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In Marinkovichs defence it has been said that this injury has been lingering for years whilst just being managed and has obviously deteriorated so this would be the culmination of the past few years of playing nearly every SSN and International game.
Liz Watson looked exhausted at the end of the Con Cup.
I think for Stacey M it was a big shock coming from the SSN to playing the Ferns.
I hope Liz recovers well, Diamonds certainly need her for the 2022 Com Games.Bring back Thwaites! I’m sure she could slot in at WA, she can do everything else :yahoo:
Devastating for Liz but I guess kind of a good year to do it, having just won SSN and no major comp this year
Knowing Liz will be back next year I say bring in Pitman. No point blooding a new player next year who will most likely be demoted to TP once Liz gets back anywayI think they should either fully commit to blooding a youngster (so either Smith at C or Honey/Sacha McDonald at WA) or go for an experienced international (like Pitman, Msomi etc.). I’m not sure if bringing in someone like Brown will help them in either the short or long term.
It’s so easy to say in hindsight but I wonder if the Vixens should have been a bit tactical with their contracts. I remember a few years ago the Firebirds only signed Bueta and Aiken because they wanted to keep more defenders and midcourters on contract, and then they brought Somerville into the 10 for game days. Vixens could have done the same and just signed Stanton and Kumwenda, bringing Barkmeyer in to the 10 for either Smith or McDonald depending on form. It’s understandable why they didn’t want to do this though, teams shouldn’t have to bend the contracting rules to be able to keep their talent.
My reasoning behind Brown was her versatility. The ability to switch Moloney and Brown who can then run in C. I’ve never seen Pitman play C and I’m not sure how she would go. But then if they can convert Thwaites to GA I should have been more versatile in my thinking and they could get Pitman to play C for a quarter here or there (purely as a change up).
They can retain Pitman in 2022 as well so Watson doesn’t need to be flogged on her return. They’d have genuine premiership winning midcourt depth. Obviously a win for Pitman as well by having the opportunity out to push for Comm Games selection and end her career on her terms.
By 2023 Honey will either be ready or not.
If not then hopefully they would have already looked elsewhere.I hope Honey does get court time this year. Especially after she has had the chance to play in VNL for a month or so.
As for Smith – from what I’m hearing Vixens have genuine concerns about Weston. Weston dealt with calf and Achilles niggles / soreness in the hub last year which they managed. Currently has a
Calf strain. They don’t want to flog her but rather give her time to overcome these in full as they’ve become repetitive. There will be a lot of games where their backline is Mannix – Eddy – Smith. That’s why they have had Coffey training all year with them even though she wasn’t originally chosen as a TP.I don’t believe Sacha McDonald is ready for SSN. Whilst not a TP Rahni Samason has been training with Vixens. I’ve no doubt with a solid VNL she will be back at Vixens in some formal capacity in 2022.
I’d also expect if they need to bring a different shooter into their 10 later in the year that it’ll be Samason not McDonald. Genuinely not sure what the future is for McDonald who has turned into a feeding GA. Not sure playing VNL with Ryde will help her grow out of that. Honey is in the same VNL team so that’s the WA.McDonald should move to the midcourt I think. She creates play well but doesn’t pose enough of a second shooting option. It was very obvious in the ANL final against the Waratahs how much more dominant Dwyer was as a GA than her. Playing with Ryde doesn’t help as you said, but I think working on her WA game is probably her future.
I agree McDonald’s future is in the midcourt. She has a chance at SSN as a WA. But she is training predominantly as a shooter with both Vixens and Demons. Will see where she plays in ANL.
I wonder when we will hear some news re Watson’s replacement.
I hope they bring in Pitman – the attack line needs a dominant and experienced WA and Pitman is great at supporting and bringing out the best in the youngsters around her (Horjus and Nankivell)
If they elevate Honey before she is ready I think that will hold all of the emerging talents in that attack line back – the balance of experience and youth is an important one when building confidence and game smarts.
Hopefully there will be an announcement today 🤞- This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by Netballcrazy25.
What are the salary cap implications of a replacement player? Somehow Swifts afforded Rore for Eddy which was clearly an upgrade. Pitman could be argued as a like for like replacement for Watson. But surely Watson still gets paid? I remember when Ingles came in for Chloe Watson reading that she was a base contract (and happy to be so the Vixens could retain young talent – of course with Joe’s NBA career finance was not Renae’s top priority). To move interstate even if it just the season and not preseason Pitman would still surely require some level of financial assistance.
I don’t think Rore got paid that much actually, although the Swifts clearly found ways to cover most of the material costs (i.e. accomodation, transport for her and her husband etc.). She only played four main season games and three finals matches though, so I’m not sure if she was that motivated by the money either. I think Pitman would want a lot more to relocate for a whole season, but Vixens would be in a better position to provide that than most clubs and I think it’s within the rules to go above salary cap provisions in the case of season-ending injuries.
It’d be interesting to know what is in and what is outside of the cap. What allowances there are in cases of season ending injuries and signing of replacement players.
I don’t think expect an announcement any time soon. If the Vixens are looking to sign someone like Pitman then they’d be applying for concessions from the league and working with NV and sponsors etc. If they are going to elevate a TP they have the games this weekend in Ballarat against TBirds to finalise their choice.
I am speculating obviously, but surely if a player has a season ending injury their pay would not be included in the salary cap i.e. it is a calculated based on the team available for selection during the season. I think we can assume Watson is on a high, if not the highest, salary within the team so they have room to offer Pitman a decent salary to move interstate without going over the salary cap (whether they can fund it as a club is a different question)
Another consideration for Pitman is that if she’s playing SSN, she will be eligible for Roses full time program selection (selections happening in the next few weeks), which I assume the athletes are remunerated for.
If they are elevating a training partner, it will almost certainly be Honey who has been in and around the training environment for years – not sure what more insight a pre-season match will give.
There is only 4 weeks until the start of the season so you’d think they would want to get the replacement confirmed and brought into the training environment (if non-TP) ASAP to start building those connections, so still hopeful for an announcement soon 🤞It is a Vixen like strategy to make a TP play practice matches before being elevated. Dunkley in 2019. Watson back in the day when she came in for Elissa Macleod. I agree that Honey would be the logical option ahead of Mundy, Cransberg and Walters (Coffey is a defender). I think Honey is incredibly talented. But needs a year of VNL and ANL. Way too much athleticism and speed to not find a home on an SSN court in time but she has barely played since her Achilles and nothing beats playing actual games.
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