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Gimmick turns sour with Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett weighing up netball future

<span>Photograph: Albert Perez/AAP</span>
Photograph: Albert Perez/AAP

When England caused one of the biggest upsets in world netball by beating Australia in the 2018 Commonwealth Games final, it was widely acknowledged that the Roses had, at least in part, Australia’s elite league to thank.

Then-Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander put it simply after the Gold Coast final. “I can’t say it any other way; I’m the national coach and [having English players in Super Netball] has clearly assisted them to win this gold medal. That’s our high performance system working for another country.”

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Fast-forward two-and-a-half years and it could be argued Super Netball, which still has no limit on imports, is not just building up other nations, it is sabotaging its own once all-conquering national team.

Exhibit A: Caitlin Bassett. The Diamonds captain, one of the most valuable holding shooters in the world, is said to be eying a move to New Zealand or a trade to another Super Netball club, despite having one year to run on her Giants contract.

In what can be viewed as a consequence of the Super Netball commission introducing the contentious super shot for the condensed 2020 season, Bassett has gone from playing almost every minute last season to riding a stationary bike so consistently courtside this year she has become the butt of meme makers’ jokes.

There may be other factors at play behind the scenes, but it appears Bassett – who last year became only the fifth Diamond ever to play 100 Tests – has become collateral damage in the commission’s push to make netball “more dynamic and unpredictable” and attract new fans.

A fundamental change to the scoring system to favour mid-to-long range shots for a third of each match, foisted on players, coaches, administrators, umpires and fans just weeks out from the start of the season, was always going to have a significant impact on a player like Bassett.

The 32-year-old has built her career as a tall target who is super-accurate from super-close range – something that makes her invaluable in the traditional form of the game, played everywhere else in the world and at Commonwealth and World Cup level.

But with virtually no notice, Bassett, along with other Super Netball goalers considered “less-than” under the new rule, had little time to re-invent her game.

In sides with quality shooters of both persuasions, those with long bomb credentials were always going to be favoured in 2020. Pre-season, Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald was considered serendipitously fortunate to have several ready-to-go longer-range shooters in Jo Harten, Kiera Austin and Sophie Dwyer, as well as Bassett.

As the season has unfolded, it has became apparent Fitzgerald’s preferred pairing is Harten and Austin. So Bassett – the national captain and leader of one of the most consistently successful sides in the country – has repeatedly been relegated to the bench.

Perhaps also one of the most recognisable netballers in the world, Bassett has had to smile awkwardly as the camera pans to her doing the “Tour de Bass”. Hilarious to some, humiliating to others.

With only one ordinary round to go, Bassett has played just one full 60-minute match, her 200th national league game in early August, when the Giants beat West Coast Fever 75-68. In vintage no-fuss fashion, the 193cm spearhead shot 47/53 at 89% accuracy.

In her side’s 66-65 win against the Queensland Firebirds a few weeks later, when she played 40 minutes after not getting on the court at all the previous match against the Vixens, Bassett shot the winning goal with 0.01 left in the match without flinching.

She has not stopped being world-class, but she has stopped taking the court, not playing at all in four games and playing just 15 minutes on two occasions. Fitzgerald, publicly at least, has given little to no reason.

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As much as this is surely a personal and professional embarrassment for Bassett, it should be more so for the game’s decision makers, who took a punt on a gimmick few wanted and ended up gambling with the national’s side prospects.

The super shot has unearthed several new shooting stars, but Bassett was very much in the frame to captain – and play shooter – for several more benchmark events yet, such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 and the World Cup in Cape Town in 2023. Will she now? Time will tell. Ironically, the player most likely to succeed her at the back, Sunshine Coast Lightning’s Cara Koenen, has sunk just two super shots all season.

Of course all of this does not consider how damaging other Super Netball rule tweaks, such as rolling subs and time-outs, may be to the Diamonds in coming years. Again, time will tell. But for now, as Bassett prepares for what may be her last domestic game on Australian soil at the weekend, it is time to ask whether is has really been worth it?