be
able to leave a legacy,” she
explained.
“When you look at the
statistics of indigenous girls
who have represented at the
highest level there is only
two of us (Finnan and Marcia
Ella Duncan) in the history
of Australian netball.”
The cup is fully endorsed
by Netball Queensland with
talented players at the
carnival to be selected in a
20-girl squad to receive
further training and
competitive matches later
this year in Brisbane.
“I want players in the cup
to really enjoy themselves
but to also know this event is
a proper pathway to really
develop their careers,”
It’s fantastic for netball
across Far North
Queensland that such an
event is finally going to
happen.
– Kym Mcphee-Smith
Finnan said. She said the July
carnival was hopefully the
kickstart of many good
things to come for
indigenous netballers in Far
North Queensland.
“We’re working with
Netball Queensland to
encourage all of the other
regional netball Associations
across the state to run similar
indigenous netball events,”
she said.
“Therefore in the future
you could potentially pick a
number of regional squads
and bring them all together
for a Queensland netball
indigenous championships to
be played somewhere in the
state.”
The cup will have a
holistic life feel, with
employment, health and
other service providers to
have stalls courtside to
promote job awareness and
help encourage healthy
lifestyles.
Cairns Netball is
searching for sponsors to
financially assist the event.
Anyone who can help the
Sharon Finnan development
cup can call 4051 7501 or email
[email protected].
We’re all very excited that it’s going to happen. It’s
about providing opportunities for our young ones
especially those in really remote communities.
– Event co organiser and Indamu Netball Club
representative Linda Sexton
To have a carnival that will give young
indigenous girls a chance to further
themselves in netball is excellent.
– Co-organiser and Indamu Netball
club committee member
Katrina Stafford
From a personal point of
view, I would really love
to be able to leave a
legacy. – Sharon Finnan
Picture: JUSTIN BRIERTY
DIAMONDS coach Lisa Alexander has backed uncapped
Khao Watts as a possible replacement for injured star
Madi Robinson after selecting
her as a bolter in Australia’s
preliminary Netball World
Cup squad.
Wing attack Watts was one
of five West Coast Fever players selected in the 18-player
squad as their team were rewarded for a barnstorming
start to the trans-Tasman netball championship.
The only newcomer to national squad selection, 26year-old
Watts was
joined by
regular Diamonds
stars Caitlin
Bassett and
Natalie
Medhurst
plus fellow Khao Watts
Fever teammates in one-Test defender
April Letton and uncapped
Ashleigh Brazill.
The squad will be trimmed
to 12 players on June 24 after
the ANZ Championship grand
final as preparations continue
for Australia’s world title defence in Sydney in August.
Watts has enjoyed a sharp
rise since being plucked from
the South Australian State
League three years ago by the
Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic
before joining the Fever last
year.
Alexander is rethinking her
centrecourt options after wing
attack Robinson, a key player
in Australia’s 2014 Commonwealth Games success in Scotland, was ruled out for the
season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament last
week.
2015 AUSTRALIAN DIAMONDS
SQUAD: Karyn Bailey (Vixens), Caitlin
Bassett (Fever), Erin Bell (Thunderbirds), Ashleigh Brazill (Fever), Rebecca Bulley (Firebirds), Tegan Philip
(Vixens), Julie Corletto (Swifts), Laura
Geitz (Firebirds), Kimberlee Green
(Swifts), Renae Hallinan (Thunderbirds), Sharni Layton (Swifts), April
Letton (Fever), Claire McMeniman
(Firebirds), Natalie Medhurst (Fever),
Kimberley Ravaillion (Firebirds), Gabi
Simpson (Firebirds), Caitlin Thwaites
(Swifts), Khao Watts (Fever)
Cats chase favourite son
JON RALPH
GEELONG wants Gary Ablett
back and has made inquiries to
his management to gauge his
interest on a return to Simonds
Stadium.
But the Cats have been told
in recent months that Ablett
will sign a new three-year, $3
million deal to stay at the Gold
Coast.
Ablett returning to Geelong
after five years away would
thrill fans and Geelong is desperate for midfield depth to top
up a young playing list.
Ablett won a Brownlow
Medal and two premierships at
Geelong then left in acrimonious circumstances, falling out
with coach Mark Thompson.
The Cats have touched base
with his manager Liam Pickering many times and as recently
as early this year were told he
wasn’t moving anywhere.
They believe circumstances
would have to change for him
to reconsider a deal that Gold
Coast say is close to being
sealed.
Geelong chief executive
Brian Cook said the club’s
overtures, going back a full
season, had been fruitless.
“When we have inquired.
We have been told he is staying,” Cook said.
“It’s a romantic notion but it
won’t happen.”
Ablett’s delay in clinching
the deal – on the table in
roughly its current form for
over six months – and his recent shoulder issues have
again clouded his future.
What is certain is Geelong
does not have salary cap space
for both Ablett and Patrick
Dangerfield, the Adelaide star
they hope to lure next year.
Dangerfield would not require the sacrifice of draft picks
given he is a free agent and
only just turned 25 this month.
Geelong would need to
give up something considerable in exchange for Ablett,
not a free agent and turning
31 next month.
Under an AFL player
union proposal players
like Ablett would be free
agents when their contract at their new club
expired, but he is not
free to leave under current rules.
Suns football manager Marcus Ashcroft is
adamant Ablett will sign.
“Every indication he has
given us, and his manager
Liam Pickering, is that it
will be done sooner rather than later,” he said
this week.
“We’re not overly
concerned. We’re
hopeful it will
happen in the
next couple of
weeks.”
Ablett is
out
indefinitely with a shoulder injury stirred
up by a fortnight of
buffeting. But Suns
coach Rodney Eade has denied
he will not take anti-inflammatories.
“That’s been blown out of
proportion. He is very particular and meticulous in his
rehab,” he said.
Ablett is not a cookie cutter
AFL player: a deeply religious
athlete obsessed with a natural
diet inspired by the paleo
trend.
But while he lives a different
life he has spoken previously of
his burning desire to lead the
Gold Coast into their inaugural finals series.
More AFL, Page 35
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