Cocks at Fire in new season
TOWNSVILLE Fire stalwart Micaela Cocks will return for the club’s WNBL championship defence in 2018- 19 after it was announced yesterday she had re- signed for another season.
Having filled a starting role for most of her tenure, the 31- year- old played a key impact role off the bench to help steer the Fire to their third championship in four years.
Cocks also signed with Townsville Heat for the upcoming Queensland Basketball League season last week, and will be part of New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games campaign.
“Townsville’s my home and I love the community up here and how everyone gets behind the Fire and sport in general,” she said.
“It’s always good to have a core, it’s what the Fire has done pretty well and it’s got the results, we’ve got three championships.
“You take in other options in your decision- making process but it would have to go beyond your expectations because the club is a dynasty, and it makes it so easy to sign here.”
Cocks is the third player to recommit for next season, alongside six- time WNBL MVP Suzy Batkovic and Australian Opals Commonwealth Games squad member Darcee Garbin. Having played 182 WNBL games, including all five of the Fire’s grand final appearances, Cocks is set to join former point guard Rachael McCully ( 228) as the only players in Townsville’s 200 club.
“It’ll be really exciting. On game day we don’t talk about it too much because we had one year where we lost all those milestone games, but this year we did a good job of it so hopefully we can continue that,” Cocks said.
Cocks recently returned from a camp with the Kiwi squad, the first under new head coach Guy Molloy.
Ironically, Townsville beat Molloy’s club team, Melbourne Boomers, in this year’s WNBL grand final series.
Cocks was an up- andcoming talent as part of New Zealand’s silver medal- winning campaign at Melbourne in 2006.
“It is a new look with Guy taking the head role, he was an assistant ( previously) so it’s not all brand new,” Cocks said. “It won’t be easy. We won’t have our full- strength squad because of European contracts, but it will be exciting and Guy will do a good job.”
Cocks joins six- time WNBL Most Valuable Player Batkovic and Australian Opals Commonwealth Games squad member Garbin as key pieces to recommit for next season.
The Fire are expected to make another player signing announcement later this week.