Pettitt to take on old mate
GIANTS veteran Susan Pettitt says the possibility of facing her former teammate Laura Langman in tomorrow’s Super Netball grand final is a scary prospect.
Renowned shooter Pettitt has recently been switched to wing attack by Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald and the Diamonds’ representative has played a full game in the unfamiliar position in both of their finals matches.
Pettitt doesn’t expect to know in which position she will play against Sunshine Coast Lightning until a few hours before tomorrow’s game in Brisbane.
It’s a fair bet she will play at least part of the game at wing attack, with England international and acting captain Jo Harten and emerging young shooter Kristina Brice combining well inside the circle.
That could see her directly opposed to her 2016 NSW Swifts teammate and legendary New Zealand midcourter Langman.
“It (playing at wing attack) would be interesting,” she said. “She’s one of the best wing defenders in the world and that would be quite scary.
“But as I said to the girls, I’m not a traditional wing attack, I play a very different style and because I don’t know what I’m doing, it probably makes me a bit harder to defend.”
Pettitt performed well at wing attack when starting there in both of their finals matches. But for the first times in her 12-year senior career, Pettitt didn’t take a single shot in either game.
Pettitt played in title-winning Swifts teams under Fitzgerald in her first three years of senior netball from 2006-08.
But the Swifts have lost epic deciders to Queensland Firebirds in the past two seasons.