'It was a difficult time': Julie Fitzgerald responds to Caitlin Bassett exit
In a year when the word “unprecedented” has never done so much heavy lifting, netball in Australia is coming towards the end of a season like no other.
From Covid-forced changes such as moving the start of the season from May to August and relocating the entire competition to Queensland, to the selfimposed controversy of the two-point super shot, contentious umpiring decisions and the acknowledgement of structural racism at all levels of netball, which has led to a widespread review of the entire system.
And this week, with only two games remaining in the 2020 season, shock reverberated across the netball community with the news that incumbent Australian Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett terminated her contract with Giants Netball and will relocate to New Zealand to play in the ANZ Premiership with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in 2021.
It is the first time since the Australian and New Zealand competitions split at the end of 2016 that a Diamonds player will make the move over the ditch - and that it is such a high-profile Diamond has raised plenty of eyebrows.
At the heart of the issue appears to be Bassett’s frustration with feeling undervalued by the Giants – she has played just 292 of the 840 minutes her team has been on court in the 2020 season.
Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald says emotions have been heightened by the hub environment. “I think it’s been extremely difficult for her,” Fitzgerald tells Guardian Australia.
“I wouldn’t underestimate how hard it’s been for her to be suddenly in a position where she’s sitting on the sideline, which is something that she’s never experienced before. So I have sympathy for how difficult that would have been for her, but it was a difficult time for everyone.”
While Fitzgerald understands the difficulties Bassett has faced this year, she says her foremost responsibility is to the team as a unit. “The only thing that I can do is make the decisions that I believe that are the best for the Giants at the time,” she says. “Caitlin knows why I made those decisions and what I thought we needed to get us there.
“I think it’s also very important to remember that Caitlin doesn’t come to me as the Diamonds captain. Just the same as young kids don’t come as rookies or someone doesn’t come as a seasoned international, they come to me as a Giant. So they embrace the Giants culture, they embrace the Giants work ethic, and I will do what I feel is the best for that team.”
While Bassett reportedly asked for more court time with Kiera Austin in goal attack, Fitzgerald says she provided that combination opportunities to gel during training. “I think before people make decisions on things like that, they need to be at training and see what’s happened there and in our trial games,” she says.
“I always make sure that I try every combination in training. So there was plenty of access to that during our training sessions. And there were a couple of opportunities this year where they also played together.”
Speaking to Netball Scoop, Bassett also took aim at the club’s training regime, which she didn’t feel afforded her the time to pursue opportunities outside of netball.
“I was working on a journalism degree so wanted some more opportunities off the court than I’d previously had,” Bassett said. “But our training regime meant that at times we were at the club from 7.30am until 2pm, and combined with travel and games, it made it difficult to get anything done outside of netball.”
Fitzgerald rejects those claims, stating her club does not ask any more of players in terms of training commitments than any other Super Netball club. “To be perfectly honest, I think we probably spend less time than most others,” she says.
“They are professional athletes, they are highly paid to do what they do. And to be there for that length of time I don’t think is unreasonable – our team gets one to two days a week off every week. I think that is something that should be expected.”
While it has been a tumultuous time for the club, Fitzgerald hopes the discussion can start to move towards the 2021 season, which she believes will be an exciting one for her team. “I don’t think a great deal needs to change,” she says.
“I have a young team that is very, very excited for 2021 and we grew a lot this year. We lost three games by two or less and drew two and if we had won those we would have been second. I take a lot of heart out of that.”