Bailey Making All The Right Moves For Hunter

Newcastle Herald

Thursday May 24, 2007

Renee Valentine - Netball

THERE was a moment of retrospection for Karyn Bailey when news of a trans-Tasman competition broke a moment when she wondered if moving to Newcastle had been the right decision for her netball career.

The Tasman Trophy will replace the national netball league next year and will boast one team each from NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia along with five New Zealand sides.

Bailey passed up an opportunity to play with the Queensland Firebirds this season to instead join the Hunter Jaegers.

"At first when it was announced, I thought, 'Oh no,' " Bailey said.

"I also had an offer from [Queensland coach] Vicki Wilson about the Firebirds.

"I was guaranteed to be in the squad but not in the 12, and I thought Jo Morgan is in the team and Carla Dziwoki, so it would be really hard for me, especially because I have no experience and I just came off a year of injury.

"Then when the trans-Tasman came around I thought, 'Oh no, have I done the right thing?' "

The 20-year-old surmised she had, and her performances so far for the Jaegers, including a game-high 41 goals at 89 per cent in their 58-44 win over the Sydney Swifts last week, prove it.

"I don't think I would have got court time at the Firebirds," Bailey said.

"Yes, I would have been in the Queensland squad and might have had a better chance of cracking that squad [for the Tasman Trophy] again next year, but you can't be seen by other coaches if you're not playing."

Opportunity was the main drawcard for Bailey in joining the Jaegers this season.

The towering 191-centimetre goal shooter was picked up from the Northern Territory Institute of Sport as an 18-year-old to play for the Firebirds in 2005.

She got on court just five times for the Firebirds and hoped a scholarship with the AIS Canberra Darters last year would mean more exposure.

But she was sidelined for the entire season with a foot injury.

"I underwent surgery and was out for eight months," Bailey said.

"For the first three months I couldn't put any weight on my foot . . . I literally went and watched training and put my foot up for three months.

"That made me so determined."

A visibly resolute Bailey took the court last week and executed a near-faultless performance for the Jaegers in what was just her second full match in the national league.

It was her third appearance for the Jaegers she played the last quarter of Hunter's round-two and round-three matches and one that should provide coach Jon Fletcher with a selection headache this week.

Bailey boasts the third-highest shooting percentage of 60 goals at 87 per cent this season but is not the only in-form shooter in the Jaegers squad.

Rookie Alex Harding has been similarly impressive in her three outings for the Jaegers at goal shooter, converting 72 goals at 78 per cent.

© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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