City West Falcons will be the primary source of firepower for the Melbourne Vixens’ 2015 trans-Tasman ANZ Championship campaign.
The Vixens have revealed a squad that is half made up of current or former players from Marg Lind’s Falcons netball factory.
Defenders Chloe Watson and Emily Mannix are the latest to earn contracts with the Vixens after impressing for the Falcons in the Victorian Netball League this season.
Kate Moloney, Tegan Caldwell, Alice Teague-Neeld and Liz Watson are the other members of the Falcon six-pack on the Vixens’ list of 12.
The Falcons will be a victim of their own success, as Netball Victoria rules mean VNL club lists can have only two Vixens at the one time. Lind will have to choose which two of the six Vixens she keeps before rival clubs swoop.
Putting her Falcons hat on, Lind is frustrated that her club can put all the work into developing players only for them to land in the laps of opposition teams. But she understands the benefits of the rule, with the shoe being on the other foot when she coached Victoria University in the late 1990s.
One year, Lind’s side had won 13 straight games, yet one of the opposition teams dominated the finals by bringing in its Kestrals and Phoenix players.
“I still have that memory, so from that point of view the rule is a good thing,” Lind said.
“The awful thing for us as a club is, we’ll probably go with the two who we think might not get as much court time as the others.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the pathway and helping the kids to be as good as they can be, and I think we’re achieving that.
“I understand the rule and I think it’s one that protects the league.”
Lind is thrilled the Vixens have scoured the local talent pool for players.
She believes that had they not picked her talented young players, those players may have looked to other states for trans-Tasman opportunities.
“The opportunities in Victoria are very small,” she said. “If I was a young netballer in Victoria, I’d probably be looking interstate as well.
“We were lucky at the Vixens that there were a few opportunities after some bench players left and went elsewhere.
“It gives young kids like Chloe and Emily the opportunity to slip onto the bench and hopefully get some court time and some development.
“As a young player, you’ve got to be ready – you never know when your chance will come.
“If they don’t get much court time at the Vixens, they need to get back and play in the VNL – that’s absolutely critical.”
