Havig locked in their squad, the Giants have now secured the last piece to what they hope will be a Super Netball drought-breaking unit.
The Giants have locked in foundation coach Julie Fitzgerald for another two years as they look towards a maiden Super Netball title.
Having already locked in a squad they believe can take them back to Super Netball’s championship match, the Giants turned their attention to the woman with more coaching experience than any other in the league – past or present.
Fitzgerald is Super Netball’s equivalent of Wayne Bennett, having won multiple premierships, and coached more games than any other coach.
She notched up her 350th national league match last season on her way to leading the Giants to the grand final and has over 200 games more experience than any other current mentor in the league.
SUPER NETBALL TRADES CENTRE
But numbers mean nothing to her.
“I would never hang around for a number,” Fitzgerald said.
“I’m very happy with the things that I have achieved but I would certainly never be hanging around to reach a number.
“I’ll (coach) as long as I thoroughly enjoy it and people want me to do it.
“I’m loving it and I really love what we’re building at the club and I love the youth that’s coming through and I feel that we can still contribute and there’s still a lot of things that we can achieve.”
That drive to achieve something special comes not just from Fitzgerald but her team, with most recommitting in a bid to win a maiden Super Netball title.
The Giants have one of the youngest squads in the league, with nine of their 10 players having come through the NSW pathway.
“To see those young ones develop and to see the team grow together, is something that we’re just touching the edges of,” she said.
“We know that there is so much more that we can do in every aspect of the team.”
While there’s excitement at the potential, Fitzgerald said there was still disappointment at not being able to finish off the job in last season’s all-NSW decider against the Swifts.
“There was bitter disappointment in the sense that I think we could have played better and they’re the games when you really want to know that you can produce your best and that’s something that we perhaps have to learn,” Fitzgerald said.
“But there’s also excitement about the fat that we can grow so much – we do have those young players with so much to give.
“And our older players are improving (too).”
The Giants have also locked in Jenny O’Keeffe to remain as Fitzgerald’s assistant coach as well as work with the club’s training partners and Giants Netball Academy.
PRIVATE PAIN DRIVING DIAMOND’S CANCER FUNDRAISER
Personal pain may have been behind Diamonds squad member Amy Parmenter’s initial decision to raise funds to fight cancer.
But a young fighter who finds the light in the darkest hours has become her greatest motivation – and helped rope in her Australian teammates.
Giants defender Parmenter, who has just completed a camp with the Australian netball squad in Queensland, launched her latest effort to raise funds on Sunday, selling tie-dyed shirts signed by the Diamonds squad on her website thetiedyeproject.com that sold out minutes after they were launched.
SUPER NETBALL TRADES CENTRE
Parmenter’s efforts, under her Tie Dye Project banner, raised $2000 for the oncology ward at the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
It’s something her mother Gilly, who died of mesothelioma when Parmenter was just 15, would be proud of, as would Dubbo teen Molly Croft, who Parmenter first met as a 12-year-old cancer patient in 2018.
“My little friend Molly who I do the Tie Dye Project with … we found out about a week-and-a-half ago she’s had a little relapse, they found something in her lungs,” Parmenter said of Dubbo netball super-fan Croft.
“When I told the (Diamonds) girls about this Tie Dye Project that I do, they all were so excited to get involved, it was so cool how supportive they were of something I care so much about.”
Parmenter and sister Daisy used to tie dye with their mother Gilly from the time they were in primary school, making items for fun as well as fundraising at school fetes and community gatherings.
“The first few years we were raising money for the Cancer Council but then I met Molly at the children’s hospital in the oncology ward,” she said of netball fan Croft.
“There’s a lot of it that does remind me of my mum – she was very crafty, she loved community things and fundraisers, so there’s a lot of it that does come from what my mum instilled in me.
“But when Molly was in hospital, her family would always say: ‘Look for a rainbow in every day’.
“They were having some terrible days and they would still find something to be grateful for and so it fit perfectly into the Tie Dye Project.”
Parmenter, who was selected in the Diamonds squad for the first time this season after an outstanding Super Netball campaign with the Giants, was thrilled with the Diamonds’ genuine desire to be a part of the project.
“This is my first experience in the Diamonds squad and for them to be so welcoming and to embrace this part of me, I feel like there’s a culture at the Diamonds that’s really special,” Parmenter said.
“I really felt on the court and off the court that everyone is there to look after each other and make each other as good as they can.”
Originally published as Giants secure Fitzgerald for two more years, Diamonds chip in for cancer fundraiser