A Super chance for Grant
Bond defender benefits from reserves squad role
BOND University’s Shenae Grant is hoping to take the next step in her career after being parachuted into a Suncorp Super Netball reserves squad for the whole season.
When the entire 2020 league was suddenly shifted to Queensland, Netball Queensland worked with clubs to select a squad of local players in case their squads wore thin while away from home.
Grant, 21, was contacted a few weeks ago by coaches within her Elite Development Pathway squad and told there was a chance she could be making her national league debut.
“I basically got told by Netball Queensland not to ignore any unknown phone calls,” Grant said.
“It was pretty exciting knowing you were in the mix and getting looked at.
“It made me realise where I was starting to sit in my netball career and how far I could take it.”
Fellow squad member and Ipswich Jets Sapphire Series player Bridey Condren was called to play for the Western Fever late in the season.
While Grant didn’t get the chance to live a similar fairytale, she still had an opportunity to test herself against some of the competition’s best.
The elite squad was invited to play a practice match against the then grand finalbound Melbourne Vixens in their pre-final bye to maintain match fitness.
Grant found herself matched up on the likes of Australian great Caitlin Thwaites in an experience that left her starstruck.
“I was very nervous at the start playing against the likes of Caitlin Thwaites and some of their training partners who are my age,” she said.
“I played against one of their training partners Sacha (McDonald) and then I had to play on Caitlin (Thwaites) for
a bit as well. I was trying to focus on doing my job but I was also looking down the other end of the court trying to see what their defenders were doing.”
With the 2020 Super Netball season ending earlier this month, Grant has since been fully invested in the Bull Sharks’ Sapphire Series tilt.
Bond is fresh off a win against the Wildcats and has the chance to make it three in
a row when it plays Cougars and USC Thunder in a Saturday-Sunday double-header.
“Every week, we’re improving and gaining more momentum,” Grant said.
“It’s not something we’ve had to do yet so there will be a big focus on recovery in between games but we have a young side so we should be ready to go. We really need to win both (to be a chance of making the finals).”