Opals ambition has new recruit fired up
WHILE it might be a homecoming, Townsville Fire recruit Nadeen Payne wants her move north to be the first big leap towards a dream Opals debut.
The 188cm power forward was a junior national representative, but has not been able to break into a strong Opals front court.
But she believes a long-desired return to the Fire will be the key to unlock her international potential.
While Payne has been a noted three-point shooter over her 200-plus game WNBL career, a stint under Fire coach Shannon Seebohm will allow her to make selectors take notice of the many facets of her game.
“I haven’t been in the Opals squad before, just speaking with Shannon and how he perceives my goal, he thinks it is an achievable thing to work towards,” she said.
“I am not just a three point shooter and I want to be able to showcase that. I am really versatile, I can shoot the ball, but I can also put the ball on the floor. I also think a real strength of mine that has happened over the last couple of seasons is defending on the pick and roll on the switch.
“I can defend on the guards. It makes our rotations easier if we are on the switch. I think it has been an underrated part of my game, because I used to suck at it. It has been something I have worked on and it is really important and it is something Shannon has noticed.
“I have only spoken to him over the phone but the genuineness in his voice and the fact he was super excited and passionate and invested and did his research in me – I am a big energy person and you could tell it was something he wanted.”
The Fire junior played for the club in the WNBL as a teenager in 2010-12 before moving south for stints at Adelaide, Bendigo and most recently
Perth. But a return home has always been on her mind, and at 27 years old the timing finally felt right.
“I have wanted to come back to Townsville but it needed to be the right fit for me,” she said.
“I am really excited for what (Shannon) is trying to create for the club, it feels right down to my gut. I said to (Fire GM) Sam Pascoe the other day “we are going to surprise a lot of people”.
Payne will remain in her adopted home of Melbourne for the next month before making the move to Townsville to begin pre-season under Seebohm in early August.
She will be making the move with new best friend, french bulldog Bentley, who has helped her survive the coronavirus isolation.