Tara Murray
When Grace Graham got invited down to the Melbourne Boomers as a training partner, she thought it would only be for a few weeks.
While it was only for a few weeks, the Keilor Thunder star didn’t hesitate to be involved with the Women’s National Basketball League team.
In those four weeks, Graham made and impact and got given a much bigger opportunity.
“They needed an extra body at training as they were down a few players at the start of pre-season,” she said.
“One of the board members mentioned my name from playing in the NBL1. I met Chris [Lucas] the first day and he said we only need you for four weeks.
“The four weeks finished and Chris didn’t give me much and said are you sticking around? About a month ago I was offered a development role player for the next two seasons.
“I made an impact at training and he liked what he saw and wanted to keep me around longer term.”
Graham said she was nervous starting out at the Boomers and training with the likes of Sara Blicavs.
She said her game had grown the longer she spent with the side.
“I wasn’t expecting anything coming in,” she said. “I have developed a nice relationship with Chris and he has instilled confidence in me.
“It’s a really good opportunity to learn from players like Sara, who has played at the highest level.”
Being involved in a WNBL program caps off a crazy year for Graham, which started with her being in America at college.
While she loved being at Kansas City, the decision to come home has proven to be the right one.
“I got injured in the pre-season and it took a really long time to heal and rehab didn’t go as well as I would have liked.
“It wasn’t easy mentally and I decided to come home and get better here, I really trust my strength and conditioning coach and my physio.
“It was best to come home.”
Graham had no expectations when she came home other than to rehab her injury. She quickly found herself as part of Keilor Thunder’s NBL1 South side.
It was a different experience for her.
“It was tough, I had never played in NBL1 before, only two years of youth league,” she said.
“I still wasn’t signed when the season started and I wasn’t expecting to sign any where.
“The coach wanted me to be in the team and I thought it was pretty cool. I took so much out of it that I have taken into the WNBL and I will take so much from the WNBL into the next NBL1 season.”
Graham will be back at the Thunder with a lot of the core group of young players returning having recently signed a two year contract.
Next year they will be coached by Kristi Harrower, which is another surreal moment for Graham, who instantly knew she wanted to be coached by her.
“It’s so exciting having Kristi around, I’m glad she saw something in me and kept me around.
“She is literally one of the best point guards Australia has ever had. It’s a dream to go places that she has.
“We’ve kept the core group together each season and we’ve grown together. There’s a few more pieces to come and we’ll see what we can get and hopefully get a few more wins.”
Graham said her basketball focus is a real short term one, just to keep getting better each day.
The next goal is t get a roster position on a WNBL team, would love that to be under Chris at the Boomers.
“Hopefully I can have a solid season in the NBL1 and be a great impact player.”
