Friend in high places
Gretel helps Firebirds rookie in super debut
DIAMONDS ace Gretel Bueta is backing rising star Tippah Dwan to have a breakout season after the debutant’s stellar showing for the Firebirds in the Super Netball opener.
Bueta, who is pregnant with her first child and will sit out this Super Netball season, remains a key part of the Firebirds side, mentoring young shooters Dwan and Mia Stower.
Dwan has big shoes to fill given Bueta’s standing as the Liz Ellis Diamond winner last year after outstanding seasons for club and country.
And while she knows she won’t be able to fly under the radar again, the 20-year-old is determined to remain a thorn in the side of the competition’s defenders as she continues to hone her game under Bueta’s tutelage.
Dwan gives away 14cm to her mentor but her composed performance on debut – adding 11 goals, including three of four from super-shot range – helped form a potent combination in the circle with Romelda Aiken.
“It felt pretty normal really because I’ve been working with Romelda for a few years as well but just having (Bueta) on the sideline gave me a bit of a boost trying to be the lead goal attack,” Dwan said of her debut.
Bueta said she felt like a “proud mother duck” watching Dwan go to work against the Lightning despite the Firebirds’ eventual loss in the Queensland derby.
“She’s been training exactly the way she played and I wasn’t surprised, I was just very excited she just went out there (and performed),” Bueta said. “She’s such a cool, calm, collected person under pressure.”
Dwan has always walked a different path.
She started her netball career in China as an eightyear-old while her father was posted in Shanghai.
The Firebirds take on the Melbourne Vixens in Brisbane on Saturday.